Bussing A5P

History

The armored vehicle was useful on the battlefields of World War I (1914-1918), but it was rapidly scaled back tactically when the conflict descended into trench warfare in 1915. Germany's Bussing AG began producing military vehicles as early as 1910, after German war planners began to appreciate the flexibility of armored vehicles - especially against weakly defended positions with gun infantry - the group joined other local automakers The collaboration developed a solution for the Army.

Bussing was commissioned in 1914 to build a new car around an all-wheel drive chassis alongside its rivals Daimler and Ehrhardt.

Bussing returned in 1915 with a large and heavy prototype - built on 4x4 wheels with an armored superstructure on the chassis. Lines and slopes describe the shapes used, and the basic structure of the vehicle is based on a Bussing truck. So it's powered by the in-house Bussing "Otto" 6-cylinder 90-horsepower gasoline engine, which is designed to have a range of up to 150 miles and a top speed of just over 20 mph.

Ten people are required to operate the beast, and its armor is steel, up to 9mm thick in some of the more critical areas. The weapon usually consists of 3 x 7.92mm MG08 machine guns, which can be exchanged for MG15nA series rifles if necessary.

The roof-mounted turret provided a good angle of fire above the vehicle.

The design was commissioned as "A5P" and ordered for series production in 1916, but there was little optimism about the car due to the lack of power - it was heavy due to its armor weighing down the market weight of 22,600 lbs. It's also over 11 feet tall, making it an easy target to spot, and over 31 feet long, it requires an excessive turning radius.

As a result, only three examples were completed and production ceased, although these were in combat service on the Romanian and Russian fronts in 1916 and 1917, respectively.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

Not available.

Changes