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kleines Kettenkraftrad Sd.Kfz. 2
Kettenkrad was originally designed as a civil machine but in 1939 NSU Werke AG project gained support of a German Army. That vehicle was planned to be used as a light artillery tractor and a transporter in hard all-terrain conditions. First representatives of that little tractor were launched to the service in 1940 (so called 0 series). The prototype was marked as Vs.Kfz.620. It was a small but technologically complex vehicle which could take three people including a driver who was sitting at the front. Relatively long tracks occupied all side of the vehicle. The engine was placed under and behind a driver. Two passengers sat at the back, backwards. Towed equipment was linked by a device at the back of the vehicle. Except light cannons a machine could also tow a specially designed small trailer for ammunition or fuel. Sometimes back seats were removed to make more space for load. When Kettenkrad was introduced to weaponry it was mainly to be used by airborne troops. Losses suffered during the invasion in Crete caused that German parachute units fought later as land divisions, that is why having a light artillery tractor was already not essential for them. In this connection Kettenkrad was used mostly as a transport vehicle on such areas where other machines moved with difficulty. However, that vehicle could drive in wilderness, including mud and sand but it took little load and the weight of a towed trailer was limited to 450 kg. Kettenkrad was also used by Luftwaffe to tow planes and protect the airfields. The vehicle was manufactured until the end of war and a number of manufactured Sdkfz 2 was 8411. The construction was so successful that production was renewed in 1947 and during warfare captured representative vehicles were commonly used by the Allais’ armies.
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- Kettenkrad with PaK Winter
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- Kettenkrad 8
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- Kettenkrad 6
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- Kettenkrad with Sonderanhanger and Horch 901
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- 102nd Infantry Division GI’s in captured Kettenrad Baesweiler 24 January 1945
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- Kettenkrad of Afrika Korps 1942
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- Kettenkrad with PaK 2
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- Kettenkrads Karelia
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- Italian soldiers ride SdKfz 2 to surrender to British in Egypt 1942
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- Kettenkrad 10
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- SdKfz 2 abandoned by Germans in North Africa
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- Captured Kettenkrad of DAK
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- Kettenkrad 7
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- Kettenkrad in use by U.S. Military Police in Cherbourg
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- Kettenkrad Italy 1943
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- Kettenkrad 11
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- Kettenkrad 3
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- Kettenkrad and Marder III
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- 101st Airborne Troops Normandy with Kettenkrad 14 June 1944
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- Kettenkrad Eastern Front 5
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- Kettenkrad 9
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- Captured Kettenkrad of Luftwaffe unit
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- NSU Kettenkrad 4
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- NSU Kettenkrad WH-1030470
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- NSU Kettenkrad 2
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- NSU Kettenkrad on railroad flat car
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- NSU Kettenkrad 8
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- Kettenkrad January 1945
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- Kettenkrad of the 6th Panzer division 1942
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- NSU Kettenkrad of the Luftwaffe
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- NSU Kettenkrad HK101 SdKfz 2 FJ Fsch.Art.Rgt Fallschirmjager Division
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- NSU Kettenkrad HK101 SdKfz 2 FJ Fsch.Art.Rgt.1 Fallschirmjaeger Div
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- Kettenkrad SdKfz 2 NSU
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- NSU Kettenkrad
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- NSU Kettenkrad of Luftwaffe
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- NSU Kettenkrad of the Wehrmacht
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- NSU Kettenkrad of the Luftwaffe Kreta Greece
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- Kettenkrad sd kfz 2
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- Kettenkrad sdkfz 2 of the Luftwaffe
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- Kettenkrad with trailer
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- SdKfz 2 Kettenkrad with trailer
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- Kettenkrad with trailer Sd Anh 1
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- Kleines Kettenkraftrad HK 101 during trials
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- Kettenkrad with trailer Sd Anh 1 Russia
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- Kettenkrad from luftwaffe
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- Kettenkrad from luftwaffe photo
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- Kettenkrad towing flak 30
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- Kettenkrad fahrschule
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- Kettenkrad SdKfz 2 towing trailer winter
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- Kettenkrad towing PaK 35/36
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- Kettenkrad SdKfz 2 with trailer
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- Kettenkrad NSU
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- SdKfz 2 kettenkrad NSU
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- Kettenkrad Sd Kfz 2
kleines Kettenkraftrad Sd.Kfz. 2
Kettenkrad was originally designed as a civil machine but in 1939 NSU Werke AG project gained support of a German Army. That vehicle was planned to be used as a light artillery tractor and a transporter in hard all-terrain conditions. First representatives of that little tractor were launched to the service in 1940 (so called 0 series). The prototype was marked as Vs.Kfz.620. It was a small but technologically complex vehicle which could take three people including a driver who was sitting at the front. Relatively long tracks occupied all side of the vehicle. The engine was placed under and behind a driver. Two passengers sat at the back, backwards. Towed equipment was linked by a device at the back of the vehicle. Except light cannons a machine could also tow a specially designed small trailer for ammunition or fuel. Sometimes back seats were removed to make more space for load. When Kettenkrad was introduced to weaponry it was mainly to be used by airborne troops. Losses suffered during the invasion in Crete caused that German parachute units fought later as land divisions, that is why having a light artillery tractor was already not essential for them. In this connection Kettenkrad was used mostly as a transport vehicle on such areas where other machines moved with difficulty. However, that vehicle could drive in wilderness, including mud and sand but it took little load and the weight of a towed trailer was limited to 450 kg. Kettenkrad was also used by Luftwaffe to tow planes and protect the airfields. The vehicle was manufactured until the end of war and a number of manufactured Sdkfz 2 was 8411. The construction was so successful that production was renewed in 1947 and during warfare captured representative vehicles were commonly used by the Allais’ armies.
Bibliography:
- Das Kettenrad von NSU – H HK-101 Sd.Kfz.2 – Horst Hinrichsen, Waffen-Arsenal 148, odzun-Pallas-Verlag 1994
- The Kettenkrad Sd.Kfz.2 – Type HK-101 – Friedhelm Abel, Schiffer Military History Vol. 38
- Die Halbkettenfahrzeuge des Deutschen Heeres 1909 – 1945 – Walter J. Spielberger, Motorbuch Verlag 1993