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Britain
Armadillo MkIII

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The Armadillo MkIII was designed in 1940, manufactured by Bedford Vehicles based on the existing 4 x 2 drive Bedford 1.5 ton lorry chassis and was in use from 1940 to 1941.

Flag of World War 2 Britain
Photo of Armadillo MkIII ()
Stanley Arthur Devon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

General Details
Specifications
Operational Date(s)1940 - 1941
Quantity Produced877
Weight6.5 tonne
Crew5
M.G's small1
M.G's large(>10mm)n/a
Length6.22 mtr
Width2.18 mtr
Height3.09 mtr
Engine Details/Performance
Max Road Speed40 mph
Max Cross Country Speed8 mph
Range Road280 miles
Range Cross Country56 miles
Fuel TypePetrol
Fuel Capacity32 gal
Horse Power72 hp
Power/Weight11 hp/tonne
General Information
The Armadillo MkIII was designed in 1940, manufactured by Bedford Vehicles based on the existing 4 x 2 drive Bedford 1.5 ton lorry chassis and was in use from 1940 to 1941.

The vehicle was powered by Bedford '3.6 L' petrol powerplant producing 72 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 40 mph with a range of about 280 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was adequate providing a max speed of about 8 mph and a range of about 56 miles.

It was armed with 1 light machine gun , a Lewis Gun. Its main armament consisted of a 37mm COW gun which could penetrate 28 mm of flat plate at 400 metres

The Armadillo Mark III was produced in Britain during 1941 and intended as a defense against the threat of invasion(Home Guard) or paratroop attacks on airfields(RAF).

Based on the standard Bedford 1.5 ton lorry chassis, it comprised a two layer wooden fighting compartment with a 6 inch gap containing a layer of gravel to protect from bullets with a driver's cab protected by mild steel plates.

For all intents and purposes it was a mobile pillbox.

Armour Details
Turret
Frontn/a
Siden/a
Rearn/a
Topn/a
Superstructure
Frontn/a
Siden/a
Rearn/a
Topn/a
Hull
Frontn/a
Siden/a
Rearn/a
Topn/a
Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°)



Weapon Details
Flag
Lewis Gun
(Machine Gun)
Blank
photo of Lewis Gun from Lewis gun from Wikipedia
History
The lewis gun was designed by an American Colonel Isaac Lewis in 1911.

The Birmingham Small Arms Company purchased a licence to manufacture the Lewis machine gun in England, which made Lewis very wealthy.

Lewis and his factory moved to England before 1914, away from possible seizure in the event of a German invasion as it was originally based in Belgium.

The Lewis gun used a horizontal pan magazine which held either 47 or 97 0.303 rounds.

The gun was used by a large number of Countries during World War II, and in most Theatres of the War.
Manufactured1914 - 1945
Calibre7.70mm
LengthL/87
Rate of Fire500 rpm
 
Ammunition Details
Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content
Standard british .303 round - HPBT
(BALL Standard Small Arms)
7.70mm 0.01Kg 761M/Sec
Range(Mtr)1002004008001200160020002400
Flight Time(Secs) 0.17
Penetration(mm@30°) 1
Penetration(mm@0°) 2
Hit Probability(%) 98


 
Standard british .303 round
(BALL Standard Small Arms)
7.70mm 0.017Kg 783M/Sec
Range(Mtr)1002004008001200160020002400
Flight Time(Secs) 0.15
Penetration(mm@30°) 4
Penetration(mm@0°) 5
Hit Probability(%) 98



Weapon Details
37mm COW gun
(Machine Gun)
Blank
History
The Coventry Ordnance Works designed this gun as an anti aircraft weapon during World War I, however it didn't go into production until late 1918.

It fired clips containing 5 rounds of shells, and was during World War II mounted on the Armadillo, a beach landing defence vehicle.
ManufacturerCoventry Ordnance Works
Manufactured1918 - 1942
Calibre37mm
LengthL/62
Rate of Fire90rpm
 
Ammunition Details
Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content
37x190R HE
(HE High Explosive)
37mm 0.65Kg 594M/Sec ≈0.098Kg explosive
Range(Mtr)10002000300040005000600070008000
Flight Time(Secs) 2.31 7.34
Direct Fire
Range(Mtr)1002004008001200160020002400
Flight Time(Secs) 0.17 0.36 0.76 1.72 3 4.75 7.34 11.56
Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 77 29 8 2 0
Blast/Fragmentation Effects
Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill2 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill5 mtr
Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill13 mtr  Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr0 mm
An explosion within 2 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal.
An explosion within 5 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's.
An explosion within 13 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties.
The blast effect of this shell exploding within 1 mtr of an armoured vehicle will not cause any significant armour damage.

Hit probability is based on a static 2 x 2.4 metre panel at 0 degrees(vertical) at the range specified.

The data that has been used to create these records has come from Wikipedia, The Lone Sentry, The Bundes Archive and numerous books and websites that have provided the detailed information that has not been available anywhere else. The information we use to calculate the penetration tables, flight times and the hit probability comes from the Gun Calibre, the Shell Mass(Kg) and the muzzle velocity, plus range reductions to allow for gravity and wind resistance. This calculation originally came from a pre-war Krupp calculation which has been modified, and seems to fit the actual test results.

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