Springer (vehicle)
The Mittlerer Ladungsträger Springer was a demolition vehicle of the German Wehrmacht in World War II.
Description
Based on the NSU Sd.Kfz. 2 Kettenkrad light tracked vehicle, NSU Werke at Neckarsulm developed and built around 50 Springer demolition vehicles from October 1944 to April 1945.To make the vehicle capable of carrying a bigger payload without the motorcycle-style front fork of the original, two pairs of overlapping and interleaved road wheels were added to the aft end of the running gear on each side; giving three outer and three inner running wheels. It was powered by the same Opel Olympia engine of the Kettenkrad.
A driver, sitting in the back of the Springer, drove the vehicle close to the target before dismounting. The final approach and the detonation of the high explosive charge was controlled by a wired or wireless remote control device.
Springers were operated by "Radio Control Armoured Companies", a company made up of three Sturmgeschütz 40 armoured control vehicles, each controlling three Springers and a Sturmgeschütz command vehicle.
The Springer showed the same problems as other remote-controlled demolition vehicles: They were expensive and not very reliable. As the explosive charge was an integral part of the vehicle, it could only be used once.