Editing AMR 35 (section)

===Heavier armament===
[[File:AMR 35 ZT1 and ZT 2.png|thumb|From bottom to top: AMR 35 ZT1 with 7.5 mm machine gun, AMR 35 ZT1 with 13.2 mm machine gun, AMR 35 ZT2 with 25 mm gun.]]
As the 7.5&nbsp;mm Reibel machine gun was only effective against the lightest armour at a very short distance because its AP-bullet could just penetrate eight millimetres of armour at fifty metres, several efforts were made to provide some more serious antitank-capacity to AMR units. The first was to uparm the main production run vehicles with a heavier machine-gun. The second was to fit the vehicles with the 25&nbsp;mm antitank-gun; to this effect, both a tank (the ZT 2) and a [[self-propelled gun]] (the ZT 3), were developed. The 25&nbsp;mm gun vehicles were primarily intended for the reconnaissance units, the ''Groupes de Reconnaissance de Division d'Infanterie'', of the motorised infantry divisions; these were part of the Infantry, but the Cavalry provided the reconnaissance elements. On 22 July 1936, it was decided to assign four of such 25&nbsp;mm vehicles to each GRDI. The decision to design two types, despite the very small production batches, was motivated by the desire to let them operate in pairs; the low inconspicuous self-propelled gun would directly ambush enemy vehicles and the higher tank, fitted with a radio set, would be further back in an oversight position and, with its rotatable turret, covering the flanks.

However, the Cavalry at first also intended to eventually acquire the ZT 2 for the other AMR units; the general failure of the AMR 35 project ended these plans.

====AMR 35 à mitrailleuse 13,2====
The heavy machine-gun vehicle featured the ''Modèle réglementaire AVIS-2'' turret fitted with a [[13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun]], the ''Hotchkiss 13,2 mm Modèle 1930 mitrailleuse'', which could penetrate 20&nbsp;mm steel at 500 metres. To accommodate the larger machine-gun, the turret was made higher, more so at the left where the commander/gunner was seated and from which side the gun was fed — normally this was done vertically, but to reduce height the gun had been rotated to the left — giving it an asymmetrical and skewed appearance. This heavier type was produced parallel to the 7.5&nbsp;mm machine-gun vehicles of the first production batch in a quantity of eighty; it was originally seen as the normal combat version, four of which would be present in a platoon of five. Later, however, production was discontinued: though in 1934 even many battle tanks had been so lightly armoured as to be vulnerable to 13.2&nbsp;mm fire, such a weapon had already become obsolete for this role in 1936. The gun had an ammunition stock of 1,220 rounds: 740 in 37 magazines of twenty and another 480 in cardboard boxes.

====ZT 2====
The ''Renault ZT 2'' was a tank with a larger octagonal welded steel [[Atelier de Construction de Puteaux]] (APX) 5 turret equipped with a shortened 25&nbsp;mm SARF gun, which had a penetration of forty millimetres at five hundred metres. Despite the name, which reflects that it had been designed by the ''Atelier de Puteaux'' forge, the one-man turret, with a weight of 650 kilogrammes, was fabricated by the ''Atelier de Rueil'' (ARL), an APX offshoot based at [[Rueil]]. It had also been intended to equip the AM 39 armoured car (the Gendron-SOMUA), and the colonial version of the [[Panhard 178]], but apart from the ten ZT 2 vehicles was only fitted to five Panhards, so the planned production of at least 259 remained limited to fifteen.

The plan to produce a ZT 2 was first conceived in June 1935. On 12 December 1935, Renault had been ordered to produce a ZT 2 prototype on a chassis to be taken from the first order of a hundred, but this was annulled when five ZT 2s were made part of the second order. On 27 October 1937, the Renault factory estimated that all ten ZT 2s could be produced simultaneous to the second order production run and on 14 January 1938 it was thought that ZT 2 production could be ended in June 1938. Perhaps this was indeed accomplished as regards the first series of five, N° 95860 - 95864. The last five, N° M 3031 - M 3035, would only be assembled in December 1938. This just pertained to the hulls: none of these had yet been fitted with a turret. A wooden mock-up of one had been delivered on 13 July 1938. Only at the end of 1939 were enough funds made available to produce the turrets and finish the tanks at Rueil, a process that probably extended well into 1940.

The hull of the ZT 2 was largely identical to that of the "ZT 1". Apart from the 25&nbsp;mm gun, having a stock of fifty rounds, the turret was fitted with a 7.5&nbsp;mm machine gun, with 2,250 rounds. The turret had both a large roof hatch and a smaller hatch in the back right facet. It had been intended to equip at least one ZT 2, in a ZT 2/ZT 3 platoon of four, with a radio set, but it is uncertain whether any was so modified.

====ZT 3====
The ''Renault ZT3'' was a [[tank destroyer]] with the same 25&nbsp;mm SA35 L/47 gun in a superstructure on the hull. The development of the ZT 3 took place parallel to that of the ZT 2: a first plan in June 1935, followed by a request to Renault to produce a prototype on 12 December 1935. However, given the absence of a turret, there was no need to wait for its development: Renault was instructed to quickly construct a first vehicle by adding a boiler plate superstructure to the old third AMR 35 prototype, and then sent it to Rueil where a gun could be built in and a cast commander cupola fitted.

APX indicated on 6 April 1936 — the plan to build just a single prototype already having been discarded when the second order was placed — that it desired to have five vehicles ready for the September manoeuvres of 1936. That was a very optimistic assessment, especially given the fact they themselves had not yet sent the superstructure blueprints to Renault. On 26 October, Schneider announced that the five empty hulls could not be delivered before the end of April 1937 — the blueprints had not yet been received. On 27 October 1937 — with the hulls at Schneider nearing completion — APX demanded that between 15 and 20 November a "prototype" (not the original one of 1935) would be provided for acceptance. On 26 April 1938, APX approved the hull but only informed Schneider of this on 5 May.

Meanwhile, between April 1936 and July 1937, Renault and the French government had had a major disagreement over the question which company should be given the order to supply the cast cupola; eventually, this would be Batignolles-Châtillon. It wasn't until 13 June 1938 that Renault assembled the first vehicle (from the first series N° 95865 - 95869), which then went to Rueil to be fitted with the gun. On 9 December, it was finished and Renault could begin the manufacture of the last nine vehicles (including the series M 3036 - M 3040) of the two hundred Renault ZTs: the second hull was delivered by Schneider on 31 October. The deliveries will have extended into 1939; by 2 September 1939, all GRDIs had attained their organic ZT 3 strength.

To create sufficient room within the ZT 3, the hull was raised somewhat; the roof plates on the sides and front sloped towards the apex of the vehicle where a cast rotatable cupola provided the commander some height to observe his surroundings, in what was otherwise a very low and sleek construction. The gun was placed to the right of the driver with a co-axial 7.5&nbsp;mm machine-gun to its left. There was an ammunition stock of 80 shells and 1,200 rounds of 7.5mm ammunition. As the position of the normal air intake was now occupied by the gun, a large roof ventilation grille was present above the third crew member, the gunner/loader. The fighting compartment was very cramped. No radio was present.