3 years ago

The Sd.Kfz.2 was designed and built
by the NSU Werke AG at Neckarsulm,
Germany. Patented in June 1939,
it was first used in the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
Most Kettenkräder saw service on the Eastern Front,
where they were used to lay communication cables,
pull heavy loads and carry soldiers through
the deep Russian mud.
Later in the war, Kettenkräder were used
as runway tugs for aircraft

The Sd.Kfz.2 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 2) is a
half-track motorcycle with a single front wheel,
better known as the Kleines Kettenkraftrad HK 101
or Kettenkrad for short.
The Kettenkrad started its life as a light tractor
for airborne troops.

The vehicle was designed to be delivered
by Junkers Ju 52 aircraft, though not by parachute.
The vehicle had the advantage of being
the only gun tractor small enough
to fit inside the hold of the Ju 52,
and was the lightest mass-produced German military
vehicle to use the complex Schachtellaufwerk overlapped
and interleaved road wheels used on almost all
German military half-tracked vehicles of WWII.

Steering the Kettenkrad was accomplished
by turning the handlebars.
Up to a certain point, only the front wheel would steer the vehicle.
A motion of the handlebars beyond that point would
engage the track brakes to help make turns sharper.
It was also possible to run the vehicle
without the front wheel installed and this was recommended
in extreme off-road conditions where speed would be kept low.
Production of the vehicle was stopped in 1944,
at which time 8,345 had been built.
After the war, production resumed at NSU. Around 550 Ketten
were built for agricultural use, with production ending in 1948/49.

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■ Information obtained from several sites.
■ Wikipedia
■ tanks-encyclopedia
■ the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving_Panzers
■ preservedtanks
■ pantser.net
■ the.shadock.free.fr/Tanks_in_France

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