Panzer Auto 1 (P.A.1) / (Junovicz)

History

The Austro-Hungarian army of the First World War (1914-1918) was slow to recognize the value of armored vehicles before the conflict. It was heavily influenced by its enemies in Russia and Italy, who both transitioned to using armored vehicles as an effective complement to infantry mobility on the battlefield. As a result, Austria-Hungary soon began to develop several local systems - one became Junovicz P.A.

1. ("Panzer Auto 1"). This car was developed by an officer surnamed "Junovicz" and appeared in 1915. Hence, the car is named after him.

Like other armored vehicles of war, the P.A.1 is built on an existing, proven commercial truck chassis for convenience. The Fiat 40 truck - sourced in Italy but built under license locally - forms the backbone of the car. A purposeful, boxy armored superstructure was added to the chassis, protecting the five crew - a driver, a commander, two machine gunners and a dedicated loader - and the bow most importantly 's engine.

The car weighs about 4 tons, is 5.7 meters long, 1.9 meters wide and 3.5 meters high. Large, heavy and cumbersome to handle, the P.A.1 had many of the same shortcomings as other armored vehicles of the era. Armor protection up to 7mm - good for small arms fire, but nothing more.

Power comes from a Fiat 12-liter 4-cylinder petrol engine that produces 40 horsepower and allows road speeds in excess of 20 mph, with a range of up to 217 miles.

The armament was concentrated on two or three 1907/12 Schwartzross machine guns, one of which usually faced the armored superstructure. The remaining guns can be attached to any of the four firing ports on the side of the vehicle (two ports on each side of the hull).

The first batch of cars was three numbers and came out of battle in 1915. In 1917, fourth and fifth examples were added to the Austro-Hungarian inventory - the former was built on the chassis of a Bussing 36 truck, while the latter was built on the frame of a Saurer 34 truck.

The operational existence of these vehicles is largely unknown, but it is generally believed that the series did not make much progress in combat operations, mainly due to the difficult terrain encountered on both the Italian and Russian fronts.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

Not available.

Changes