Early-production Sd.Kfz. 222 light armoured car (note the identical driver's vision ports). Source: sdkfz222.com, used with permission of the site operator, edited

Origins of the Vehicle

The light four-wheeled armoured car Sd.Kfz. 221, while reasonably successful in practice, suffered from one fundamental handicap: weak armament. It was in direct response to this shortcoming that the second-generation armoured car designated Sd.Kfz. 222 was developed in 1938 — though some sources place its appearance as early as 1937 or even 1936. Its full official designation was "leichte Panzerspähwagen (2cm) (Sd.Kfz. 222)" (a note for the uninitiated: Sd.Kfz. was an abbreviation of Sonderkraftfahrzeug, literally "special-purpose vehicle"). The new vehicle was armed with the KwK 30 rapid-fire cannon in 20 mm calibre, which gave it the capability to deal with lighter enemy armoured vehicles. The Sd.Kfz. 222 was ultimately produced in two main variants, designated Ausf. A and Ausf. B, differing in the version of chassis used and the powerplant.

Ausführung A

The Sd.Kfz. 222 in its first version was, like the Sd.Kfz. 221, based on the unified Einheitsfahrgestell I chassis (factory designation Horch 801/EG I). The installation of the relatively powerful and bulky new weapon required Eisenwerk Weserhütte to develop an entirely new hull. In its basic form the Sd.Kfz. 222 hull was very similar to the older Sd.Kfz. 221: again consisting of flat armour plates welded together at various sharp angles so that there was virtually no surface on the entire vehicle that an enemy projectile could strike perpendicularly — a feature that naturally improved the armour's effectiveness. The upper and lower halves of the hull were angled in opposite directions: from the lower tub the hull widened outward, then the walls broke angle and tapered back inward toward the roof. Compared to the Sd.Kfz. 221, however, the new hull was both wider and taller. The roof was considerably wider, allowing a substantially larger fighting turret to be fitted.

The hull's front plate was shaped as an isosceles trapezoid narrowing from bottom to top — the exact opposite of the Sd.Kfz. 221. At the very nose of the hull a simple metal bar was mounted horizontally as a basic bumper, with two tow rope hooks beneath it. Photographs frequently show vehicles with tow ropes already fitted and threaded around the bar. The front headlights were mounted on either side of the front plate, with the horn on the left. The upper portion of the front plate transitioned into the short and steeply angled cover of the driver's position. The front wheel mudguards joined the front plate on either side at this point and cleverly incorporated small stowage compartments for minor equipment. A Notek blackout driving light was later added to the left mudguard. A noteworthy feature was the triangular armour guard with rounded corners protecting the wheel hubs.

Early-production Sd.Kfz. 222 light armoured car. Source: SdKfz222.com, used with permission of the site operator, edited

Rising from the front cover was the cab's front wall, fitted with two driver's vision ports. The driver also had one vision port in each side wall of his position. On early vehicles, all four ports were identical — rectangular, with a single-piece hinged cover. The covers were fitted with observation slits which the driver used in combat areas where opening the full port would have been too dangerous. A small profile section was welded above each port to catch rainwater running down the armour and divert it away from the opening. During the course of production the vision port arrangement was changed, however. The front wall still had two ports, but of a new and mutually different design: the left one was considerably larger and could be opened, while the right could not. The side wall ports were also redesigned, fitted with an openable cover and an observation slit. On some vehicles with the later port design, the right-side port was moved noticeably further toward the rear. I was unable to determine the origin or exact purpose of this modification, though it most likely related to hull changes made for the radio car variant Sd.Kfz. 223.

The driver sat in the nose of the vehicle, slightly to the left of the centreline, and steered using a conventional car steering wheel. To make steering easier, both axles of the Sd.Kfz. 222 were steerable, though rear wheel steering could be locked out — apparently recommended at higher speeds. To enter and exit, the driver could use either of the access hatches cut into both side walls beside his position, located in the lower portion of the sides. The hatches were shaped as irregular trapezoids with single-piece covers opening toward the rear. The roof above the driver's head was slightly raised compared to the rest of the roof.

