The ARL V 39, also known as the ARL 1940 V939 40, was a prototype armored fighting vehicle, designed to meet France's demands for a new self-propelled

assault gun An assault gun (from , , meaning "assault gun") is a type of armored infantry support vehicle and self-propelled artillery, mounting an infantry support gun on a protected self-propelled chassis, intended for providing infantry with heavy di ...

, prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Only two complete and functional prototypes were produced, armed with a modified 75mm field gun and 7.5mm machine gun. The design project was known as ARL 40, related to the

char G1 The Char G1 was a French replacement project for the Char D2 medium tank. Several prototypes from different companies were developed from 1936 onwards, but not a single one had been fully completed at the time of the Fall of France in 1940. The ...

B medium tank. Designed in 1935, two prototypes were completed by 1940. However, due to the later occupation of France, mass production to meet orders was canceled and the prototypes evacuated to

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, ceasing any further development of the project.

Development

Development of the project was started in mid-1935, arising from France's proposal for a new self-propelled,

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

support assault gun. Having no existing tanks of this type in service, two manufacturers submitted designs built upon existing medium tanks: SOMUA, with the Somua SAu 40 based on the chassis of the

SOMUA S35 The SOMUA S35 was a French cavalry tank of the Second World War. Built from 1936 until 1940 to equip the armoured divisions of the Cavalry, it was for its time a relatively agile medium-weight tank, superior in armour and armament to its Fren ...

medium cavalry tank, and ARL, with the ARL 40, developed using parts from the

Char B1 The Char B1 was a French heavy tank manufactured before World War II. The Char B1 was a specialised break-through vehicle, originally conceived as a self-propelled gun with a 75 mm howitzer in the hull; later a 47 mm gun in a turret ...

heavy tank. The ARL V 39 was the only

vehicle A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...

fully developed to meet the specification of the ARL 40 project, the first vehicle constructed of a soft steel was completed in June 1938, with military testing taking place 23–25 March 1939. Passing trials successfully, the project was approved for mass production with an initial order of 72 units, of which 24 were to be unarmed command vehicles. On 27 September, the unit distribution was changed to groups of 12 vehicles, divided into two groups consisting of two three-vehicle batteries, with additional command vehicles granted to each group. In October 1939, France's

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (; 18 June 1884 – 10 October 1970) was a French Radical Party (France), Radical-Socialist (centre-left) politician, who was the Prime Minister of France in 1933, 1934 and again from 1938 to 1940. he signed the Munich Agreeme ...

, placed the revised order, the first five to be ready for service by October 1940, then to be proceeded by a production rate of 10 per month. However, at the beginning of the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

in May 1940, no vehicle was

combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

ready, two working

prototypes A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

were shipped to

to be hidden in a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

. The vehicles are confirmed to have reached Africa, but their fate beyond that is unknown. The future occupation of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

then saw a cease in any further development in the ARL 40 project. SOMUA's SAu 40 project also passed trials and was simultaneously granted a 36 unit order, 12 of which were to be unarmed command vehicles, which initially were to be allocated to battalions alongside the ARL V 39. However, problems arose with the SAu 40 when adopting the 75mm high-power APX gun used by the ARL V 39, leading to the order of 36 to be canceled on 1 May 1940. Instead the initial role was to be left to the ARL V 39, giving the SAu 40 the new role of tank destroyer using the 47mm mle 1937 artillery gun. Seventy-two SAu 40's were ordered in this configuration, but never reached production.

Armament

The ARL V 39 mounted the 75mm high-velocity APX gun. It was a modification of the 75mm 1929 casemate fortress gun. Muzzle velocity reached 400 m/s for high explosive rounds and 570 m/s for armor-piercing rounds. Penetration tests found that the armor-piercing shell had 50 mm of penetration at . Instrumentation included two sight and

stereoscopic rangefinder A stereoscopic rangefinder or stereoscopic telemeter is an optical device that measures distance from the observer to a target, using the observer's capability of binocular vision. It looks similar to a coincidence rangefinder, which uses differe ...

s, allowing for shots at up to distance. Traverse angles were 7° left and right and -10° to 30° vertically. When transporting the gun barrel could be drawn into the body to reduce the total length. The gun had a semi-automatic breech mechanism, automatic charging, and a data recorder.

Development

Armament

References

Further reading