The Lorraine 155 mm was a French prototype

self-propelled gun 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 ...

built in 1950

History

After the end of the

Second World War 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

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

began to rebuild their army. Various projects were issued to the French Industry to create modern

armored fighting vehicles An armoured fighting vehicle (British English) or armored fighting vehicle (American English) (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can b ...

. In the 1950s, the Lorraine company presented two self-propelled artillery prototypes based on their previous project, the

Canon D’Assaut Lorraine The Canon d’Assaut Lorraine was a French tank destroyer and assault gun, designed upon the chassis of the AMX M4 project. History After the Second World War, the French Army issued various projects to replace their obsolete tanks. The Lorrai ...

. The two vehicles were equipped with a 155mm

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

. The first prototype had the

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...

placed in the middle of the vehicle. The second prototype had the casemate mounted in the front.

Armament

The

Obusier de 155 mm Modèle 50 Obusier de 155 mm Modèle 50 was a French 155 mm 30 calibre howitzer introduced in 1952. The first French artillery designed since World War II, it was manufactured in both France - 980 howitzers were produced (French army and export) - ...

was mounted on the Lorraine 155 mm. The two prototypes were also equipped with a 20 mm

MG 151/20 The ''Maschinengewehr'' (MG) 151 is a belt-fed autocannon for aircraft use, developed in Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1940 and produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser during World War II. It was originally produced in 15.1 mm caliber from 1940, with a ...

autocannon in the rear of the vehicle to defend itself against air attacks.

Chassis

The 2 prototypes of the Lorraine 155 mm utilized the chassis from the

tank destroyer. Similar to the Canon D’Assaut Lorraine, the two prototypes had the Veil Picard

pneumatic tires A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over w ...

for road wheels. This would enable the vehicle to move in case the tracks were disabled.

Engine

Talbot Talbot is a dormant automobile marque introduced in 1902 by British-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément ...

engine was planned to be mounted on the vehicle. In 1951, the

Maybach Maybach (, ) is a German luxury car brand owned by and a part of Mercedes-Benz AG. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of ''Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH'', and it was ...

engine was equipped instead.

Development

In 1954, there were ongoing studies for a self-propelled gun with a

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

to allow for more flexibility when attacking. In 1955, the order was given to create self-propelled gun with a turret. This was the Batignolles Chatillon 155mm. The Lorraine 155 mm project was deemed to be redundant and all works on the project was discontinued. One prototype is stored in Bourges Technical Establishment storage area. The other prototype is kept in the technical zone of the base of the 2nd Dragoon Regiment at

Fontevraud Fontevraud-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the western French department of Maine-et-Loire. It is situated both in the Loire Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site between Chalonnes-sur-Loire and Sully-sur-Loire, and the Loire Anjou Touraine Frenc ...

.Pierre-Olivier Buan and Neil Baumgardner, 2016, ''France Historical AFV Register — Armored Fighting Vehicles Preserved in France'' p.75. http://the.shadock.free.fr/France_AFVs.pdf, retrieved 18 Feb 2020

References

{{ColdWarFrenchAFVs 155 mm artillery Tracked self-propelled howitzers Cold War artillery of France Abandoned military projects of France Tanks with autoloaders