7.5cm PaK 40/4 auf RSO (SMART KIT)
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As the German army faced ever increasing numbers of Allied armour, more ways were found to place anti-tank weaponry on already existing chassis, in order to try and counter the Allied numerical superiority. The Raupenschlepper Ost (RSO) was no exception to the armed conversions that were built upon so many German vehicles at the time. The decision was made in 1943 to take the well proven battle tractor and place a Pak 40/4 on its back, in order to provide more mobile anti-tank capabilities on the front line.
The development of this vehicle is directly linked to the development of the RSO tractor built by Steyr from 1942 to 1945. This tractor was developed to meet the needs of the Wehrmacht for bringing supplies and weapons to the front lines in the poor conditions that were met on the Eastern front. Many of the battles there were far from any road, and if roads did exist, they were often in very poor shape, especially in spring. It was soon found that existing vehicles were not satisfactory for bringing supplies and the newer larger anti-tank weapons through this adverse terrain, thus the designs for the RSO were created. By 1945, about 27,000 RSO tractors had been produced.
