An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of

tractor unit A tractor unit, also known as a truck unit, lorry unit, power unit, prime mover, ten-wheeler, semi-tractor, semi-truck, semi-lorry, tractor cab, truck cab, lorry cab, big rig tractor, big rig truck or big rig lorry or simply a tractor, truck, ...

used to tow

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or

half-track A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. A half-track combines the soft-ground traction of a tank with the Car handl ...

ed.

Traction

There are two main types of artillery tractors, depending on the type of traction: wheeled and tracked. * Wheeled tractors are usually variations of lorries adapted for military service. * Tracked tractors run on

continuous track Continuous track or tracked treads are a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the w ...

; in some cases are built on a modified

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

chassis with the superstructure replaced with a compartment for the gun crew or

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

. In addition,

tractors were used in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

and in

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 ...

, especially by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. This type of tractor was mostly discontinued postwar.

History

World War I

The first artillery tractors were designed prior to the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, often based on agricultural machines such as the Holt tractor. Such vehicles allowed the tactical use of heavier guns to supplement the light horse drawn

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artillery ...

s. "Horseless artillery" available prior to World War I weighed 8 tons, had 70 horsepower and could go 8 mph. For example, in the British Army it allowed the heavy guns of the Royal Garrison Artillery to be used flexibly on the battlefield.

World War II

In World War II the

draft horse A draft horse (US) or draught horse (UK), also known as dray horse, carthorse, work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred to be a working animal hauling freight and doing heavy agricultural tasks such as plowing. There are a number o ...

was still the most common source of motive power in many armies. Most nations were economically and industrially unable to fully motorise their forces. One compromise was to produce general purpose vehicles which could be used in the troop transport, logistics and prime mover roles, with heavy artillery tractors to move the heaviest guns. The British Army had fully mechanized prior to war. During the 1920s and 30s it had used the Vickers Medium Dragon and Light Dragon fully-tracked artillery tractors, but they had been mostly replaced with wheeled vehicles, starting with the Morris CDSW. The

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

persisted with specialist artillery tractors – known as "Field Artillery Tractors" (FAT) – such as the Morris "Quad", Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) "Quad" and AEC Matador throughout World War II, rather than adopt a general purpose vehicle. Artillery tractors were different from "General Service" (GS) vehicles by having a compartment for the gun detachment immediately behind the cab and separated from the cargo space containing ammunition and gun stores. German forces used

s as artillery tractors, such as the Sd.Kfz. 7. Half-tracked tractors were not commonly used in this role in other nations. Compared to wheeled vehicles they had better off-road capabilities, but were slower on roads and were more prone to breakdowns. However, for Germany horses remained the most common way of towing artillery throughout the war.

Modern warfare

In modern warfare, towed artillery has given way in part to

self-propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

. It is also common to find auxiliary power units built into the gun carriage to provide power while the propulsion engine is offline. Traditional towed artillery can still be found in units where complexity and weight are liabilities: e.g. airmobile, amphibious and other light units. In such units, where organic transport is usually limited, any available transport can double as artillery tractors in order to reposition guns when needed. For example, engineer vehicles of a different primary purpose such as the U.S. Marines' light capacity rough terrain forklift (LCRTF), a versatile telehandler

forklift A forklift (also called industrial truck, lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th c ...

capable of towing gear from either end.

List of artillery tractors

The following are a few examples of artillery tractors, classified by its traction system and era.

Wheeled

Fiat artillery tractor in Horseless Age v43 n4 1918-02-15 p50

Pre- and First World War

* Thornycroft "steamer" – UK,

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

* Thornycroft Gun Tractor – UK, World War I * Latil TAR – France, World War I * Renault EG – France, World War I (also used in World War II as a heavy artillery tractor) * Tracteur Panhard-Châtillon – France, World War I

Interwar and Second World War

* Thornycroft Hathi – UK, 1924; early 4x4 * Krupp Protze – Germany, 1933; towed the 3.7 cm PaK * Scammell Pioneer – British, 1937; lorry used for heavy artillery * Morris C8 – UK, 1938; the "Quad" British tractor; towed the 25-pdr gun, 6-pdr AT gun, and 40-mm Bofors AA gun * Karrier KT4 – UK; for the British Indian Army * AEC Matador – UK, World War II; lorry used for pulling medium artillery such as the 5.5 inch gun and 3.7 inch AA Gun * Fiat-SPA T.L.37 – Italy, World War II; four-wheel steering tractor for 75/27 Mod.06 and 100/17 mod.14 field guns. * Breda 51 – Italy, 1936; 6x4 truck used for moving equipment/units, pulling artillery. * Breda 52 – Italy, 1938; 6x4 truck with stronger chassis that could also be mounted with Cannone da 90/53 *

Laffly V15 The Laffly V15T was a French light 4WD artillery tractor used during 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 W ...

