Description
The FCM 36 is a small vehicle, 4.46 m long, 2.20 m high and 2.14 m wide, with a crew of two. It has a weight of 12.35 metric tons. The most conspicuous feature of the tank is the futuristic pyramidal shape of its armour, consisting of many panels, electro-welded together to avoid shot-traps and fully implement the principle of sloped armour. Only the engine deck is bolted on to provide easier access. Even the upper track run and the suspension units are protected by zig-zag armour plates. As the armour is of good quality, the 40 mm thickness angled at 30 to 45 degrees from the vertical, renders an equivalence of about 45–55 mm, enough to defeat the standard anti-tank guns of its day, even when the gun was ideally positioned. The reclining armour implied that more raking shots would quickly start to deflect. The other modern feature, the diesel engine, gives the vehicle a range of 225 kilometres from a fuel tank of 217 litres.
In some ways the tank is more old-fashioned. The V-4 91 hp Berliet diesel allows for a top speed of just 24 km/h (15 mph). The suspension is accordingly simplistic, consisting of eight road wheels per side sprung by eight vertical coil springs. The tank can cross a two metres trench and climb a 70 cm obstacle or a 80% slope. Also very limited is the armament: apart from the 7.5 mm Châtellerault MAC31 machine gun, the standard short L/21 37 mm SA 18 gun is fitted with very poor anti-armour capacity.
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