Description
Developed from the mid-1930s as a cavalry tank, the SOMUA S35 used a number of cast metal parts to up production efficiency; the bolted cast hull design was ahead of its time. With a 47mm main gun and a 190hp V8 gasoline engine from which it could squeeze 40km/h, the SOMUA S35 was an effective package. The roughly 430 examples produced between 1936 and June 1940 proved a worthy adversary for German forces during fighting in Belgium and Northern France, their balanced performance leading many to acclaim the S35 as the best tank available to France at the commencement of WWII.