AMC Schneider P 16 The AMC Schneider P 16 , also known as the AMC Citroën - Kégresse Modèle 1929 or the " Panhard - Schneider P16 " , was a half - track that was designed for the French Army before World War II . Development . The P 16 was developed in 1924 by Citroën from the earlier Citroën - Kégresse Modèle 1923 . It was very similar in conception but had an enlarged armoured hull , built by Schneider , and a stronger 60 hp Panhard engine . In June 1925 an order was obtained for a pre - series of four vehicles . In October that year a first production series of ten is ordered . " Citroën " found itself unable to produce the vehicles and the order was delegated to " Schneider " . " Citroën " would supply the chassis , " Kégresse " the suspension and " Schneider " , responsible for the final assembly , the armour plates . The pre - series vehicles get the company designation " Modèle 1928 " or M 28 after the year they were delivered ; the production vehicles are likewise named " Modèle 1929 " or M 29 , though the actual delivery was in 1930 and 1931 . The official name however , assigned in 1931 , is the AMC Schneider P 16 . The P 16 was thus accepted as conforming to the specifications for a wheeled AMC , or an AMC N°1 , as stated by the Supreme Command on 12 April 1923 , although the vehicle was not specifically designed to meet them , and partially fulfilling the requirements of an AMC N°2 stated in August 1924 , which asked for a tracked vehicle — as a half - track it was indeed in between . " AMC " stands for " Automitrailleuse de Combat " . Although " automitrailleuse " is today a synonym for " armoured car " , in those days it was the codename for any Cavalry armoured vehicle as the Cavalry was in 1922 forbidden by law to employ tanks . In fact their rôle was pretty much that of a main battle tank as the Cavalry would not acquire real modern guntanks until 1935 ; in the twenties fully tracked vehicles were , given the state of technological development , considered by the Cavalry as being either to slow or not reliable enough . " P 16 " refers to the " Panhard 16 " engine . Confusingly , the pre - series vehicles only were fitted with it , while the production vehicles have the " Panhard 17 " . In total 96 vehicles of the main series were produced , serial numbers from the range 37002 - 37168 , resulting in a total of 100 vehicles . Export plans . The AMC Schneider P 16 has never been exported . However , in July 1930 the Belgian supreme command considered to acquire the type in the context of a Cavalry mechanisation programme . They envisaged to fit it with a specially to be developed Belgian high velocity FRC 47 mm gun to give it a far superior antitank - capacity . Eventually they decided against obtaining half - tracks and bought the French AMC 35 tank to be the recipient of the Belgian 47 mm gun . Description . The AMC Schneider P 16 is a small vehicle , 483 centimetres long , 175 cm wide and 260 cm high . As the maximum armour thickness is only 11 . 4 mm , the weight is accordingly low , 6 . 8 metric tonnes . Combined with a four cylinder 3178 cc 60 hp engine in the nose of the vehicle this results in a high maximum speed for the period , of 50 km / h . A fuel tank of 125 litres allows for a range of 250 kilometres . The trench crossing capacity is 40 centimetres , a slope of 40 % can be climbed . The P16 employs a Kégresse half - track drive developed by Citroën - Kégresse , without power transfer to the steerable front wheels . The track does not have real links , but consists of an internal steel band , embedded in rubber . The large sprocket is in front ; behind it a central axle is located in the middle , on which rotates a section with two bogies , each holding two small road wheels , and a long double beam to the back , holding a large trailing wheel . Above the axle is a single top roller supporting the track . There was a crew of three : the commander in the turret and two drivers in the hull , the second facing the back in order to drive the half - track in that direction immediately when ambushed . This " dual drive " feature is typical for a reconnaissance vehicle . In the M 28 an octagonal turret is placed on top of an octagonal fighting compartment ; the turret has a short SA 16 37 mm gun in front and a " 8 mm " Hotchkiss machine - gun ( which had in fact a calibre of 7 . 92 mm ) in the back . Small drums in front of each front wheel help to climb obstacles . The M 29 has a changed configuration . The fighting compartment is square and the machine gun , now a 7 . 5 mm " Reibel " , is co - axial with the gun in the front of the turret . The small drums are replaced with three of a very large diameter , the widest in the middle , allowing to climb a 50 cm obstacle . There are hundred rounds for the 37 mm gun ; sixty HE and forty AP ; three thousand rounds for the MAC 31 : 1950 or thirteen magazines standard bullets and 1050 or seven magazines AP - bullets ; the 7 , 5 mm " Reibel " had a maximum armour penetration of about 12 mm . Operational history . The P 16s first served in eight of the autonomous " Escadrons de Automitrailleuses de Combat " ( EAMCs ) , which in 1932 were allocated to four of the five Cavalry Divisions . Later they were used by the " 1er Division Légère Mécanique " ( DLM or mechanised light division ) , France ' s first armoured division , as main battle vehicles until being replaced by the SOMUA S35 from 1937 . Fourteen were then transferred to the " 2e Régiment de Chasseurs d ' Afrique " in Tunisia and the remainder to the Infantry divisions who deployed them as " Automitrailleuse de Reconnaissance " ( AMR , a term indicating a support AFV for motorised infantry , not a pure reconnaissance vehicle ) in the " Groupes de Reconnaissance de Division d ' Infantrie " , the reconnaissance units , provided by the Cavalry , of the motorised infantry divisions : 1er GRDI , 3e GRDI , 4e GRDI , 6e GRDI and 7e GRDI each had during the Battle of France a nominal strength of sixteen ( four platoons of three in their " Groupe d ' Escadrons de Reconnaissance " or GER , and a reserve of four ) for a total of eighty . In reality the number was lower : on 2 September 1939 these units had 74 P 16 ' s and on 10 May this had dropped to 54 : eight at the 1er GRDI ; twelve at the 3e GRDI ; nine at the 4e GRDI ; a maximum of thirteen at the 6e GRDI and twelve at the 7e GRDI ; in the last two units they were part of two mixed AMR / AMD squadrons . Sixteen were at that moment in repair or used for driver training , 22 were listed in the general matériel reserve — these had in fact broken down and were considered beyond repair . Some GRDIs accommodated by reducing the number of P 16 platoons from four to three . In the Infantry Arm the type was known as the AMR Schneider P 16 . All vehicles of the type were by this time completely worn out and close to being phased out in favour of light Hotchkiss tanks . Of some units the crews had already departed to be retrained in the use of the tank and had to be hastily recalled when the invasion came . They nevertheless fought with some effectiveness against the invading forces : e . g . on 14 May two P 16 ' s of 1er GRDI were crucial in retaking Haut - le - Wastia from German infantry belonging to 5th Panzer Division . Due to the long distances the motorised divisions had to cover , most P 16 ' s eventually had to be abandoned after a mechanical breakdown . After the armistice the vehicles in North - Africa were allowed to be used by the French units there , but were transferred to " 5e Régiment de Chasseurs d ' Afrique " in Algiers . Eleven had in March 1940 already been transferred to the " 2e RCAP " ( " Régiment de Chasseurs d ' Afrique Portés " ) of the " 6e DLC " ( " Division Légère de Cavalerie " ) . The Germans seem not to have taken into use any captured P 16 ' s . There are no known surviving AMC Schneider P 16 vehicles .