T – France, World War II; towed 25 mm AT guns * Laffly S15T – France, World War II; towed the French 75 and short 105 mm field guns * Mack NO – USA, World War II; 6x6 truck used to tow the 155mm “Long Tom”

and similar medium artillery pieces * Dodge WC4 & WC22 – USA, World War II; 4x4 truck designed to tow the M3 anti-tank cannon, its crew and ammunition * White Scout Car – USA, 1941; 4x4 utility armored car * CMP FAT – Canada, World War II * Radschlepper Ost – Germany, 1942 * C2P - Poland, 1939 and captured Germany 1940-1945 * C7P - Poland, 1939 and captured Germany 1940-1941

Postwar

* Bedford 4x4 Gun Tractor – UK, introduced in the late 1950s to tow the 25-pdr * Leyland Martian (FV1103) – UK, Medium Artillery Tractor, 10-ton, 6x6; replaced the Matador in the late 1950s. * Pinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle – UK, 1971 * Land Rover 101 Forward Control – UK, 1972 * Coyote 6x6 TSV – UK, 2009

Half-tracked

* Unic P107 – France, 1934; towed the French 75 and short 105 mm field guns * SOMUA MCG – France; towed the French long 105 and short 155 mm field guns * C4P – Poland, 1935 * Sd.Kfz. 7 – Germany, 1938; 8-ton half track often towed the Flak 36 88 mm * Sd.Kfz. 9 – Germany, 1938; used for heavy towed guns such as the 24 cm Kanone 3 * Sd.Kfz. 10 – Germany, 1938; also basis for the Sd.Kfz. 250 armored light half-track * Sd.Kfz. 11 – Germany, 1938; 3-ton tractor for medium towed guns, including the 3.7 cm FlaK 43 anti-aircraft gun and the 10.5 cm leFH 18 field howitzer * M2 Half Track Car – USA, 1940 * M3 Half-track – USA, 1940

Tracked, tank chassis

* Dragon, Medium Mark IV – British army, 1928; developed from the Vickers 6-Ton mark E. * T-24 chassis ** Komintern ** Voroshilovets * M2 light tank chassis ** M4 high-speed tractor – USA, 1943 * M3 Stuart chassis ** M5 high-speed tractor – USA, 1942 * M3 Lee chassis ** M33 prime mover – converted by removing turret and recovery gear from M31 TRV. 109 converted in 1943–44. *

M4 Sherman The M4 Sherman, officially medium tank, M4, was the medium tank most widely used by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. I ...

chassis ** M34 prime mover – converted by removing recovery gear from M32B1 TRV (M4A1 Sherman tank chassis built as an

Armoured recovery vehicle An armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) is typically a powerful tank or armoured personnel carrier (APC) chassis modified for use during combat for military vehicle recovery (towing) or repair of battle-damaged, stuck, and/or inoperable armoured f ...

) and adding air brakes to tow heavy artillery. 24 converted by Chester Tank Depot in 1944. ** M35 prime mover – converted by removing turret from M10A1 tank destroyer (M4A3 Sherman tank chassis) and adding air brakes to tow 155 mm and 240 mm artillery. ** Sherman Gun Tower – British field conversion in Italy by removing turrets from old M4A2 Sherman tanks to tow 17 pdr AT gun and carry crew with ammunition ** Wolverine Gun Tower – British M10 (M4A2 chassis) or M10A1 (M4A3 chassis) converted by removing turret, 1944–45 * Crusader II, gun tractor Mk I – British army, variant of the Crusader tank * M41 Walker Bulldog chassis ** M8 high-speed tractor – USA, 1950