Laird Centaur (Land Rover half track)
- Thread starter TsrJoe
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Easier to build and maintain than full-tracked vehicles for one thing.
zebedee
ACCESS: Secret
Laird (Angelsey) was the former Saunders Roe operations at Beaumaris after they had been bought from HSA's Gloster-SARO operation by Cammell Laird in 1968. Still active as Faun Trackway nearby at Llangefni.
Zeb
Zeb
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Also easier to drive than a full tracked vehicle, less training is needed . . .
cheers,
Robin.
There was already a thread about the Centaur.
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/laird-centaur-half-track-vehicle.40094
Some related videos were also posted at
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/modern-halftracks.6167/#post-394571
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/modern-halftracks.6167/#post-434784
At full speed, the Centaur's tracks hit the wheel arch just above doing much noise. Another video posted on Secret Projects shows this, i haven't been able to find it yet.
It might be a video from a Tankfest or something alike with Centaur passing in the background with his wriggling tracks.
(Edit a bit later)
Found it :
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6d6WNScc_U
And there is some more :
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=laird+centaur
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/laird-centaur-half-track-vehicle.40094
Some related videos were also posted at
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/modern-halftracks.6167/#post-394571
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/modern-halftracks.6167/#post-434784
At full speed, the Centaur's tracks hit the wheel arch just above doing much noise. Another video posted on Secret Projects shows this, i haven't been able to find it yet.
It might be a video from a Tankfest or something alike with Centaur passing in the background with his wriggling tracks.
(Edit a bit later)
Found it :
And there is some more :
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=laird+centaur
Last edited:
Tank Museum store, Bovington
https://m.facebook.com/groups/424714227697738/permalink/1732729813562833/
https://m.facebook.com/groups/424714227697738/permalink/1732729813562833/
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There are actually two basic reasons for building a halftrack, both not really valid anymore. If one looks at the heyday of halftracks, i.e. the thirties and forties of the previous century, one should differentiate between the US M3 halftrack and the German halftracks (actually three-quarter tracks). The US M3 was basically a 6x6, lightly armoured truck, with the rear two axles replaced by track assemblies. This reduced the ground pressure and increased the traction on soft underground such as mud or sand.
The raison d'etre for the German three-quarter tracks was different. To understand this, one needs to understand a couple of technical facts. Firstly: For a fully tracked vehicle, there is an ideal ratio between the length of track on the ground and the distance the tracks are apart. If the ratio increases much above about 1,5, for instance, if the tracks are 2 metres apart and the length of track on the ground is greater than 3 metres, steering the vehicle becomes increasingly difficult, and when the vehicle turns, there is increased strain on the steering mechanism, the tracks, road-wheels, etc. The risk of breakage or of the tracks coming off is markedly increased. The second salient fact is that engines were large and weak, 80 years ago; even petrol (gasoline) engines. The best military vehicle engines at that time developed no more than 30 hp per litre displacement, on petrol varying from 70-80 octane. British "pool" petrol, I believe, was 70 octane, German army benzine was 74 octane and US gasoline was 80 octane.
What the Germans wanted were fully tracked vehicles that could pull useful loads (artillery, mostly), i.e. were relatively powerful, and could carry the gun crew and some ammunition, i.e. were relatively spacious. Now, let's look at the Sd. Kfz. 6. The tracks were 1,7 metres apart and the length of track on the ground was 2 metres. Let's assume this was a fully tracked vehicle. If you drop your (large) engine and transmission inside this package, there will be very little space left for gun crew, ammunition, etc. So, the Germans hung the engine and part of the transmission out in front and supported it with a steering axle. This left much more space at the back for gun crew, etc. Although the front wheels could steer, steering was mainly accomplished by the Cletrac steering mechanism attached to the steering wheel. It functioned like a fully tracked vehicle, to a large extent.
The Centaur was like the M3: the tracks provided increased mobility on rough terrain compared to similar sized wheeled vehicles. The disadvantage compared to wheeled vehicles is that a halftrack cannot travel long distances on roads: they have to be transported on trucks. I agree that the disadvantages, and cost, outweighed the possible advantages of such a modification. A couple might have been useful on the Falklands though, and could have been landed by helicopter!
The raison d'etre for the German three-quarter tracks was different. To understand this, one needs to understand a couple of technical facts. Firstly: For a fully tracked vehicle, there is an ideal ratio between the length of track on the ground and the distance the tracks are apart. If the ratio increases much above about 1,5, for instance, if the tracks are 2 metres apart and the length of track on the ground is greater than 3 metres, steering the vehicle becomes increasingly difficult, and when the vehicle turns, there is increased strain on the steering mechanism, the tracks, road-wheels, etc. The risk of breakage or of the tracks coming off is markedly increased. The second salient fact is that engines were large and weak, 80 years ago; even petrol (gasoline) engines. The best military vehicle engines at that time developed no more than 30 hp per litre displacement, on petrol varying from 70-80 octane. British "pool" petrol, I believe, was 70 octane, German army benzine was 74 octane and US gasoline was 80 octane.
What the Germans wanted were fully tracked vehicles that could pull useful loads (artillery, mostly), i.e. were relatively powerful, and could carry the gun crew and some ammunition, i.e. were relatively spacious. Now, let's look at the Sd. Kfz. 6. The tracks were 1,7 metres apart and the length of track on the ground was 2 metres. Let's assume this was a fully tracked vehicle. If you drop your (large) engine and transmission inside this package, there will be very little space left for gun crew, ammunition, etc. So, the Germans hung the engine and part of the transmission out in front and supported it with a steering axle. This left much more space at the back for gun crew, etc. Although the front wheels could steer, steering was mainly accomplished by the Cletrac steering mechanism attached to the steering wheel. It functioned like a fully tracked vehicle, to a large extent.
The Centaur was like the M3: the tracks provided increased mobility on rough terrain compared to similar sized wheeled vehicles. The disadvantage compared to wheeled vehicles is that a halftrack cannot travel long distances on roads: they have to be transported on trucks. I agree that the disadvantages, and cost, outweighed the possible advantages of such a modification. A couple might have been useful on the Falklands though, and could have been landed by helicopter!
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