Sd.Kfz. 8 (German: Sonderkraftfahrzeug 8) was a German half-track transporter from the Second World War. The first prototypes were built in 1934, and serial production continued in the years 1937-1945, ending with the production of about 4,000 copies of this vehicle. The drive was provided by a single engine Maybach HL 85 TUKRM with 185 HP. Sd.Kfz. 8 did not have fixed armament as standard.
First work on the progenitor of Sd.Kfz. 8 took place at the beginning of the 1930s at the Military Automotive Department. Later, they were transferred to the Daimler-Benz company, which in 1934 developed the first prototypes, but it was not until 1936 that a version was developed, which became the basis for serial production. The Sd.Kfz vehicle. 8 was characterized by the possibility of transporting up to 12 soldiers, good terrain properties and high mobility. In the German armed forces, it was most often an artillery tractor for heavy artillery, for example: the 15 cm Kanone 18 cannon or the 10.5 cm FlaK 38 anti-aircraft gun. Ten transporters of this type were armed with FlaK 18 guns and turned them into mobile anti-tank artillery. They took part in the fighting in Poland, France (1940) and in the initial period of the war with the USSR (1941). Sd.Kfz cars. 8 were used on all fronts of World War II in 1939-1945, both by the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe.
A German WWII cannon, commonly known as the "eighty-eight". It is probably the most famous department from this period. Several versions of the 8.8 cm Flak 18-Flak36 and 37 guns were produced, as well as modernized models such as the Flak 41 and Flak 43. The roots of the Flak18 are the 7.5Flak / L60 cannon, which served as the basis for the development of a new anti-aircraft gun. Despite this, the design of the new gun had to be started practically from the beginning, but the first prototypes of the "Eighty-Eight" were produced as early as 1928. The first Flak 18 models had a one-piece barrel of 56 calibers and were often called 88 / L56. The Flak 18 gun was mounted on a trailer with an "X" -shaped base, which allowed fire in all directions. The two "legs" of the tow truck were foldable, which allowed for quick lifting of the gun on the wheeled chassis. Due to its heavy weight, the Flak 18 gun had to be towed only by large vehicles, a frequent partner of this gun was the Sd.Kfz.7 semi-truck. This gun used a simple, "semi-automatic" loading system that ejected empty shells from the slide, which allowed for quick and easy loading of the gun. The rate of fire was between 15 and 20 rounds per minute, half the rate of fire of most other guns from this period. Technical data: range: horizontal-14860m, vertical-10600m caliber: 88mm, combat weight: 5000kg, rate of fire: 15-20 spins / min, projectile initial speed: 930m / s (anti-tank missile), 820 m / s (high-explosive projectile) disruptive).