This would be cool to drive as a GV
In the year 1940 a small demolition carrier, which was developed by the french manufacturer Kegresse, was sunk in the Seine and recovered by the germans, who explored it detailed. Already in November 1940 the order to develop a small, remote controlled, fully tracked vehicle, which should carry at least 50kg of explosives, was given to Borgward. The idea behind that was to destroy enemy bunkers, fortified positions and even tanks from a safe distance with the help of this vehicle. Because the explosive charge was fixed to the vehicle, the whole vehicle was blown up at the target. It was intended to look like that enemy positions were discovered, then engineers, sitting in secure position, drove "Goliath" with remote control to the enemy and there the "Goliath" was blown up.
The prototype got four large wheels and was driven by two electric-motors, which were fed by two batteries. The production vehicle then got smaller roadwheels, fixed to leaf-springs, what led to two enough space between the tracks for battery-carrying sponsons on each side. That brought more space for the explosive charge, which was now 60kg! The track was guided above the sponsons by three return rollers and the idler wheel was made as disc-type, which all can be seen on the next picture.
So this was the "leichter Ladungsträger" (light demolition carrier) Sd.Kfz.302 - E-Motor (Electric engine) or even known as "Gerät 67". From April 1942 to January 1944 the manufacturers Borward and Zündapp produced 2650 of this type. It was propelled by two Bosch MM/RQL 2500/24 RL2 electric-motors, each giving 2.5kW. Two batteries gave the energy for the motors. With the overall weight of 370kg a maximum speed of 10kph could be achieved. The driving-range was about 1.5km on streets and 800m cross country. For longer transports there was a two wheeled trailer, on which "Goliath" was brought to the battle zone. At the rear of the vehicle the drum, which carried the wire, was located. It was a three strand wire, where two strands were for driving the vehicle and one for detonating the charge. The "Goliath" was 1.5m long, 0.85m wide, 0.56m high and the hull was made of 5mm steel. The tracks were 16cm wide and made of 48 links each. With a ground clearance of 11.4cm and a track ground contact length of 73cm it was enabled to cross trenches of 60cm width.
The first "Goliath" E-Motor vehicles were given to Panzerpionierkompanien (Goliath) 811-815, which belong to Heerespionierbataillon(mot) zbV600 (Taifun). Also the Pioniersturmbrigade 627 got some of the first "Goliath". Only a few "Goliath" E-Motor came into action, because the charge was too small to make big success and also the price of a Sd.Kfz.302 was about 3000,-RM (Reichsmark), which was expensive and was one of the main reasons to discontinue the production by January 1944 and to speed up the development of a cheaper carrier with a combustion engine. in March 1945 there were 2527 Sd.Kfz.302 ready for action, what shows that the use of this vehicle was very little.
As said before the "Goliath" should become better and cheaper. Already in November 1942 a demolition carrier was demanded, which could carry bigger charges over longer distances. The manufacturers Zündapp and Zachertz built a successor with the base of a "Goliath", which got a combustion engine. The designation was "Leichter Ladungsträger (V-Motor)", "Goliath", Sd.Kfz.303a respectively Sd.Kfz.303b or "Gerät 671" respectively "Gerät 672".
The first version (Sd.Kfz.303a / Gerät 671) was built from April 1943 to September 1944 in a number of 4604. This vehicle could carry a 75kg charge. A Zündapp SZ7 two cylinder, two-stroke-engine with 703cm³ gave 12.5bhp and speeded the 370kg heavy vehicle to 10kph. The petrol tank, located at the rear, contained 6 litre, so the maximum range of 12km on streets or 6-8km cross-country was given. The hull was made of 10mm steel and the vehicle hat a length of 1.62m, a width of 0.84m and a heigth of 0.6m. In contast to the electric-motor version, this version got a new designed spoked idler, only two return rollers, a raised air-intake cowl on hull top and the roadwheels were suspended by swingarms and coil springs. The tracks weighted 25.5kg and were made of 48 links each.
Of the following version Sd.Kfz.303b / Gerät 672 were 325 produced from November 1944 on. This version now could carry a 100kg charge and can be distinguished from version "a" by the dimensions. The length now was 1.63m, the width 0.91m and the height 0.62m. Despite of increased weight of 430kg it could achive a speed of 11.5kph with the same engine. The other technical data is the same as for Sd.kfz.303a.
The sponsons on each side carried now two batteries, the control unit and air filters. At the front of the hullt the charge was placed, while the engine was in the middle compartment. At the rear the wire-drum, which carried 650m of wire, was placed as well as the petrol tank as mentioned before. The ground clearance was 16.8cm which allowed a wade depth of 22cm. The trench crossing abilty of the Sd.Kfz.303a was 85cm and of Sd.Kfz.303b even 1.00m. The grade climbing ability was 70°.To produce a "Goliath V-Motor" about 542kg of unalloyed and 10kg alloyed iron was needed. The price of this type of "Goliath" was only 1000,-RM, which was more cheap than the "Goliath" with electric motor. Nevertheless this version also wasn't very successful und also not often used in combat. Of all, nearly 5000 produced Sd.Kfz.303, were 3797 still waiting for action in January 1945!
