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Sd.Kfz 221/222/223 were German light armored cars from the Second World War. The first prototypes of the vehicle were created in 1935, and serial production continued in the period 1935-1944, ending with the production of about 2,150 vehicles. The series of Sd.Kfz 221/222/223 cars was powered by a Horch V8 engine with 80-90 hp. The armament was: a single 7.92 mm MG34 machine gun (Sd.Kfz 221) or a 20 mm KwK 30 cannon and the MG34 machine gun (Sd.Kfz 222) paired with it.
The Sd.Kfz 221/222/223 series of vehicles was created as the basic reconnaissance and reconnaissance vehicles of the Wehrmacht - especially its mechanized and armored units. All vehicles had poor armor of up to 8-14.5 mm, but very good off-road properties and high mobility. After 1941, it increased even more by refining the Horch 8V engine, which increased its power from 80 HP to 90 HP. The Sd.Kfz 221 vehicle had a crew of two and was armed only with a machine gun in a rotating turret. Shortly thereafter, it was modernized - the Sd.Kfz 222, which already had a KwK 30 cannon and a crew of three as the main armament, and the armor (from 8 mm to 14.5 mm) in the front of the vehicle was strengthened. The last version was the Sd.Kfz 223, which was a radio communication vehicle armed with a single MG34 machine gun. The Sd.Kfz 221/222/223 vehicles served on almost all fronts of World War II, taking a particularly intensive part in the military operations in the period 1939-1943.