Exhibit of the Month - Mar '24

Used between 1956 and 1960, this recovery vehicle, found in all tank and engineer units of the army, was part of the standard equipment until the successor model M88 was purchased. The M74 was equipped with a folding A-mast for lifting loads. The lifting force of the lifting winch was a maximum of 21.25 t. The main winch, installed in the hull at the front next to the driver, had a pulling force of almost 41 t. A clearing shovel attached to the bow gave the vehicle the necessary support during its recovery operations. The M74 was equipped with a small work light for recovery operations at night.

The Bundeswehr received 300 armored recovery vehicles of this type. It was already considered outdated when it was introduced and was widely known for its unreliability and poor performance. Often it was the recovery vehicle that failed first.

When the army replaced the M47 main battle tank, which had been in use since its inception, with the heavier M48 in 1959, the M74 recovery tank had finally reached its performance limit and was replaced by the stronger and more modern M88 recovery tank, also an American vehicle.

In Augustdorf the M74 was used by the 1st, 213th and 214th tank battalions from 1957 to 1959.

The MGS Augustdorf received the M74 from the Defense Technology Collection in Koblenz in 2022. It is currently being restored by MGS employees and will soon be presented to the public as part of the exhibition.