FCM 36 Premier essai Musée des Blindés Saumur

[scottduncan44]

The Soviets were the ones who really grasped what a tank was. Despite its faults the early T-34's were better than the German's in armor, mobility and armament. Their tank engine was the best in the war.They also had a limited turret, poor optics, a lack of radio's and poorly trained crews.

[scottduncan44]

This tank shows how a failure of tactical doctrine effects real life. The French as other countries (britain, Germany and the3 Soviets) had a tactical doctrine calling for infantry and cavalry tanks. Unfortunatly the French chose to update the Renault F-17 a war winner in WW 1 a war loser in WW 2. The technical aspects were excellent as were other French tanks. They failed to have a standard model and the infamous one man turret and a lack of radios.

[MrRockMo]

actualy this was the first sloped armour tank, the russians copied it from the french.

[bidon3332000]

Merci à l'uploader :) on sent presque les effluves d'essence à travers l'écran!

[F4Wildcat]

How many of these FCM's survive today?

[museedesblindes]

@F4Wildcat it's the last one, only one hundred was build. Regard

[88pie88]

@F4Wildcat isnt there another one that was converted to a german Geschuetzwagen

[Panzer4F2]

Very cool. Lot's of bubble gum for the eyes in the background too. Roland, M1976, Panther turret , Chaffee, Sherman. Great work folks !

[tvnshack]

Magnifique travail de restauration. Bravo et encore merci de préserver et restaurer notre patrimoine. Belle vidéo aussi, agréable à regarder.

[jerrymail]

C'est super d'avoir pu conserver et remettre en état cet étrange blindé léger de 1940 et ceci sachant qu'en plus il a été produit à relativement peu d'exemplaires. Bravo aux mécanos du musée! Grâce à eux ce sont des bouts de notre histoire qui revivent!

[tutnallman]

mais, ils etaient francais!

[petrwarry72]

nice one 5* or thumbs up guys , cheers , petr

[spectre720]

lovely piece of history.

pity it's a such a shitbox lemon

I don't think the French quite mastered the art of tank building.....

[Fridomfry]

Ah, well... the French built the 1st modern tank in 1917, the Renault F17, which was decisive in the 1918 victory. The US army was pretty glad to get equipped with Renault F17s.

In 1940, the French had the best tank on the battlefield (too bad they had no air control as well...). You shouldn't judge without knowing, Sir.

[tonidmc]

@Fridomfry a Tank that has only one member of the crew in the turret is not a good tank. He need to be the loader, the gunner and the commander.... and dont forget that the vast majority of tanks build by the french had only one person on the turret.... A Panzer III with a short barreled 50mm gun it would be my choose of the best tank in the french Campaign.

[cfs3000]

indeed, it 's like a cardboard box

[Kagetora2010]

@spectre720 That "lemon" had 40mm of welded, sloped armour and proved to be a tough nut for the Germans to crack with their 3.7 cm Pak 36. The FCM 36 was also a diesel; more reliable than a gasoline engine, better range, less likely to brew up. The FCM 36 was designed for infantry support, not as an MBT. That said, the two battalions that used them put up a very brave fight against frankly impossible odds, and managed to make an impression on the German tankies they defied near Sedan.

[ex59neo53]

Du très bon travail !

[F4Wildcat]

Fantastic job people! I am glad to see people out their working to get these old tanks back in working order!