AMC 34

The AMC 34 was a French tank originally built for the cavalry units of the French Army. Its production was cut short, and the few vehicles made were out of service by the time of the Battle of France. It grew from the plan of 1931 for the mechanisation of the cavalry, which foresaw an Automitrailleuse de Combat, a lightly armoured but swift tank of no more than nine tons with a 47 mm gun. Louis Renault learned of the plan early and in autumn 1931 told his design team to build one; a riveted version proved too heavy and the project was redesigned as a much smaller vehicle, the Renault YR, presented to the Commission de Vincennes on 12 October 1933. A pre-series of twelve hulls was ordered on 9 March 1934 and the first was delivered on 17 October 1935. The vehicle is 3.98 metres long and 2.07 wide, with a 7.125 litre V-8 engine of 120 horsepower, a top speed of 40 kilometres an hour and 20 mm of armour. Plan 1934 demanded armour proof against anti-tank guns, so it was redesigned as the AMC 35 and no more of the original type were ordered. The twelve vehicles went to the 4th Cuirassiers in January 1936 and to Morocco in 1937.