| TACAM R-2 |
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The stringent need for modernising the Romanian armoured force made the specialists of the Ministry of Army Endowment and War Production to study the possibility of upgrading the R-2 tank in early 1943. As the conclusions for supplementing the armour and changing the main gun were not favourable, it was accepted to convert the vehicle into a self-propelled gun by using the captured 76.2mm artillery pieces and armour plates of the captured T-26 and T-60 tanks. In spring 1943 the War Minister, General Constantin Pantazi, ordered the production of a prototype designated Tun Anticar pe Afet Mobil R-2 or TACAM R-2. The project was entrusted to a team led by Lieutenant-Colonel Constantin Ghiulai, the same that conceived the TACAM T-60. The prototype of TACAM R-2 was built at Leonida Works in Bucharest between July and September 1943. Following the trials that took place at Suditi, the testing committee concluded that even if the new vehicle had the drawback of a very high profile, it was more valuable than the R-2 tank. On 12 February 1944 the military officials decided that forty R-2 tanks to be converted in TACAMs. The only modification made to the prototype's blueprint was the mounting of the Soviet 76.2mm ZIS-3 gun model 1942 instead of the F-22 gun. Twenty R-2 tanks were withdrawn from service and were modified at Leonida Works between February and June 1944. In July, a number of 7 TACAMs were tested at Dadilov. Firing tests against a captured T-34 revealed a gun effectiveness within 500 meters using Costinescu armour-piercing rounds. However, the gun handling was difficult and the optics were inadecvate. On July 22nd 1944 the High Command of Motomechanized Troops suspended the production of the other twenty TACAMs, resulting a total of twenty-one produced together with the prototype. In July 1944, the TACAM R-2s were distributed to the 1st Tank Regiment were they formed the 63th Tank-destroyer Company. They were used in the liberation of Romanian territory, by September 1944 only six serviceable TACAM R-2s remaining. After the 1st Tank Regiment was disbanded at Soviet order, the six TACAMs entered the composition of the 2nd Tank Regiment and took part in the operations in Austria and Moravia, at the end of the war only one surviving.
| Specifications |
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| Armament |
| Cross-country range | 130km |
| Road range | 160km |
| Gradient | 45° |
| Fording depth | 0.8m |
| Trench crossing | 2m |
| Vertical obstacle | 0.5m |
| Max cross-country speed | 15km/h |
| Max road speed | 30km/h |
| Performance |
| Mileage | 81 litres/100km |
| Fuel/Capacity | petrol, 153 litres |
| Power | 125hp/1800rpm |
| Cylinders | 6L |
| Displacement | 8500cc |
| Type | Skoda T11, water cooled |
| Engine |
| Clearance | 0.35m |
| Height | 2.32m |
| Chassis length | 5m |
| Width | 2.064m |
| Dimensions |
| Weight | 12t (fully loaded) |
| Crew | 3 |
| Main | 1 x 76.2mm ZIS-3 L/42 gun |
| Elevation | -5° to +15° |
| Traverse | 30° |
| Ammunition | 21 HE rounds, 9 AP rounds |
| Secondary | 1 x 7.92mm ZB-53 mg |
| Armour |
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Cazackiu Anton (10 July 2009)
Fotografia alb-negru este facuta in vechiul local al M.M.C. din str.Izvor,nr.137(vechiul local al Scolii militare de ofiteri nr.1 Bucuresti)demolat in 1985.
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Richard Foster (6 July 2009)
hi, first post, 2 questions:
1) was the Secondary 1 x 7.92mm ZB-53 mg located in the Hull?
2) was there a top cover over the gun super-structure and only open at the back, or was the top also open? ive seen a few pictures of the TACAM R-2 and its not very clear.
Thanks,
Richard
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