CMK MV122 ARL-44 The Last French Heavy Tank

The ARL 44 was a French heavy tank from the Cold War period. The first full-size prototypes of this car were built right after the end of World War II, and serial production continued in the years 1947-1950 or until 1951. In total, 60 vehicles of this type were built. The length of the tank was about 10.5 meters, with a width of 3.4 meters. The weight of the vehicle oscillated around 50 tons. The vehicle was powered by a Maybach HL-230 engine about power of 575 hp. The main armament of the ARL 44 was the 90mm DCA45 cannon, and the secondary armament: two 7.5mm MAC31 machine guns.

It is assumed that the design and conceptual work on the ARL 44 tank started as early as 1943, and certainly at the beginning of 1944. Their main goal was to create a vehicle that could be manufactured by the domestic industry and which was similar in performance and combat capabilities to the German Pz.Kpfw V and VI vehicles. When designing it, the emphasis was primarily on armor and firepower. Captured engines were also used Maybach HL-230. The downside is the use of an almost archaic chassis modeled in a way on the Char B1bis car. It was for this last reason that the ARL 44 cars were not very successful and had limited maneuverability, although they had decent firepower and armor. They were withdrawn from service as early as 1953. Interestingly, they were presented to the public on a large scale only once - during the parade on the 14th of July in 1951.