Everyone was happy with the French trucks produced during the First World War, but there was a problem that they could not solve. The point is that they were tied to roads. Meanwhile, the army needed a transporter capable of moving guns across the battlefield. And this was downright "lunar landscape". What kind of car could drive it?
Therefore, at the end of 1915, Louis Renault received an assignment from the French Ministry of Ammunition: to develop a transporter capable of transporting guns across the battlefield. Of course, there was the Holt tractor. But its passability left much to be desired, and besides, it was impossible to copy it just like that: there was a patent right. But the French government decided that Holt's patents were different from Schneider's and thus freed Renault from all responsibility - just make us a car.
About 50 vehicles were ordered already on September 22, 1916. Then, on October 27, 1916, this order was increased to 350 vehicles. The first Renault FB transporters were delivered in March 1917. It was assumed that 8 of these transporters would be able to carry in one flight a full cannon battery of 4 field guns or howitzers, a stock of ammunition and 40-50 officers and privates of their service personnel. The transporter was capable of transporting a 75 mm field gun mod. 1897, 105-mm cannon "Schneider" in 1913 and 155-mm howitzer Schneider in 1915.
The design of the conveyor was very simple: a caterpillar tractor chassis, a flat "deck" and a drive from a Renault aircraft engine of 110 hp. with., plus a four-speed gearbox. The equipment has been minimized to the limit. Renault FB weighed 14 tons and could carry a load of 10 tons. The maximum speed (without load) was about 6 km / h. The use of an aircraft engine turned out to be not a very good solution, as it had high fuel consumption and required good maintenance. The transporter was quite bulky and did not differ in particular strength, therefore it was recommended to be careful when choosing a route.
By the end of 1917, about 120 vehicles entered service. They proved to be very successful and were often recruited for the most amazing assignments. For example, they transported trucks with Renault FT-17 tanks in the back! By the time of the armistice in November 1918, the French army had 256 of these transporters.
Until the end of the war, there were proposals to modernize the Renault FB so that it could carry a 155-mm cannon weighing 11 tons. For this, a powerful winch was installed on it, capable of pulling this weapon onto the platform. There was also a proposal to turn it into an SPG, covering it with thin armor, but nothing came of it.
In 1916, the French army was extremely interested in artillery tractors on tracks that could pull heavy weapons not only on roads, but also off-road. Due to their absence, plans to conduct offensive operations in 1915 were thwarted. Often the guns were in one place, and they were needed in another, but they could not be delivered to the place. Renault completed the task, built a conveyor with a cargo platform, but Schneider used the engine, chassis, transmission and suspension of the Schneider CA1 tank in the design of its tractor. The shells of the heavy guns weighed 40-100 kg each and could only be delivered to the guns in the field with tractors.
The chassis of the tank received a control compartment in the front of the hull, a cabin, and a cargo platform with wooden flooring in the rear. Weather protection was limited to a simple tarpaulin. The winch on the conveyor was very powerful and the cable was thick and strong. The engine power was 60 hp. with. The tractor weighed 10,000 kg with a lifting capacity of 3,000 kg. The maximum speed with a light load was 8.2 km / h.
First, the army ordered 50 of these tractors, then, in October 1916, already 500. By the time of the armistice in November 1918, the army had 110 tractors of this type.
In general, "Schneider" turned out to be quite popular, and although it was rather difficult to drive it over rough terrain, it coped with the tasks assigned to it. But in December 1917, the military demanded that the transporter be improved so that it could carry heavy guns weighing up to 9 tons. Renault was completely unable to fulfill this task. But Schneider decided to try, especially since the army canceled the order for 200 improved CA3 tanks in December 1917. The new conveyor became longer, the engine power increased to 65 hp. One prototype was built and tested in October 1918. Its passability indeed increased and it was able to carry 9 tons of artillery, such as 220-mm howitzers and 155-mm field guns, as well as tow loads of up to 14 tons. But the truce put an end to the development of machines of this class. Tracked artillery transporters, which carried guns on their backs, were canceled according to a decree adopted in November 1918, since it was decided that heavy artillery should be transported only by a tug of tracked vehicles.
Unlike the British, French and Germans, the Italian army did not subsidize the military car industry at all, and when the First World War began, it found itself without cars! Therefore, in the same 1914, the military turned to Fiat with a request to develop a standard military truck comparable to foreign models as soon as possible. The result is the Fiat 18BL, a robust and robust design with a 38 hp four-cylinder engine. It had four speeds and a reverse stroke, but the transmission was chain, although the chains were covered with casings.
The car was produced in 1915-1921, and the Fiat 18BL was also used by the British and French. True, the maximum speed was only 24 km / h, but the car turned out to be reliable. An improved model was also built and designated 18BLR. It had smaller wheels, a longer body and a stiffer suspension. Mechanically it was identical to the 18BL, but had a top speed of 21 km / h.
The 18BL has also been used as the basis for a range of special vehicles, such as the towing heavy floodlights. An engine and a generator were installed in the body of the car, as well as benches for service personnel.
The Fiat 15ter was designed by Carlo Cavalli and entered service in 1912. It was a very sturdy, reliable vehicle, as proven when a convoy of 23 Fiat 15ter trucks crossed the Sahara Desert for the first time (a trip of three thousand kilometers!) Without much damage. It was first used in the war in the Libyan War of 1912 - hence its nickname: "Libya". It had a 40-liter four-cylinder petrol engine. with., weighed about 1, 4 tons and can reach a maximum speed of 40 km / h.
The structural strength was high that it was used not only in the Italian army, but also in the British army on the Italian and Greek fronts. Also, since 1916, this machine has been produced under license in Russia by the AMO company. In Italy, it was produced between 1911 and 1922, and was used until 1940. For the needs of the army, a simplified modification was produced - "Fiat 15 ter Militaire".
It is interesting that in Czechoslovakia, which had just formed on the wreckage of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, in 1919, on the basis of Italian Fiat 18BL trucks, the Skoda plant produced the first Czechoslovak armored vehicles. In their manufacture, the experience of battles in Slovakia and Hungary was taken into account, and they were tested in the winter of 1920. In total, the army purchased 12 of these machines, but they did not last long. Already in 1925, eight cars were converted into ordinary trucks, and the rest were sold.