Behind the driver's position, at the widest part of the hull, was the main fighting compartment with a fully rotating turret. The roof of the compartment in front of the turret was solid steel plate; behind the turret it consisted only of dense wire mesh, which extended partly over the engine compartment to allow airflow to the radiator housed there. The turret was welded from 8 mm plate and shaped as an irregular ten-sided truncated pyramid. It had no roof — only its front section was protected by a raised frame filled with fine wire mesh, whose side flaps could be folded outward. The mesh could not stop bullets, but its primary purpose was to prevent hand grenades from being dropped into the vehicle. In poor weather, the crew in the open turret had to make do with a waterproof tarpaulin draped over it.

Fine rear view of the Sd.Kfz. 222. Source: Flickr.com, used with permission of the publishing user, edited

The edge between the two front faces of the turret was cut away to allow the barrel of the already-mentioned KwK 30 L/55 cannon to pass through. To the left of it, the turret's front wall had a further opening for the MG34 machine gun barrel. The KwK 30 had a rate of fire of around 280 rounds per minute and, using armour-piercing ammunition, could penetrate up to 20 mm of armour at 500 metres (with PzGr.40 rounds). The vehicle carried 180 rounds of cannon ammunition on board (some sources cite up to 200), and 1,050 rounds for the machine gun. Both weapons were mounted on a shared cradle — the so-called Sockellafette — which allowed full rotation with the turret and vertical elevation from -7° to +80°. Elevations up to +20° could be achieved with the wire mesh cover closed; for angles above 20° the cover had to be opened.

The turret and fighting compartment below it housed the remaining two crew members — the loader and the commander, who apparently also served as gunner. Their view from the protected interior was provided by three vision ports: one smaller port on each side and one larger port in the left rear wall. The fighting compartment below the turret had no vision ports. To enter and exit, crew members in the turret apparently used the same side hatches as the driver, but could also easily leave through the open turret roof. The Sd.Kfz. 222 was not fitted with a radio as standard, though some photographs clearly show a rod aerial attached to the turret rim, suggesting that at least some vehicles did receive a radio installation.

The fighting compartment marked the end of the widest part of the hull, which then tapered toward the rear where the engine and gearbox were housed. The wire mesh roof behind the turret gave way to solid armour plate above the engine compartment. This plate was flat for a short distance behind the turret, then stepped down and continued sloping toward the tail. The radiator filler neck was located in the flat section just before the step. Fuel capacity is variously quoted as either 100 or 110 litres.

Early-production Sd.Kfz. 222 (note the identical driver's vision ports) — this photograph gives an excellent impression of the weapon's elevation capability. Source: worldwarphotos.info, used with permission of the site operator, edited

The Sd.Kfz. 222 received its engine together with the chassis — the Horch V8 3.5 litre petrol unit. This 3,517 cc engine produced a maximum of 75 horsepower at 3,600 rpm. The Horch Einheits gearbox offered five forward gears and one reverse. The Sd.Kfz. 222 Ausf. A weighed approximately 4.4 tonnes — roughly 400 kg more than the Sd.Kfz. 221 — and with the same engine was consequently slightly slower, achieving a maximum road speed of 75 km/h compared to the older vehicle's 80 km/h. The Ausf. A's armour protection remained the same as on the Sd.Kfz. 221: 14.5 mm on the front plate, 8 mm on the sides and rear, and 5 mm on the floor and roof.

Virtually the entire rear wall of the hull was taken up by the engine access cover, louvred for airflow and shaped as a trapezoid tapering toward the top. During production a supplementary armour plate began to be fitted across the rear wall, visually extending the tail of the vehicle. Some authors argue this was not so much an armour addition as a dust filter intended to keep dust out of the engine — a modification said to have spread from the African theatre to other fronts. Both interpretations have merit and it is quite possible the cover served both purposes simultaneously. Access to the engine was also available through a large service hatch in the bonnet roof and two smaller ones in its side walls. One exhaust pipe emerged from each side of the engine compartment, disappearing behind the rear mudguard and running under the hull.

The hull sides between the front and rear mudguards were used for stowing various equipment. A large tool box was mounted on the left side behind the driver's hatch, while the spare wheel hung on the right. Some vehicles were quite literally festooned with additional stowage boxes, a jack, a fire extinguisher, fuel and water jerry cans, and similar items — particularly those deployed in Africa, which reportedly earned the nickname "gypsy caravan" as a result.

