Schwere Wehrmachtschlepper

The Schwere Wehrmachtschlepper, or sWS for short, was a German World War II half-track cargo vehicle used in various roles, typically for hauling artillery pieces with the gun's crew seated in the rear.

It was originally designed to replace the earlier, and similar, SdKfz 7 and SdKfz 11, as well as the various lesser-known vehicles of the same class. Production started in December 1943 at Büssing-NAG. Early examples used a truck-like cabin similar to the earlier SdKfz cargo models it replaced, while later examples featured an armored cabin that looked similar to the famous SdKfz 251. Production was also joined by Tatra, but both factories produced only 825 in total, and they remained fairly rare. [ [http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/3620/sws.htm Vehicles of the Wehrmacht ] ]

In addition to the basic cargo role, the vehicle was also adapted to the medium anti-aircraft role with the 3.7 cm FlaK 43, which was placed at the front of the cargo area on a turret with a large gun shield. Ammunition was carried at the rear of the cargo area. The only other known modification was with the 15cm Nebelwerfer 42, a 10-barreled rocket launcher that stuck out of the top of an armored compartment built over the cargo area.

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