Vehicles of the Wehrmacht

Vehicles of the Wehrmacht 1939-1945

Alkett-Raümgerät

This strange AFV was found by the Soviet troops at Kummersdorf proving grounds in 1945 and was then stored at the Soviet military base in Dresden. In 1947, it was delivered to Kubinka proving grounds for tests together with other German AFVs. The tests could not be completed because the minesweeping mechanisms of the mineroller were badly damaged during the transportation and only movement and tactical tests were made. The design was the joint project by Alkett, Krupp and Mercedes-Benz and construction was finished in early 1942. The appearance of this AFV was very strange and unusual. The vehicle's body was mounted on the heavy gun frame with the cabin containing the fighting compartment, engine and the turret from PzKpfw I armed by the two MG-34 machine guns for close defense. The body armor was 20 to 40mm thick. The bottom had to withstand the explosive power of mines and was 80mm thick. There were inside armor plates in this AFV. Turning the mineroller was done by the small steering wheel placed in the rear part of the body. Driving was done by turning of the steering wheel and via the gear selector The wheels were mounted with 75mm wide brake shoes that were controlled directly from the fighting compartment. The moving parts of this mineroller were caterpillar trucks with shoe pads fixed onto the driving wheels. They were similar to those used on wheels of the German heavy field guns in the WWI. The explosives theoretically could not damage those pads. The tests showed that the weight of this AFV, its low speed and height made an easy target for enemy artillery. This AFV was constructed under the influence of high panzer losses on the Soviet minefields. It was to go before the tanks in the offensive operations. It appears that the designers understood that this AFV was useless in comparison with the ordinary tanks mounted with mineplows and was abandoned at the proving grounds. Today Alkett-Raümgerät can be seen in the Museum of Armored Forces in Kubinka in Russia.

Information was provided by Dmitry Pyatakhin.

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