40M Nimród

40M Nimród
Type	Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun
Place of origin	Kingdom of Hungary, Ganz, Budapest
Specifications
Mass	10.5 tonnes
Length	5.32 m (17 ft 5 in)
Width	2.31 m (7 ft 7 in)
Height	2.8 m (9 ft 2 in)
Crew	6
Armor	6–13 mm on the hull, 28 mm on the turret
Main armament	40 mm Bofors/60 AA-gun
Engine	VIII EST 107, 8-cylinder, gasoline, water-cooled 150 hp (110 kW)
Operational range	300 km (180 mi)
Maximum speed	50 km/h (31 mph)

The 40M Nimród was a World War II Hungarian self-propelled anti-aircraft gun based on a license-built copy of the Swedish Luftvärnskanonvagn L-62 Anti II tank. Originally, it was intended to be used both as a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and tank destroyer, but it proved to be ineffective against Soviet T-34 tanks. Therefore, it was primarily utilized against lightly armored vehicles and for air defense.

A total of 135 Nimrods were built, most of which were deployed by the 51st and 52nd Armoured Autocannon Battalions of the 1st and 2nd Hungarian Armoured Division, respectively. Nimrod batteries attached to armoured and motorized battalions were allocated six vehicles each. A platoon consisted of two vehicles.

The vehicles' only armament was a 36M 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun also made in Hungary under license. The gun fired the usual anti-aircraft ammunition as well as a Hungarian anti-tank round. It had a rate of fire of 120 rounds per minute and a penetration of 46mm at 100m, 30mm at 1000m. The Nimrod carried 160 rounds.

Late in the war, the vehicle was issued with the 42M "Kerngranate". This was a rocket grenade fitted over the muzzle in the fashion of a rifle grenade.

The vehicle had a crew of six men: commander, driver, two loaders and two gunners.

References

• The Royal Hungarian Army, 1920-1945, Volume II, Hungarian Mobile Forces, by Dr. Peter Mujzer
• A Magyar Királyi Honvédség Fegyverzete, by Attila Bonhardt, Gyula Sárhidai and László Winkler

External links

• Hungarian WWII AFVs
• Pictures from Zrinyi Miklos National Defence University