It was quite naive to expect such a high speed from a vehicle with only 10 hp/ton of power. Initial requirements formulated by the 6th Waffenampt described a 6 ton vehicle with a 60 hp engine with a top speed of 40 kph. Heinrich Kniepkamp, another future pillar of the German tank school, represented the 6th Waffenampt in this matter. These two would go on to develop the suspension for the B.W. Georg Hagelloch, the man who designed the suspension of the Kleiner Sturmwagen, was another. This engineer was one of the key figures in Krupp's armoured vehicles department. Erich Wolfert was in charge of efforts from Krupp's side. The design of the Kleinetraktor concept was done jointly by Krupp and the 6th Waffenampt, qhich was responsible for armoured vehicles. Don't let the word В«tractorВ» fool you, this is a transmission and control system for the Kleinetraktor The patent was filed on June 21st, 1929, meaning that the real idea could be several years older.

Illustration from patent DE514219C by Erich Wolfert. History repeated itself: after the heavy A7V, the LK had to be designed. Another tank was needed: smaller, simpler, cheaper, without any excesses such as amphibious capability. However, it quickly became obvious that the vehicle would be complex and expensive, and the short 75 mm gun was not the best choice for anti-tank work. These tanks would become the backbone of the German tank forces in the future. Work on this 15 ton vehicle was done on a tender system, with Daimler-Benz and Rheinmetall competing against Krupp. It's likely that work began long before, as by that point, two years of work have been done on another vehicle, initially called Armeewagen 20. The first known materials on the tank called Kleinetraktor for secrecy are dated March 1928. Initially, the idea was to develop SPGs on existing tractor chassis. Meanwhile, in 1925, Germany took a few shy steps towards developing tanks once more. Without a possibility of working in Germany, Vollmer left for Czechoslovakia, working on convertible drive tanks there. German arms manufacturers sat quietly for the first half of the 1920s, suppressed by Versailles restrictions and the economic downturn. Some solutions from this project carried over to the Kleinetraktor The modernized tank would have this suspension. Illustration from Georg Hagelloch's patent, one of the few known images of the Kleiner Sturmwagen. Of course, the victory was a brief one, as the German army never received any LK.IIs. Vollmer's concept with a front engine and rear fighting compartment seemed a lot more viable. The alliance of two manufacturing giants designed more of an armoured tractor than a tank, and one with questionable characteristics at that. The Kleiner Sturmwagen developed by Krupp and Daimler turned out to be worse than its competitor. Krupp united its efforts with Daimler and challenged Captain Vollmer.Д®ven though the forces were anything but equal, Krupp didn't achieve victory. This possibility arose when work on the LK (Leichter Kampfwagen) light tank began in 1917. It is expected that Krupp would wish to build its own tanks in house.

The German A7V was built with hulls built, in part, in Hessen.

Naturally, Krupp couldn't walk by such a promising novelty as tanks. This was a true manufacturing army, capable of supplying the Kaiser with a weapon of any caliber, in any numbers. By the start of WWI, 140,000 people were working for Krupp in Hessen. Its armament, especially cannons, quickly became one of the most important products of the quickly growing company. LK.II ReimaginedДЇounded in Hessen in the early 19th century, the Krupp steel casting company turned into a manufacturing giant by the end of the century. The Krupp conglomerate was one of those companies. However, several years later, work on new vehicles resumed, and companies who were left during WWI had their chance. When Germany lost the ability to develop and produce tanks after the war, a part of their engineers left the country and began building tanks for other nations. The commission appointed a captain from the automobile forces, Joseph Vollmer, to direct design work. During the First World War, a special technical commission presided over all German tank development, headed by General Friedrichs.

Leich traktor