FN - Kégresse 3T The FN Kégresse 3T was a half - track vehicle used by the Belgian armed forces as an artillery tractor between 1934 - 1940 . It should not be confused with the Citroën Kégresse P14 half track , which was also in use in the Belgian and Polish armed forces , but differs slightly in configuration . About 130 were built until the start of the Battle of Belgium . History . Looking for a way to mechanize the heavy equipment of the cavalry forces of the Belgian army , the Belgian supreme command became interested in the AMC Schneider P 16 half track . However , given the protectionist economic climate of the early 1930s , a straightforward acquisition of the latter was eventually dropped . Instead a locally produced licensed derivative of the Citroën Kégresse P14 was decided upon : with the first prototype finished in 1934 . Eventually the FN Kégresse 3T internal design and mechanics drew largely upon the design of the Minerva CM - 3 lorry , since the mechanical parts and engine , a gasoline Minerva 36 six cylinder with 55 hp , were originally built in the Minerva factory . The chassis and outside features were largely similar to the Citroën Kégresse P14 . FN Herstal had acquired the license to built the Kégresse half - track system , and took care of the final assembly . However , given the low acquisition numbers of the original FN Kégresse 3T and the direct sale of Citroën Kégresse P14 ' s to the Belgian armed forces the design clearly left something to be desired . So a second version was introduced with a slightly uprated 60 hp FN63T 8 cylinder gasoline engine , very similar to the one used in the FN63C lorry , by that time also in use with the Belgian army . Construction of the new model started in earnest by 1938 . Description . The FN Kégresse 3T was a half - track with a two man driver - cabin and a heavy platform equipped for towing large trailers or artillery pieces . Back suspension was of the Citroën Kégresse half - track type , with a leaf spring type suspension with 2 two - wheel bogie s attached to a single sidebar , connected to the back idler - wheel , with only the frontal wheel providing traction . The frontal suspension was the same as used in the Minerva CM - 3 truck and of the elliptical spring type . The engine of the first version of the FN Kégresse 3T was a water cooled 6 cylinder Minerva 36 gasoline engine with an internal volume of 3 liters and a power rating of 55 hp , the second version had a 4 liter FN 63T 8 cylinder water cooled gasoline engine producing 60 hp . As in the Minerva CM - 3 , the FN Kégresse 3T had a 4 speed transmission and an average autonomy of 400 km . Similar to the Citroën Kégresse P14 , there was a frontal winch drum installed in front of the front bumper , with a protruding hand crank access in the middle to start the engine . The winch was driven by motor power . Both on the sides as on the backside platform there were numerous storage compartments for small equipment , accessible from the outside . The driver cabin had a left sided steering wheel , and was open on both sides , with a simple cloth structure providing some protection against the elements . On a glance there is very little difference between the Citroën P14 Kégresse and the FN Kégresse 3T , apart from the rooftop of the drivers cabin , which is straight in the Citroën but is inclined forward in the FN Kégresse 3T as well as in the Minerva CM - 3 it was based on . Different from the Minerva CM - 3 was the placement of the spare tire : on the sides in the latter but in the FN Kégresse 3T it was placed on the rooftop . Both versions of the FN Kégresse 3T were not armored and , apart from personal equipment , they were unarmed . Operational use . As the production of the second version started shortly before the second world war , the total amount produced remained rather limited : 130 FN Kégresse 3T ' s were built , with some 100 actually in use with the Belgian armed forces on 10 May 1940 , the start of the battle of Belgium . Apart from a small amount of Citroën Kégresse P14 ' s and some 300 fully tracked vehicles , these were the only tracked artillery tractors available to the Belgian armed forces . Wheeled vehicles were also used however : among others the CM - 3 , FN - 63RMT , Latil and Brossel trucks , mostly for use in the cavalry regiments . Nevertheless , with a grand total of over 1200 mobile pieces of artillery ( not including pieces in reserve , in fixed fortifications or railway guns ) , 222 AA gun s and over 750 anti - tank gun s , the Belgian armed forces were for the larger part still heavily reliant on horse - drawn transport for their artillery . For example , 14A , the 14th artillery regiment , part of the first army corps of the Belgian army , only had 32 Kégresses for its 68 artillery pieces , with the remainder being horse drawn . Compared to fully tracked vehicles , the half track vehicles had a few clear advantages : production was relatively easy and cheap , since the independent left - right transmission and braking system of fully tracked vehicles could be disposed with ; as in normal wheeled vehicles , steering was done with the front wheels . Maintenance requirements were smaller , but still fairly heavy compared to wheeled vehicles , with rubber tires for example having an endurance of some 80 . 000 km on average but tracks only some 10 . 000 km . Another advantage is that driver training is the same as for wheeled vehicles and thus quite short and easy . The most important and obvious drawback is less mobility in mud or sand . However , since Belgium had a relatively abundant and well developed asphalt road network , the latter issue was partly offset . After the battle of Belgium ended with the German occupation , all surviving and available FN Kégresse 3T ' s ( as well as all heavy and light armament and most of the motor vehicles ) were requisitioned by the German army . But because the FN Herstal factory refused to cooperate with Nazi Germany and was subsequently looted and burnt down , spare parts were limited . However , given the large need for mechanized transport on the eastern front starting from 1941 , the FN Kégresse 3T ' s were still used by the German army , under the designation " Minerva - FN - Kegresse bzw . Zugkraftwagen P 302 ( b ) " .