Char GPF

Another entry to World of Tanks contest. This time it's Design your own French SPG! [link]

-edit- 6/18/12
The winners have been announced. [link] My design didn't even place. Ah well, straight into the scrap pile.


Char GPF

Designed: 1936
Year built: 1936
Number built: 114

Weight: 25 tons
Barrel length: 5.915 m (20 ft) L/38.2

Length: 4.430 m
Width: 3.097 m
Height: 1.733 m

Crew: 6 (Commander, driver, loader x2, gunner, radio)

Armor: 20mm front; 10mm side; 10mm rear
Main Arm: 155mm Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF)
28 rounds
Shell separate-loading, cased charge. 95 lb (43.1 kg)
Caliber 155 mm (6.10 in)
Recoil 1.8m 10° to 1.1 28°
Elevation: 0° to +35°
Traverse: 60°

Engine: SOMUA V-8 petrol 190 hp (140 kW)
Engine Top Speed: 30.7 kph Road; 22.2 kph Off-road
Suspension: Coil spring suspension

Notes:

This vehicle and its history are pure fiction.

Designed based on the Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) mle.1917, building a motor carriage using existing French manufactured components. Built shortly before the start of WWII.

SPG was originally built in limited numbers at the start of the war. After 1948 production began again with units sent to SE Asia.


Overview:
In 1935, recognizing the need for greater military assetts and realizing the incomplete nature of the Maginot Line defensive fortifications, then Minister of War Jean Fabry called for a motor carriage for artillery units that would not need to rely on trucks, tractors, or horses and oxen (or other such beasts of burden) and be indedependent military units for the national defense doctrine. The ministère de la Guerre issued a contract based on the "Estienne accord" where once again, Renault and Schneider co-operated to design the mobile field gun.

Utilizing the reliable Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux that was built during the first world war and designed by Colonel L.J.F. Filloux, the new motor carriage would be powered by the SOMUA V-8 engine that was also used in the SOUMA S35 Cavalry Tank.

Initially, sixty Moteur de Chariot GPF (Char GPF) were produced before the German Invasion and Italian declaration of war in 1940. Twenty of the Char GPF were quickly shipped to the United States and Britain before the fall of Paris in November 1942.

Production of the guns resumed in 1948 with a number of batteries sent to French colonial areas of French Guiana, Vietnam, Cambodia, and French Indochina. Other units were deployed to South Korea for the NATO police action during the Korean War.


Capabilities:
The Char GPF mounts the Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux, which fires 155mm munition rounds. Maintaining it's original characteristics, a well trained crew is able to fire off an average of two rounds per minute with an effective range of 19.5 kilometers. While not an exceptional power plant for the vehicle's weight, the SOMUA V-8 petrol 190 hp engine is able to travel at an estimated 30 km/h on road, with a reduced speed of 22 km/h in the field.



Battle History:
With limited use by the French army during World War II, most of the original production run of Char GPF were actually used by British, American, and German forces from 1938 to 1945. As the Battle of France raged, nearly two dozen field guns had been evacuated along with the French soldiers and British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo.

Later on during the war, both Allied forces and German forces used the gun in several land engagements. The German military assigned a number of the captured guns to heavy artillery battalions and for costal defense.

After the Second World War, the guns were later recovered and/or reproduced and sent to problem areas of the French Empire. Bolstering their defensive positions in South East Asia as well as in French Indochina as well as sending a single battery to French Guiana.

On November 29, 1950, Lieutenant General Monclar, Inspector of the Foreign Legion formed a volunteer force that was sent to Pusan, in the Southern half of the Korean Peninsula. Two dozen Char GPF were deployed with the unit and was placed under operational control of the 23rd U.S. Infantry Division. As part of the French Battalion, the Char GPF were used during the battles of Wonju, Twin Tunnels, and Chipyong-ni.

With increasing Communist action in South East Asia, the French forces started to withdraw from Vietnam in 1956. During the militry engagements, the Char GPF were gradually replaced with U.S. Military assets. However a number of batteries were deployed during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. A conflict which marked the end of the French involvement in Indochina.

With the French colonial empire giving way to local independence movements and conflicts, most of the Char GPF units had been sold off to other militaries, dismantled or otherwise demilitarized for museums and private collectors. By 1958, production had since stopped on the self propelled gun and the outdated weapon was replaced by the Mk F3 155mm , and later AMX 30 AuF1 GCT 155mm.



Variants:
Few varients of the Char GPF are known. Only minor modifications had been made. Such as removing the "wine rack" ammo stowage to be able to carry more shells, or other minor modifications to improve battle effectivness. Over the course of a decade, later models were supplied or upgraded with a more powerful engines for increased range and mobility. However, the overall design remain largely unchanged.