- 40M Nimród
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40M Nimród Place of origin Kingdom of Hungary, Ganz, Budapest
Specifications Weight 10.5 tonnes Length 5.32 m (17 ft 5 in) Width 2.31 m (7 ft 7 in) Height 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) Crew 6 Armor 6–13 mm on the hull, 28 mm on the turret Main
armament40 mm Bofors/60 AA-gun Engine VIII EST 107, 8-cylinder, gasoline, water-cooled
150 hp (110 kW)Operational
range300 km (180 mi) Speed 50 km/h (31 mph) The 40M Nimród was a World War II Hungarian anti-aircraft tank based on a license built copy of the Swedish Luftvärnskanonvagn L-62 Anti II tank. Originally, it was intended to be used as an anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapon, but it proved to be ineffective against Soviet T-34 tanks. Therefore, it was primarily utilized against lightly armored vehicles and for air defense.
A total of 135 Nimrods were built, most of which were deployed by the 51st and 52nd Armoured Autocannon Battalions of the 1st and 2nd Hungarian Armoured Division, respectively. Nimrod batteries attached to armoured and motorized battalions were allocated six vehicles each. A platoon consisted of two vehicles.
The vehicles' only armament was a 36M 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun also made in Hungary under license. The gun fired the usual anti-aircraft ammunition as well as a Hungarian anti-tank round. It had a rate of fire of 120 rounds per minute and a penetration of 46mm at 100m, 30mm at 1000m. The Nimrod carried 160 rounds.
Late in the war, the vehicle was issued with the 42M "Kerngranate". This was a rocket grenade fitted over the muzzle in the fashion of a rifle grenade.
The vehicle had a crew of six men: commander, driver, two loaders and two operating the gun.
References
- The Royal Hungarian Army, 1920-1945, Volume II, Hungarian Mobile Forces, by Dr. Peter Mujzer
- A Magyar Királyi Honvédség Fegyverzete, by Attila Bonhardt, Gyula Sárhidai and László Winkler
External links
WWII Hungarian AFVsTanks Assault guns Armored cars SP anti-aircraft Weapons and military equipment designed or licence-manufactured in HungaryFirearms PistolsBofors 80 mm · Bofors 40 mmOtherArmour and other
land based vehiclesLight Tank V3 · Light Tank V4 · 38M Toldi · 40M Turán I · 40M Nimród · 43M Zrínyi assault gun · 44M Tas heavy tankOtherAircraft Other Notable foreign-
made weapons
used by HungaryComprehensive list of used equipment in the WWII era Categories:- Tanks of Hungary
- Medium tanks
- Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons of World War II
- 40 mm artillery
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