TACAM R-2

Czechoslovakia exported 126 LT vz 35 units to Romania. Twenty R-2s were fitted with the Soviet 76.2mm AT Gun. These were used as tank destroyers. The R-2 is the Romanian term for the Skoda S.IIa (LT vz 35). Shown top left is a R2 of the 1st Romanian Tank Regiment as it would have appeared in 1942. The 1st served at Stalingrad and was practically wiped out. In early 1943 Germany re-equipped the formation with 50 PzKpfw 38(t). The picture in the far right shows members of the Romanian 1st armored regiment, during the Iron Guard coup attempt.

History

Military officials decided that forty R-2 tanks to be converted in TACAMs. The only modification made to the prototype's blueprint was the mounting of the Soviet 76.2mm ZIS-3 gun model 1942 instead of the F-22 gun. Twenty R-2 tanks were withdrawn from service and were modified at Leonida Works between February and June 1944. In July, a number of 7 TACAMs were tested at Dadilov. Firing tests against a captured T-34 revealed a gun effectiveness within 500 meters using Costinescu armour-piercing rounds. However, the gun handling was difficult and the optics were inadecvate. On July 22nd 1944 the High Command of Motomechanized Troops suspended the production of the other twenty TACAMs, resulting a total of twenty-one produced together with the prototype. In July 1944, the TACAM R-2s were distributed to the 1st Tank Regiment were they formed the 63th Tank-destroyer Company. They were used in the liberation of Romanian territory, by September 1944 only six serviceable TACAM R-2s remaining. After the 1st Tank Regiment was disbanded at Soviet order, the six TACAMs entered the composition of the 2nd Tank Regiment and took part in the operations in Austria and Moravia, at the end of the war only one surviving.

Specifications

Name= Tank Destroyer Tacam R-2 Origin= Romania Type= Tank Destroyer Service= 1943 - 1945 Used by= Romania Wars= World War II Designer= Ministry of Army Endowment Design Date= 1943 Manufacturer=General Constantin Pantazi Production_Date= 1943 - 1945 Numbers Produced= 20 - 40 Length= 5m Width= 2.064 m Height= 2.32 m Weight= 12 tons Speed= 30 km/hr Vehicle Range= 160 km Primary Armament= 1 x 76.2mm ZIS-3 L/42 Gun Secondary Armament= 1 x 7.92mm ZB-53 MG Armour= - Engine= Skoda T11, water cooled Crew= 3