Lorraine 40t

The Lorraine 40t was a prototype French medium tank of the Cold War. 
Development.
The Lorraine company kept a close eye on the designs made by AMX, and were tasked with producing a lightweight variant of the AMX 50. Their design mated a hydraulically operated oscillating turret to the then experimental Canon D’Assaut Lorraine’s chassis, thus creating the Lorraine 40t. Similar to the turret designed by FAMH ("Compagnie des forges et aciéries de la marine et d’Homécourt") for the AMX-50, the turret for the Lorraine 40t was designed in 2 sections. The lower section allowed the turret to rotate horizontally and the upper section could depress and elevate along with the gun with respect to the lower portion, with an elevation range of -8 degrees to +15 degrees.
Design.
Like on the AMX 50 project, the 100mm SA47 (The same version of the gun that the Canon D’Assaut Lorraine mounted) was chosen to be mounted in the turret, allowing the Lorraine 40t to achieve a similar amount of firepower as its heavier counterpart. Another notable feature is the Lorraine 40t had in common with the AMX 50 was the introduction of a drum autoloader to the main armament with 50 rounds stored in ammo rack within the hull. The fact that the gun was mounted in an oscillating turret meant that engineers were able to easily install an autoloader mechanism without worrying about the possibility of the limited vertical movement of the gun within the turret. The commander and the gunner shared a linked firing system, allowing both crew members the ability to operate the gun.
Like many French tanks developed or prototyped during the post war period, the Lorraine 40t’s engine was of German design, inspired from the many German Tiger and Panther tanks that littered the French countryside, a few of which entered French military service after World War II. In the case of the Lorraine 40t, a French built turbocharged water cooled Maybach HL 230 V12 called the HL 295 was used, producing 850hp at 3000 RPM. This engine was also used to power the AMX-50. Using an engine which was designed to propel much heavier tanks such as the Tiger and AMX 50, allowed the Lorraine 40t to reach speeds of up to 60 km/h (37 mph) during testing with relative ease. This was roughly 10 km/h faster than the AMX 50.
In order to meet the requirements of weighing less than the then overweight AMX 50, the tank had drastically thinner armor. It was of welded construction, with thicknesses of 25 to 40mm. The tank was equipped with 10 Veil Picard tires (5 on each side) instead of steel road wheels to save weight. The inclusion of these tires also increases crew comfort by reducing vibrations and shocks when the vehicle was in motion. These attributes were carried over from the Canon D’Assaut Lorraine.