Renault UE Chenillette

Renault UE Chenillette
Preserved UE 2 at the Musée des Blindés
Type	Prime mover
Place of origin	France
Service history
Used by	France Nazi Germany Thailand Romania Republic of China Iron Guard
Production history
Designer	Renault
Manufacturer	Renault, AMX, Berliet, Fouga, Malaxa
Produced	1932 - March 1941
No. built	5,168 France, 126 Romania
Variants	UE 2
Specifications
Weight	2.64 t (5,800 lb)
Length	2.80 m (9 ft 2 in)
Width	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Height	1.25 m (4 ft 1 in)
Crew	two
Armor	9 mm (0.35 in)
Main armament	7.5 mm MAC for the last UE 2 production run
Engine	Renault 85 38 hp (28 kW)
Payload capacity	350 kg (770 lb) in cargo bin; 950 kg (2,090 lb) with trailer
Suspension	leaf spring
Ground clearance	30 cm (12 in)
Fuel capacity	56 L (12 imp gal)
Operational range	100 km (62 mi)
Speed	30 km/h (19 mph)

The Renault UE Chenillette was a light tracked armoured carrier and prime mover produced by France between 1932 and 1940.

In 1930 the French Infantry decided to develop a light armoured vehicle able to tow and supply small cannon and mortars. In 1931 the Renault company was given the contract for production of its Renault UE, combined with the Renault UK trailer. In 1937, from a number of competitors, the Renault UE2 was chosen as an improved type for large-scale production. Of both types combined over five thousand were built, including licence production in Romania, and they were part of the standard equipment of all French infantry divisions. Most Renault UE vehicles in French service were unarmed; those in 1940 captured by Germany were used for a variety of purposes, including being armed with machine-guns, antitank-guns and rocket artillery.

Since 1922 it had been the policy of the French Infantry to mechanise as many units as possible. Budgetary restraints made it unrealistic to fully equip them with armoured personnel carriers; but the mass production of smaller armoured vehicles in the roles of munition and supply carrier and weapon carrier for machine guns and mortars seemed feasible. For some years the decision to produce these types was delayed, but after in 1929 an experiment with an automotive trailer guided by a walking soldier had completely failed, it was decided to develop a single vehicle for both missions. In the spring of 1930 several possibilities were considered, among them a standard 3.5 ton truck and the existing Citroën-Kégresse half-tracks. Brandt, as such an arms producer having no experience in vehicle development, had already started cooperation with the British Vickers company to build a weapon carrier for its Brandt Modèle 1927 mortar; it proposed to produce the British Carden-Loyd Mark VI carrier under licence and presented a smaller and a larger vehicle, together with matching trailers, imported from Britain, for the supply and weapon carrier task respectively. On 24 July 1930 the Commission de Vincennes rejected the truck and half-tracks as being too heavy and opted after some satisfactory testing for the smaller weapon carrier of the Vickers type. On 7 October it was decided to develop such a vehicle under the name of Type N. Orders for prototypes were in December 1930 made with three companies: Renault, Citroën and Brandt. Renault however indicated he had no intention to pay licence rights, unless the French state would fully compensate him; the three companies were thus invited to build a "similar" vehicle, not an exact copy. The orders were for armoured tractors and matching tracked trailers and for a heavier trailer to carry again the tractor, to be pulled by a truck while the smaller trailer trailed behind.