The Wehrmacht command well understood the role of motor vehicles in its plans for waging a blitzkrieg. Reliable provision of mobility of combat units, delivery of military cargo, ammunition, transportation of personnel, weapons and other tasks relied on trucks. However, with the onset of autumn 1941, in the off-road conditions of the Eastern Front, thousands of Wehrmacht vehicles began to get stuck in wet ground and snow. It was decided to put a crawler cart on some of the trucks instead of the rear axle. This was done within the framework of the "Maultyr" (Mule) program - the creation of semi-tracked cargo transport with increased cross-country ability for the needs of the Wehrmacht. In 1942, German industry began to produce semi-tracked vehicles based on three-ton trucks, among which were the KHD S3000/SS M of the Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz company (on the KHD S3000 chassis) and the Ford V3000S/SS M (on the Ford V30 chassis). The KHD-produced Multyr received the army index Sd.Kfz.3c, and the Ford - Sd.Kfz.3b. The machines were versatile and had excellent cross-country ability, they transported personnel and cargo off-road, towed guns, with automatic cannons installed in the body were used as anti-aircraft self-propelled guns, and versions with a closed body could be used as sanitary army vehicles. Starting in 1943, Wehrmacht trucks were fitted with simplified cabs ('Einheitsfahrerhaus') to simplify production. Some half-track Maultyrs, in turn, were equipped with such cabins.
