Draft:Faun Kraka

The Kraka (Kraftkarren) was a quad developed by the Zweirad Union. The vehicle was initially intended for agricultural and forestry use as well as for disaster relief and relief services, but was then used in a further developed version as a military transport vehicle by the Bundeswehr until the 1990s due to its good air transportability and parachute drop capability. It was manufactured in the Fahrzeugfabrik Ansbach und Nürnberg GmbH. Zweirad Union was a subsidiary of Faun at the time .

Development

In 1962, Zweirad Union developed a vehicle designed for high mobility and off-road capability . The actual target market of agriculture and forestry as well as disaster relief showed little interest in the vehicle. Since the German army had been looking for an all-terrain, air-transportable weapon carrier for the airborne units since the experiences of the Second World War, the manufacturer increasingly tried to win the German army as a buyer.

n 1965, the Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement purchased 50 vehicles for testing purposes. The vehicles were thoroughly tested both at Test Site 41 and at the Airborne Division . From 1971, after the engine and chassis had been converted, quads known as 0.75 t gl Kraka Type 640 trucks were delivered to the German Army. After a few further modifications, a total of 862 quads were delivered to the German Army in 1974/75.

The Kraka was phased out by the German Armed Forces with the introduction of the Mercedes-Benz Wolf carrier vehicle and the Wiesel 1 weapons carrier vehicle in the 1990s.

Service History

The Kraka was the typical vehicle of the 4th and 5th heavy paratrooper companies and the airborne anti-tank company, airborne mortar company and airborne engineer company of each airborne brigade. These served as a transport vehicle for the heavy weapons and as a carrier vehicle such as the field cannon and the TOW, as well as an ammunition vehicle for other combat ammunition. The heavy hunter companies of the mountain hunter and hunter battalions, on the other hand, were made mobile with M113 and/or had tank destroyers (cannon) or (rocket).

The first prototypes were equipped with a two-stroke engine from the Goggomobil . This parallel twin from Glas had a displacement of 400 cm³ and achieved around 12 kW (16 hp). These first vehicles had the type designation 540. The tires were Lypsoid 22x12. The later Faun Kraka Type 640 had the tire designation Lypsoid 22x12 Type3. Only an early test vehicle had rims with tires in size 6.00-16, identical to the wheels of the DKW Munga from Auto Union. A total of around 100 Faun Kraka Type 540 with Glas engines were built. The basic design of the Kraka came from the Hungarian designer Nicolas Straussler. A few of these three-wheeled Krakas were built in Belgium. The idea for the special low-profile tires, which were only driven at 0.8 to 1.4 bar, also came from Straussler.

The vehicle, which was light and could be folded in half for air loading, significantly increased the mobility of the infantry . The first Bundeswehr version of the quad had four specially developed low-pressure tires of size 22×12 lypsoid (spherical shape), but was otherwise initially unchanged. During testing, it turned out that the chassis was too weak for the intended payload of 750 kg. In addition, the built-in two-stroke engine proved not to be powerful enough. The vehicle was therefore equipped with a Type 427 boxer engine from the BMW 700, throttled down to 26 hp , and after reinforcing the frame and the leaf springs it could transport around 750 kilograms of load with a dead weight of 735 kg. One disadvantage was the vulnerable long drive chains on each side of the small vehicle used for power transmission

The vehicle had a height of 1.19 m and was equipped with a loading area of 1.4 × 1.4 m and about 1.51 m wide. The length was 2.78 m; folded 1.85 m. The nominal maximum speed was 60 km/h, although up to 80 km/h was possible.

The chassis could transport various equipment sets, including:

for anti-tank defense, the PARS TOW anti-tank guided missile systems with six anti-tank guided missiles
as a multi-purpose weapon the machine gun MK 20 Rh 202 from Rheinmetall
120 mm mortar
transport of sick people and ammunition.

The MILAN anti-tank guided missiles , with which the 4th platoons of the infantry companies were equipped, were mobile with off-road vehicles such as the VW Iltis , later with the Mercedes-Benz G Wolf , and were deployed from field positions

Technical Data

Motor

BMW 427
Number of cylinders: 2 (Boxer)
Bore × stroke: 78 × 73 mm
Displacement: 697 cm³
Power: 19 kW at 5000 rpm
Torque: 50 Nm at 3000 rpm
Compression ratio: 1:7.5
Carburettor: 1 Bing constant pressure carburetor 64/32/16
Valves: V-shaped overhead. Pushrods and rocker arms, central camshaft
Crankshaft bearings: 3
Cooling: fan air
Lubrication pressure circulation, 2 liters of oil, with oil cooler
Battery: 12 V 45 Ah
Alternator: 12 V 130 W

Transmission

Clutch: rear-wheel drive block, chain drive
Gearshift: Single-disk dry clutch
Transmission: 4 speed
Synchronization: I-IV

General Data

Wheelbase: 2058 mm
Track front/rear: 1138/1130 mm
Overall dimensions: 2780 × 1510 × 1190 mm (height above steering wheel)

Total length of the folded vehicle: 1850 mm

Ground clearance: 280 mm
Tires: Lypsoid 22×12 Type L3
wading depth : 500 mm
turning circle diameter: 8.5 m
Car weight: 735 kg (with liquids)
Permissible total weight: 1610 kg
Seats: 3
Top speed: 1st gear 12 km/h, 2nd 23 km/h, 3rd 35 km/h, 4th 55 km/h
Minimum speed: 3 km/h
Consumption: approx. 12 liters per 100 km
Tank capacity: 24.5 liters
Driving range: approx. 200 km

International Comparison

The Kraka on the German side was a solution to the problems of airborne troops, which had already been identified during the Second World War . The first real and supposed solutions for air-transportable light transport vehicles were developed during the war, others later:

Folding bikes include the “Folding Military Bicycle” from BSA for British paratroopers.
an English micro scooter, flat design, handlebars and seat post each at normal height and foldable ( Welbike ).
Bernardet, a rather crude scooter with a 250 cc engine.
Cushman Airborne Scooter, a rough, sturdy scooter for parachute drop.
Valmobile, a small moped that can be folded into a suitcase.
military Vespa scooters , with luggage rack, crash frame and pierced windshield for carrying ammunition and a light gun barrel. The scooters were used in the French army.
a military tricycle from Italy, possibly by Piaggio , two seats side by side, with additional single-axle trailer. Tested together with the Kraka in Germany.
The Belgian Fabrique Nationale AS 24 is a ball-tire trike with a bench seat for four soldiers and a trailer, and is similar in design . The air-transportable, compact and demountable vehicle was used by the Belgian Army in 1962 during Operation Dragon Rouge in the Congo .
M274 Mechanical Mule US Army, used mainly during the Vietnam War.

Weblinks

Website von faun-kraka.de
Archived (Date missing) at glasclub.org (Error: unknown archive URL)
Bundeswehr Classix: Kraftkarren der Luftlandetruppe (1975) (YouTube-Video)

References

^ Werner Oswald: Kraftfahrzeuge und Panzer der Reichswehr, Wehrmacht und Bundeswehr. Katalog aller Typen und Modelle. Motorbuchverlag, 1971, erweiterte Auflage ISBN 978-3-87943-850-1.

[1] Werner Oswald: Kraftfahrzeuge und Panzer der Reichswehr, Wehrmacht und Bundeswehr. Katalog aller Typen und Modelle. Motorbuchverlag, 1971, erweiterte Auflage ISBN 978-3-87943-850-1.