The ''Kugelpanzer'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

for "ball tank") was a one-man armoured vehicle built by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

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 World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The history of the vehicle is practically unknown other than the fact that at least one example was exported to the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

and used by the

Kwantung Army The Kwantung Army (Japanese language, Japanese: 関東軍, ''Kantō-gun'') was a Armies of the Imperial Japanese Army, general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1919 to 1945. The Kwantung Army was formed in 1906 as a security force for th ...

. The machine remains something of a mystery due to the lack of records and the incompleteness of the sole surviving model.

Surviving example

Only one example of the ''Kugelpanzer'' still exists today. It is on display in the collection of German armored vehicles at the

Kubinka Tank Museum The Kubinka Tank Museum (Центральный музей бронетанкового вооружения и техники - Tsentral'nyy Muzey Bronetankovogo Vooruzheniya I Tekhniki -Central Museum of Armored Arms and Technology) is a larg ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

where it is described simply as "Exhibit No. 37". It is speculated that this vehicle was captured by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

. There is no record of it ever having been used in combat. However, another report states that it was captured at the

Kummersdorf Kummersdorf () is the name of an estate near Luckenwalde, around 25 km south of Berlin, in the Brandenburg region of Germany. Until 1945 Kummersdorf hosted the weapon office of the German Army which ran a development centre for future weapon ...

proving ground A proving ground is an installation or reservation in which technology such as weapons, military tactics and automobile prototypes are experimented with or tested. Proving grounds can be operated by government bodies or civilian industries. The ...

s along with the infamous '' Maus''

super-heavy tank A super-heavy tank is any tank that is notably beyond the standard of the class heavy tank in either size or weight relative to contemporary vehicles. Programs have been initiated on several occasions with the aim of creating an extremely resi ...

. The vehicle was modified after its capture, repainted and its drive removed. In 2000, the original paintwork was restored.

Theories about the vehicle

Only five points seem certain based on the single known example: #It is a German-made vehicle that was shipped to Japan. #It was used as a light

reconnaissance vehicle A reconnaissance vehicle, also known as a scout vehicle, is a military vehicle used for forward reconnaissance. Both tracked and wheeled reconnaissance vehicles are in service. In some nations, light tanks such as the M551 Sheridan and AMX-13 h ...

. #It was captured by Soviet troops in 1945, presumably in

. #The outer armour is only five millimetres thick. #The vehicle was powered by a

single-cylinder A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, motorized bicycles, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, power tools an ...

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

motorcycle engine. One can only deduce the functionality of the vehicle based on its exterior. It seems to be a one-man reconnaissance tank, equipped with an armoured outer wall and a viewing slot. The drive was probably located under or behind the driver. At the rear there is a steerable wheel to shift the center of gravity behind the axis of the two track wheels and to support rotary movements that are carried out with the track wheels. In stationary operation, the tank could probably serve as an armoured refuge or makeshift bunker. Based on available images, it cannot be determined whether there was an opening below the viewing slot to allow for the use of firearms from inside the tank. Another possible use is for

demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

, where this vehicle would trigger landmines ahead of advancing troops.

Similar vehicles

Although not immediately equivalent, a possible precursor to the ''Kugelpanzer'' was a one-man

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 ...

tank known in

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 ...

as a ''bouclier roulant'' ("rolling shield"). A 1936 article in ''

Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

'' described a Texan inventor's design for a spherical armoured vehicle that was dubbed a "''tumbleweed tank''". It was considerably larger than the ''Kugelpanzer'', offering space for three people and three machine guns along with necessary motors and other equipment.

References

Books

Robert Dale Arndt Jr.: Strange Vehicles of Pre-War Germany & the Third Reich (1928–1945). 2006, IRP Publication

External links