Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien

Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien
TypeAssault Tank
Place of originGerman Empire
Service history
In serviceNever used
Specifications
Mass~19 t
Length6.7 m (22 ft)
Width2.34 m (7.7 ft)
Height2.9 m (9.5 ft)
Crew5

Armor14 mm (0.55 in)
Main
armament
1 x 57 mm (2.2 in) or 37 mm (1.5 in) cannon
Secondary
armament
2 x 8 mm MG 08 machineguns
EngineArgus As III
190 hp (140 kW)
Power/weight10 hp/t (7.4 kW/t)
Operational
range
60 km (37 miles), ~100 km (62 miles) paved road
Maximum speed 16 km/h (9.9 mph) on roads
9 km/h (5.6 mph) off-road

The Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien ("Assault tank Upper Silesia" from German: der Sturm, the assault; German: der Panzerwagen the tank) was a German tank project of the First World War. It was a radical design for a fast-moving, lightly armoured assault tank.

The Oberschlesien included a track which was placed under the tank and only wrapped around half of it. The design sacrificed armour for the sake of speed and only required a 180 hp (130 kW) engine for the 19 ton body, giving it a projected ground speed of 16 km/h (9.9 mph).

The tank featured such advanced features as the main armament mounted on top of the tank in a centrally placed revolving turret, separate fighting and engine compartments, a rear-mounted engine and a low track run.