Sd.Kfz 221/222/223 were German light armored vehicles of World War II. The first prototypes of the vehicle were created in 1935, and serial production lasted from 1935 to 1944, ending with the production of approximately 2,150 cars. Cars of the Sd.Kfz 221/222/223 series were equipped with a Horch V8 engine with a capacity of 80-90 horsepower. Armament consisted of a single 7.92 mm MG34 machine gun (Sd.Kfz 221) or a 20 mm KwK 30 gun and a twin MG34 machine gun (Sd.Kfz 222). The machines of the Sd.Kfz 221/222/223 series were created as basic reconnaissance and reconnaissance vehicles of the Wehrmacht - especially its mechanized and armored units. All cars had weak reservation up to 8-14.5 mm, but very good off-road characteristics and high mobility. After 1941, it grew even more with the improvement of the Horch 8V engine, which increased its power from 80 to 90 hp. The Sd.Kfz 221 had a crew of two and was armed only with a machine gun in a rotating turret. A little later, it was modernized - Sd.Kfz 222, which had the main armament of the KwK 30 gun and a crew of three, and the armor on the front of the car was strengthened (from 8 mm to 14.5 mm). 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 the Second World War, especially intensively participating in hostilities in the period 1939-1943.
