Could an economically not very developed state, and under sanctions, create its own tank in the middle of the last century? At first glance, it seems not, but if we turn to history, it turns out that nothing is impossible in this. Moreover, the model itself, resulting from the "national efforts", could be quite at the level of its time. Well, an example of this kind of construction "out of necessity" may well be the Argentinean DL-43 "Nahuel" ("Jaguar") tank - the first tank designed and built in Argentina in those years when war and the country were raging in Europe and Asia. lost the opportunity to receive weapons from its stronger economic partners. Why? The reason is this: all arms deliveries to Argentina with the outbreak of World War were stopped due to the embargo imposed on it related to its pro-German policies. It would seem okay. But the situation was complicated by the fact that neighboring Brazil did exactly the opposite: that is, it supported the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, for which it received military assistance from the Anglo-American allies in the amount of … 230 tanks. And she could well use them not so much against Hitler as in her own, so to speak, "regional interests."
Tank "Nahuel" at the parade in Buenos Aires.
A military engineer, Lieutenant Colonel of the Argentine Army Alfredo Aquilis Baisi, who at that time was the director of the Arsenal Esteban de Luca military plant, began designing his national tank in 1943. It is interesting that he was born into a family of Italian emigrants and, like his father, chose a military career for himself, which he developed very successfully. In the field of service, Alfredo Baisi served as an assistant military attaché in the United States, and represented his country in the Inter-American Defense Council, and also served as director of a military factory, while serving as the first deputy minister of industry and trade in the government. In addition to all this, he was also a member of a group of officers who in 1943 carried out a "pronunciamento" - a forceful coup d'etat in the country, removed from power President Ramon Castillo, and themselves took the place of the ruling elite. Therefore, their own tank, and not just any, but a good one, they desperately needed. Therefore, in addition to the tank, Baisi also developed an armored combat vehicle with a machine gun based on an agricultural tractor called "Vitnchuka" (a local blood-sucking insect), as well as a field uniform and a tanker's helmet. Due to a number of frictions with the government, he resigned, left his army posts, but continued to research and published articles in various scientific journals, and died at the age of 73 in 1975.
Lieutenant Colonel Alfredo Akvilis Baisi, designer of the Nahuel tank
That is, the person had sufficient education and engineering experience for this, and besides, he was well versed in the production technologies of Argentine factories, and had a good idea of the capabilities of his national industry. Nothing superfluous was introduced into the design, nothing that would have been impossible for the Argentines at that time to "get" and put on their domestic tanks. In addition, it was necessary to take into account the possibility of a war with Brazil, and various other difficulties that should not have prevented the production of new tanks in mass quantities.
I wonder how the tank got its name. Of course, Baisi knew that the Germans gave their tanks animal names and, apparently, decided to follow their example. This is why the first Argentine tank, designated D. L. 43. received the name "Nahuel". This word, translated from the language of the Indians (that is, you won’t find fault - the national flavor!) Of the Araucanian people meant “Jaguar”, and among them there was a legend about “a tiger without teeth,” and what is interesting - that is how Argentina itself was called at that time. It is clear that the designer clearly lacked his own experience in such a complex matter, and the Jaguar was clearly similar (and in many ways!) To the M4 Sherman tank. But, on the other hand, that is why both the design and development of the tank proceeded quite quickly, and its wooden model in natural size was made after only 45 days, starting with the receipt of the order for the tank, and the first vehicle left the factory just two months later. … Well, and the first copy, which had the number "C 252", was privately shown to the then leaders of the country: President General Edelmiro Farrell, Minister of the Navy Alberto Teisare and Minister of War Juan Domingo Peron, after which they immediately gave the go-ahead for his mass production.
The production of the new tank was launched in 1943 at the Arsenal Esteban de Luca plant in Buenos Aires. At the same time, more than 80 military and civilian factories of Argentina were connected to it. For example, the air force enterprises assembled engines for it, the factories of the military department smelted steel, the Ministry of Public Works was responsible for the chassis, and the rollers were processed at the locomotive depot in Buenos Aires. The tower was made from photographs of the Somua and T-34 tanks, the five-speed (4 forward gears, 1 backward) gearbox was designed and installed by the Pedro Merlini car repair company, and the army communications department was involved in electrical engineering. True, due to the weakness of the Argentinean industry and the lack of spare parts, some of which were produced outside the country, in 1943 - 1944 only 16 (there is evidence that 12) Jaguar tanks were produced. Well, immediately after the war, the embargo on the supply of military equipment to Argentina was lifted and the need for its own tank immediately disappeared. It was clear that the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition would try to get rid of surplus military equipment and would do it very soon.
The layout of the Jaguar medium tank was classic. The engine and transmission are located in the rear of the tank, the fighting compartment is in the middle, and the driver's seat is in front. The weapons were housed in a closed tower resembling a mushroom cap. The design of the undercarriage was borrowed from the M3 tank, and it had six rubberized road wheels on board, connected in pairs in bogies, and five rollers each supporting the tracks. The front wheels of the tank, like that of the M3, were leading, the track consisted of 76 tracks. The V-shaped gasoline engine FMA-Lorraine-Dietrich 12EB with liquid cooling had 12 cylinders and had a power of 500 hp. (365 kW). This provided the tank with a speed of 40 km / h on the highway - that is, it had quite decent operational and tactical mobility. As for the engine, in the 1930s the Argentines put it on the licensed French fighter Dewuatin D 21, and then it was decided to put it on this new tank as well. The engine was cooled by a radiator in the aft part of the tank. The fuel reserve was 700 liters, and the maximum cruising range was 250 km.
