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In the early 1950’s Hotchkiss in France developed a series of tracked vehicles under contract to the French Army. The French Army did not order any but the German Army, in urgent need of modern vehicles, tested the prototypes and placed an order for a series of vehicles. Some 2,000 vehicles saw service with the Germans, mainly the Schützenpanzer 11-2 reconnaissance vehicles along with mortar carrier, command vehicle, ambulance and cargo carrier variants. Many of these vehicles have been preserved, but they are beyond the scope of this book.
By the late 1950’s the SPz 11-2 design was overtaken when the German Army decided to develop a leichten Panzerfamilie (light armoured vehicle family). This consisted of a number of vehicles designed for different roles but all based on a common chassis. The vehicles comprising this family included a light tank and a tank destroyer. They also included a self-propelled anti-tank missile vehicle (the Jagdpanzer Rakete) and an armoured personnel carrier (the Marder Schützenpanzer) which are beyond the scope of this book.
The leichten Panzerfamilie tank destroyer saw wide service as the Jagdpanzer Kanone while the light tank was developed as the Spähpanzer Kette (reconnaissance armoured vehicle tracked). The Spähpanzer Kette was designed to replace the Germany Army’s old American M41 light tanks in the reconnaissance role. Its development began in 1960 and a prototype was completed in 1963. It mounted a Rheinmetall turret armed with the 90mm Bordkanone as used in the Jagdpanzer Kanone.
By the middle of the 1960s the Leopard tank was in production and it was decided that reconnaissance units did not need their own specialist vehicles. The development of the Spähpanzer Kette was dropped without any further vehicles being built and its role was given over to the Leopard. With hindsight, this may have been a hasty move as the wheeled Spähpanzer Luchs was eventually developed to take back this role from the Leopard.
1) BWB Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung, Koblenz, Germany
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284
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This is one of the prototypes of the Spähpanzer Kette. It carries the number 6335 on the glacis plate. It is missing many parts including its searchlight and mantlet cover.
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2) Panzermuseum, Munster, Germany
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285
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This is one of the prototypes of the Spähpanzer Kette.
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