R-2 TACAM

Photo from Skoda LT vz.35

Although this isn't a German conversion, per se, it was inspired directly by the German Marder series of tank destroyers and was built largely from German-supplied stores. Romanian armies fighting alongside German, and later Soviet, forces were generally very poorly equipped. During the fighting around Stalingrad in late 1942, the backbone of the Romanian armored divisions were R-2's and Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) (essentially the same tank). Only a few Panzer IV's and Panzer III Ausf N's were available. Therefore during the massive Soviet counterattack, the Romanians lost almost the sum total of their armor.

During the subsequent rearmament of the Romanian armored divisions, only marginal improvements in overall armor quality could be expected (Panzer IV's and Panzer 38(t)'s). It was therefore decided to attempt to rebuild the remaining R-2 tanks as tank destroyers using captured Soviet 76.2mm ZIS-3 M1942 guns as the main armament. Roughly 20 vehicles were rebuilt by the Leonida company. The new designation, TACAM means "Tun Anticar cu Afet Mobil," which translates roughly as self-propelled anti- tank gun. The vehicle was used successfully until the end of the war by the Romanian armored divisions (both as part of the Axis and later as a Soviet ally).

Photo from Skoda LT vz.35

• Skoda LT vz.35

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