S-35

The SOMUA S35 was a French Cavalry tank of the Second World War. Built from 1936 until 1940 to equip the armoured divisions of the Cavalry, it was for its time a relatively agile medium-weight tank, superior in armour and armament to its French and foreign competitors, such as the contemporary versions of the German Panzerkampfwagen III. It was constructed from well-sloped, mainly cast, armour sections, that however made it expensive to produce and time-consuming to maintain.

History
The design of the SOMUA S35 comes from the changed specifications of 26 June 1934 for an Automitrailleuse de Combat (AMC) issued for cavalry use. These called for a much heavier design than had been originally specified in 1931. The new type had to be immune to contemporary antitank gun fire. On 17 May the Army had already contacted a subsidiary of Schneider et Cie — the Société d'Outillage Mécanique et d'Usinage d'Artillerie (or SOMUA) based at Saint-Ouen — to build a prototype. The company accepted this proposal on 16 July and construction began on 12 October 1934. The prototype, with the name AC3, was ready on 14 April 1935. It was tested from 4 July until 2 August 1935. Then a preseries of four was produced of an improved type, the AC4, to be tested until 27 January 1938. These first vehicles had the standard APX1 turret, fitted with the short 47 mm SA 34 gun. On 25 March 1936, the AC4 was taken on as the standard medium tank of the Cavalry with the official new name Automitrailleuse de Combat modèle 1935 S (or AMC 1935 S), when a first order for fifty was made. The tank was then more commonly known as SOMUA S35 (S again for SOMUA and 35 from 1935, the year of introduction); today the even shorter abbreviation S35 is most often used, in English sources usually with a hyphen: "S-35".

The mass-production vehicles would have the longer SA 35 gun. Originally, a total production of six hundred was planned, to provide each of the three Cavalry armoured divisions with two hundred tanks. Later, budgetary restraints led to a more gradual and limited procurement. In 1936 a second order was made of fifty, followed by a hundred in 1937, and two orders of 125 each in 1938, resulting in total prewar orders of 450 units.