Hotchkiss H35 - Development

Development

In 1926 it had been decided to provide armour support to the regular infantry divisions by creating autonomous tank battalions equipped with a light and cheap infantry tank, a char d'accompagnement. For this role at first the Char D1 was developed which type however proved to be neither particularly light nor cheap. In 1933 the Hotchkiss company under its own initiative presented a plan to produce a lighter design - this was made possible by the application of the new technology to produce cast steel sections to construct an entire hull. On 30 June 1933 this proposal was approved by the Conseil Consultatif de l'Armement. On 2 August 1933 the specifications were made known: a weight of six tons and 30 mm armour protection all around. Three prototypes were ordered from Hotchkiss, but the entire French industry was also invited to provide alternative proposals. This allowed the Renault company to beat Hotchkiss in delivering the first prototype, which later was developed into the Renault R35. On 18 January 1935 the first Hotchkiss prototype, not yet made of armour steel, was presented to the Commission d'Expérience du Matériel Automobile (CEMA) at Vincennes; it was a machine gun armed tankette without turret. It was tested until 4 March 1935, when it was replaced by the second identical prototype to be tested until 6 May. Both had to be rejected because new specifications had been made on 21 June 1934 that increased the desired armour thickness to 40 mm. On 27 June 1935 the commission approved the type on the provision that the necessary changes would be made. On 19 August the third prototype was delivered, equipped with a cast APX turret and featuring a redesigned hull; it was tested until 20 September and accepted. On 6 November a first order was made for 200 vehicles. The first production vehicle was delivered on 12 September 1936, in which year two additional orders had already been made of 92 and 108 vehicles respectively. By 1 January 1937 132 vehicles had been produced.