Raupenschlepper Ost, literally "Crawling Tractor - East", is more commonly abbreviated to RSO. This fully tracked, lightweight vehicle was conceived in response to the poor performance of wheeled and half-tracked vehicles in the mud and snow during the Wehrmacht's first winter on the Soviet Front. It may have been inspired by very similar full-tracked small tractors in use in other armies, most notably the Red Army's STZ-3 NATI artillery tractor. |
