4.7 cm Pak(t) (Sfl) auf Fgst.Pz.Kpfw.35 R 731(f)

The 4.7 cm Pak(t) (Sfl) auf Fgst.Pz.Kpfw.35 R 731(f), often called the Panzerjäger R 35(f), was a German tank destroyer built on the chassis of captured French Renault R 35 tanks. Permission to build it was given on 23 December 1940, and Alkett, then a leader in building German self-propelled guns, was chosen to design and build it. The turret was removed and a casemate of 20 mm plates, shifted far forward, carried a Czechoslovak 47 mm P.U.V. vz. 36 anti-tank gun. The chassis was smaller than that of a Panzer I Ausf. B, so ammunition and radio had to go in a rear bustle. The first prototype of mild steel was built on 8 February 1941, and in February 1941 the 559th and 561st anti-tank battalions were chosen to receive it. It failed in the first days of the invasion of the Soviet Union and later served in France; ninety six were there in June 1943. One survives, in the Thun museum in Switzerland.