Sd.Kfz. 7 (nim. Sonderkraftfahrzeug 7) was a German half-track transporter from the Second World War. The first prototypes were built in 1933, and serial production continued in the years 1934-1945, ending with the production of about 12,000 copies of this vehicle. The drive was provided by a single motor Maybach HL 62TUK or a Maybach HL 64TR with 140 hp. Sd.Kfz. 7 did not have fixed armament as a standard.
The first models of the future Sd.Kfz. 7 were built in 1928 at the Krauss-Maffei company in Munich, but the vehicle did not enter serial production then because it violated the provisions of the Versailles Treaty. Only after the Nazis came to power in Germany, the technical solutions of earlier models were refined and the car was put into mass production relatively quickly. The Sd.Kfz vehicle. 7 was capable of transporting up to 12 soldiers and had a minimum armour not exceeding 8 mm. Despite the weight of up to 10 tons, the car had good off-road characteristics and high mobility. It was also mechanically refined and not unreliable.
In the German armed forces, it served as an artillery tractor for cannons with a calibre from 37 to 88 mm. These vehicles were also used to tow 150 mm sFH18 howitzers. Based on the Sd.Kfz. 7, several specialized versions were created, including: Sd.Kfz. 7/1 (20mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun), Sd.Kfz. 7/2 (also a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, but with a calibre of 37 mm) or the Sd.Kfz. 7/5 (version being a self-propelled anti-tank gun cal. 75 mm). Cars of this type were used on all fronts of World War II in the period 1939-1945, both by the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe. Small amounts of Sd.Kfz. 7 served in Brazil, Bulgaria and Italy.
