Renault UE Chenillette

The Renault UE Chenillette was a light tracked armoured carrier and prime mover built in France between 1932 and 1940 to tow and supply small cannon and mortars for the infantry. It grew out of a 1930 French army requirement for a vehicle modelled on the British Carden-Loyd carrier, and Renault received the production contract in 1931 for the tractor together with its UK trailer. Only about 2.8 metres long, it carried a driver and a commander under small armoured hoods with a four-cylinder engine between them, and its official top speed was limited to 30 km/h. In 1937 the improved UE2 was chosen for large-scale production, more than five thousand of the two types were built, Romania built about 126 under licence as the Malaxa Tipul UE, and captured examples served the German army in several roles.