Panhard AMD 178
The Panhard AMD 178, one of the best French armored cars. Armed with a 25 mm cannon, it rendered great service to the French. During the hostilities, she also served in the ranks
of the German army.
country France
Type:self-armoured.
Crew:4 men.
Armament:one 25 mm cannon; a 7.5mm machine gun.
Shielding:from 13 mm to 18 mm.
Dimensions:
length:4.787 m;
width:2.01mm;
height:2.286 m.
Weight:8.5 t.
Engine:4 cyl. water-cooled gasoline engine, developing 105 hp at 2,000 rpm.
Performance:
maximum road speed:72 km/h;
autonomy:301 km;
vertical obstacle:0.304 m;
slope:40%.
Service time:introduced in the French army in 1935 and decommissioned in 1960. Also used by the German army (see text).
The prototype of IAMD (automitrailleuse decouverte) was completed in 1933 by Panhard, which designated the machine Model 178, and at the end of the regulatory tests, the vehicle was accepted by the French army.
The AMD saw fire during the Battle of France and many copies were taken and then reused by the Germans. These gave these tanks the designation Sd.Kfz. 178 and equipped some of them with other armament.
After the armistice of 1940, a certain number of AMDs, without the turrets, were concealed and maintained clandestinely by the French army. The Wehrmacht entrusted the AMD with reconnaissance missions, even going so far as to adapt wagon wheels to make it patrol the railway lines.
From 1942, most machines had received their turret. These vehicles were then delivered to the armed forces of Vichy but many were lost when the Germans occupied all of French soil in 1942. As soon as Paris was liberated in 1944, the AMD was put back into production by Panhard and manufacturing continued until when the EBR 8x8 was completed a few years later.
The last AMDs were finally withdrawn from service in 1960.
Originally and for a long time, the AMD was a very advanced machine, very advanced in its design. The body, in a riveted assembly, housed the driver in the front, the captain and the gunner in the turret and a fourth man, the rear driver, facing the rear for driving towards six o'clock”.
The vehicle was armed with a 25 mm cannon and a 7.5 mm Model 31 machine gun was mounted to the left of the main armament, which pointed in elevation from -.140 to -120. The ammunition load was 150 rounds of 25 mm and 3,750 of 7.5 mm.
The French also lined up two other models, one mounted twin 7.5 mm machine guns; the other was an often unarmed radio vehicle.
Post-war AMDs featured a new turret with two hatches instead of the single hatch of the earlier model and mounted a 47mm. same as a 7.5 mm coaxial. These machines carried the AMD Model B designation.