The hull is welded, which was quite modern, and was assembled from rolled armor steel sheets located at rational angles of inclination. But there was nothing to make armor for the tank, and according to some reports it had to be made from melted armor from old ships, since there was simply no metal of the corresponding quality in the country. Its thickness varied from 25 to 80 mm, and the thickest was precisely the front armor plate of the tank, where its thickness was 80 mm, and its angle of inclination was 65 °. For comparison, it should be noted that the frontal armor of the American Sherman M4A1 tank was 51 mm, and the T-34 tank - 45 mm. At the same time, the lower front armor plate had a thickness of 50 mm - that is, quite decently, and its side armor plates, installed at an angle, were 55 mm thick. The bottom is unclear why it was surprisingly thick - 20 mm. The cast tower made of chromium-nickel steel had a hemispherical streamlined shape. The frontal part of the tower was 80 mm thick, the side was 65 mm each, the stern was 50 mm, and the roof was 25 mm (according to other sources, 20 mm). Two viewing slots were made on the sides of the tower, which were closed with thick bulletproof glass. The tank (which is truly a very modern solution, although not entirely justified in this particular case!) Was equipped with a special auxiliary engine for turning the turret 360 °. It is clear that if it failed, then it could be turned manually, but then it turned very slowly.
The tank was armed with a 75-mm Krupp L / 30 gun of the 1909 model, which the Argentine army was armed with at that time, although it was designed before the First World War. The maximum range of a shot was 7700 m, the initial speed of a high-explosive fragmentation projectile was 510 m / s, the initial speed of an armor-piercing projectile was 500 m / s, and the rate of fire of the gun was about 20 rounds per minute, which again was a very good indicator.
The Krupp cannon, model 1909, mounted on the Nahuel tank.
The ammunition in the tank consisted of 80 shells, which were in containers along the perimeter of the turret ring, where the spent cartridges could then be placed. The tank had anti-aircraft "Browning" M2 caliber 12, 7-mm (ammunition in 500 rounds) and machine guns "Madsen" model 1926 caliber 7, 62-mm in the front upper hull sheet (one of them on the left and two in the center), with this on different tanks their number could differ, from 1 to 3 units. The ammunition for them was 3100 rounds.
It is interesting that the radio station and TPU on the tank were German: the Telefunken company. The observation devices of the driver and the radio operator were located on the front hatches of the hull, and the commander's periscope was on the roof of the tower with a viewfinder with threefold magnification and with the ability to rotate it in different directions. The tower was equipped with a fan that sucked powder gases out of it.
The tank's crew consisted of five people: commander, driver, gunner, loader and radio operator. The driver-mechanic and the radio operator were sitting side by side, behind the frontal armor plate. The commander, gunner and loader, as expected, were placed in the tower. According to some reports, during the modernization of the tank, two of the three machine guns were removed from the frontal part of the hull, and the crew of the tank was reduced to four people. Well, the tank's weight was 34 tons (according to other sources, 36, 1 - that is, at the level of the modernized T-34/85). The tank had a maximum lift angle of 30 ° and a cruising range of 250 km.
This tank did not have a chance to fight, but two vehicles were shown to the public on June 4, 1944 at an exhibition of the achievements of Argentine industry. The tanks opened it with cannon shots, while they were painted olive brown, the sides of the tower were painted with round blue and white cockades in the colors of the Argentine flag, and on the front of the side was the inscription D. L. 43, followed by a jumping jaguar.
On July 9, 1944, 10 tanks took part in the traditional festive military parade in honor of the Independence Day on Arenida del Libertador street in Buenos Aires. The column of tanks on the lead vehicle was led by their creator, Lieutenant Colonel A. Baisi. Since then, these combat vehicles have been regularly shown to the people at parades dedicated to Argentina's Independence Day, in particular on July 9, 1945 and July 9, 1948, that is, they were used as real "PR-tanks", demonstrating the capabilities of Argentina's national industry!
Tests have shown that the new tank does not differ in reliability, and most importantly, it is poorly armed. Therefore, in 1947, at the suggestion of the director of the school of mechanized troops, Jose Maria Epifanio Sosa Molina, it was partially modernized. At the same time, his cannon was replaced by a stronger 75-mm Bofors 75/34 M1935 cannon, which fired armor-piercing and also high-explosive fragmentation shells. The first, weighing 6, 8 kg, had an initial speed of 595 m / s, the second - 7, 2 kg and had a speed of 625 m / s. At the same time, an armor-piercing projectile at a distance of 500 m had armor penetration equal to 62 mm. That is, this tank would hardly have been able to fight the German tanks of the war period, but with the "local" ones, so to speak, it could fight quite successfully.
The Jaguar was removed from service in 1948 and replaced with Sherman tanks. However, even after that, they continued to be in arsenals as a source for spare parts, and were also used as targets in shooting practice. In 1950, 13 of these tanks remained in the army. Two cars in 1953, it seems, were presented to Paraguay during a visit to this country by Argentine President Juan Perron. Well, the last DL-43 tank was written off only in 1962. But not a single Jaguar tank has survived to this day, unfortunately! So, although all the ideas put into this tank were secondary, they, like cubes from a children's construction set, were stacked so well that in the end its creators got a very good tank!
Rice. A. Shepsa.
