Kugelpanzer

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The Kugelpanzer literally translates as "Ball Tank" and is one the most rare and strange armoured fighting vehicle ever built. Only one lone example of this Reconnaissance Rollzeug (Rolling Vehicle) has been captured by the Russians and it survives today as part of the Kubinka Museum's collection of German armored vehicles. The Kugelpanzer is simply listed as Item #37 and is painted gloss white. From fragmentary information, the drive has been removed from the vehicle and no metal samples are allowed to be taken from it. The history of the vehicle is literally unknown, as no documents were found with it and no clear markings. Only five firm facts available:

It was a German-made vehicle shipped to Japan
It was a light Reconnaissance vehicle
It was captured by the Russians in 1945 (probably in Manchuria)
Its hull was only 5 mm thick of armor
It was powered by a single cylinder two-stroke engine

It is hard to speculate on how this machine functioned but from observation it appears to be a one man reconnaissance tank with an armored shell and viewport. Perhaps under or behind the operator an engine was mounted and for stability a small directional wheel was located at the rear to steer the two large circular tracks at the sides. When not on the move, the Kugelpanzer would become an armored shelter or perhaps a pillbox "if" any weapon could be fired from it. It is not clear from the photos if a firing port is located under the viewport. Since this vehicle came from Germany then the primary armament of this vehicle would have probably been a German 7.92 mm MG-34 or MG-42. Japanese machineguns were poorly manufactured and functioned badly and they had only one type of submachine gun in production. From the photos it appears as if this single machine was captured intact having seen no combat at all.