Late-production Sd.Kfz. 222. Source: SdKfz222.com, used with permission of the publishing user, edited

Series production of the Sd.Kfz. 222 began apparently in 1938 and continued until 1943 (some sources say 1944). The same firms that had produced the older Sd.Kfz. 221 were involved: Horch supplying the chassis, Eisenwerk Weserhütte the hulls, and the Schichau and Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hannover factories handling final assembly. Büssing-NAG was newly added to the production network, as was Rheinmetall as the cannon supplier. Production of the Sd.Kfz. 221 and Sd.Kfz. 222 ran in parallel initially, but both were halted in early 1940 — definitively for the Sd.Kfz. 221, while Sd.Kfz. 222 production resumed in the summer of that year, probably in June or August.

Ausführung B

This was not merely a resumption of the original production run, but the introduction of a revised version of the vehicle, which retrospectively received the designation Ausf. B. The main change was the adoption of a strengthened and updated Einheitsfahrgestell I chassis with the new factory designation Horch 801/v. The new chassis also brought a new engine: the Horch V8 3.8 litre, displacing 3,823 cc and producing a maximum of 81 horsepower at 3,600 rpm.

The strengthened chassis and more powerful engine finally allowed the designers to address the other pressing weakness inherited from the original Sd.Kfz. 221: its thin armour. Thanks to these changes, the Sd.Kfz. 222 Ausf. B could be given a front plate of 30 mm thickness — more than double the 14.5 mm of the Ausf. A and the Sd.Kfz. 221.

Late-production Sd.Kfz. 222. Source: SdKfz222.com, used with permission of the publishing user, edited

The original KwK 30 cannon was replaced by the more modern KwK 38 of the same calibre but with a higher rate of fire. A further change was the weapon mounting itself: the original cradle mount (Sockellafette) was replaced by the more effective Hängelafette 38 suspended mount. This increased the already impressive maximum elevation from 80° to 87°, further improving anti-aircraft capability. The new weapon mounting necessitated raising the wire mesh frame above the front of the turret, and this taller frame is a fairly reliable distinguishing feature between vehicles with the old and new mounts in photographs. It should be noted that sources are not entirely clear on whether these two changes — the new cannon and the new mount — actually arrived together with the Ausf. B in 1940, or only later; 1942 is sometimes cited as the year these modifications were introduced.

The vehicle's weight rose by a further roughly 400 kg to 4.8 tonnes, yet maximum road speed actually increased to 80 km/h, bringing the Sd.Kfz. 222 Ausf. B up to the same level as the older Sd.Kfz. 221. According to some authors, a further engine upgrade took place in 1941: the Horch V8 3.8 litre unit was given a higher compression ratio, raising its maximum output to 90 horsepower and allowing the Sd.Kfz. 222 to reach up to 85 km/h on road.

For completeness, one further minor change introduced at some point during production is worth mentioning: the triangular wheel hub guards were discontinued. They no longer appeared on late-production vehicles.

Production of the Sd.Kfz. 222 continued until 1943, with a total of 989 vehicles completed — making it the most numerous German four-wheeled armoured car of the Second World War. In 1938 Germany sold 12 examples to China, which, in a curious irony, subsequently deployed them against Germany's ally Japan. During the war Germany also delivered 20 Sd.Kfz. 222 vehicles to the Bulgarian army.

Early-variant Sd.Kfz. 222. Source: Sd.Kfz.222.com, used with permission of the publishing user, edited

Combat Deployment

The Sd.Kfz. 222 served on the Western and Eastern Fronts as well as in Africa, and despite its obsolescence some examples apparently remained in service with units until the end of the war. The combat conditions of the Eastern Front fully exposed the unsuitability of these vehicles for movement off paved roads. Among their main weaknesses was the complex wheel suspension, which was prone to failure — particularly in the muddy conditions of Russian tracks, where it easily became clogged. On the Ausf. A the problem of thin armour also persisted. The absence of a radio was another shortcoming, though this was deliberately accepted on the basis that these vehicles would operate in groups alongside specially adapted radio cars such as the Sd.Kfz. 223 or Sd.Kfz. 260.

Technical Data

ARTICLE
CONTENTS:

ORIGINS OF THE VEHICLE

Sd.Kfz. 222 Ausf. A

Sd.Kfz. 222 Ausf. B

COMBAT DEPLOYMENT

TECHNICAL DATA