Leichttraktor

The Leichttraktor, officially the Vs.Kfz.31 and also called the VK 31, was a German experimental light tank of the interwar period, developed in secret while the Treaty of Versailles restricted German military development. The name means light tractor and was a cover name for the programme. Krupp and Rheinmetall each built prototypes, and the two firms machines differed mainly in suspension, with coil springs on the Krupp vehicles and leaf springs on the Rheinmetall ones. The engine sat in the front of the hull and the turret at the rear. The vehicles were tested at the Kama tank school near Kazan in the Soviet Union, and English Wikipedia reports that Rheinmetall design was chosen in 1928 for an order of 289 tanks that was later cancelled, a figure other sources doubt. In the early years of the Second World War the tanks served for training, and the experience helped lead to the Panzer I.