Goliath was a robot tank designed by Germany during World War II. It was a small (500 kg) tracked vehicle equipped with an explosive charge (up to 100 Kg of TNT) and non-recoverable. It was remote- controlled through a cable and used for demining and the destruction of small fortifications. (source: http://www.assembly- weu.org/en/documents/sessions_ordinaires/rpt/2004/1884.html )

In 1940 a small demolition carrier developed by the French manufacturer Kegresse was sunk in the Seine River and recovered by the Germans, who evaluated it exhaustively for use by their own forces. The Wehrmacht already had a mandate to develop a small, remote-controlled, fully tracked demolition vehicle capable of carrying at least 50 kg of explosives, and the French vehicle was used as a springboard for the German design. The primary use envisioned for such a vehicle was bunker- busting, but its use was extended to include assaults on any type of fixed position, clearing mine fields, as well as in an anti-tank role. Because the explosive charge was packed inside the vehicle, the whole vehicle was detonated upon reaching the target. The prototype was built with four large wheels and was driven by two electric motors, which were fed by two batteries. The production vehicle was designed with smaller roadwheels fixed to leaf-springs, which allowed or space between the tracks for two battery-carrying sponsons, one on each side. This last modification freed up more space for the explosive charge, which was now upped to 60 kg. The track was guided above the sponsons by three return rollers and the idler wheel was of the popular disc type used in larger armored vehicles.

When production began in April 1942, the vehicle was designated the "leichter Ladungsträger" (light demolition carrier), or Sd.Kfz.302 – E-Motor (for electric engine); it was also known as the Gerät 67. From April 1942 to January 1944 the manufacturers Borward and Zündapp produced 2,650 of the basic type. It was propelled by two Bosch MM/RQL 2500/24 RL2 electric motors, each drawing 2.5 kW of electricity from the two onboard batteries. With an overall weight of 370 kg, the Goliath could achieve a maximum speed of 10 km per hour. Its operational range was about 1.5 km on level streets and 800 m across country. Goliaths were generally transported to battle zones on a two-wheeled trailer. The engineer-operator guided the expendable weapon with a hand-held control box.

Mounted on the rear of the Goliath was the drum on which was coiled the remote-control wire. The wire was of three-strand wire type: two strands were for steering the vehicle and one was for detonating the charge. The Goliath was 1.5 m long, 0.85 m wide, and 0.56 m high, and the hull was made of 5-mm- thick steel. The tracks were 16 cm wide and made of 48 links each. With a ground clearance of 11.4 cm and a track ground contact length of 73 cm, it could cross trenches 60 cm wide.

The first "Goliath" E-Motor vehicles were deployed by Panzerpionierkompanien (Goliath) 811-815, which were attached to Heerespionierbataillon(mot) zbV600 (Taifun). In addition, Pioniersturmbrigade 627 also received some of the first models. Only a few Goliaths saw action, mainly because the demolition charge was too small to actually fulfill its purpose and since the unit cost was about 3000 Reichsmarks. Owing to its expense, production was discontinued by January 1944 and resources were redirected toward development of a cheaper carrier fitted with an internal combustion engine. By March 1945, nearly 2,600 units had gone unused. Zündapp and Zachertz soon began building two successor vehicles using a Goliath chassis and an internal-combustion engine. The primary designation was "Leichter Ladungsträger (V- Motor)," or Sd.Kfz.303a and Sd.Kfz.303b (or Gerät 671 and Gerät 672).

4,604 of the first version (Sd.Kfz.303a/Gerät 671) were built from April 1943 to September 1944. This version could carry a 75-kg charge. A Zündapp SZ7 two-cylinder, two-stroke, 703-cc engine gave 12.5 bhp and pushed the 370-kg vehicle along at 10 kph. The petrol tank, located at the rear, had a capacity of 6 liters, giving a maximum operational range of 12 km on streets or 6-8 km across country. The hull was made of 10-mm-thick steel and the vehicle was 1.62 m wide, 0.84 m wide, and 0.6 m high. In contast to the electric-motor version, this version sported a newly designed spoked idler, only two return rollers, a raised air-intake cowling on the top of the hull, and roadwheels that were suspended by swingarms and coil springs. The tracks weighed 25.5 kg and were made of 48 links each.

The final version (Sd.Kfz.303b/Gerät 672) was produced from November 1944 until the end of the war, totalling 325 vehicles. The charge capacity had now reached 100 kg, the length was 1.63 m, the width 0.91 m, and the height 0.62 m. Despite an increase in weight to 430 kg it could achieve a speed of 11.5 kph with the same engine. The sponsons on each side now carried two batteries, the control unit, and air filters. The charge was carried in the front of the hull, while the engine filled the middle compartment. At the rear was the wire drum, which carried 650 m of wire, and the petrol tank. The ground clearance was 16.8 cm, which allowed the Goliath to wade water depths of 22 cm. It could cross trenches of up to 1 meter in width and climb grades of 70 degrees. To produce one Goliath V-Motor, about 542 kg of unalloyed iron and 10 kg of alloyed iron was needed. The price of this type was only 1000 Reichsmarks. Nevertheless, the later versions — like the earlier models — were ineffective and saw little action. Of nearly 5,000 V- motor versions made, 3,797 were still waiting for action in January 1945.

Goliaths were used during the Normandy landings, but with no effect. In an effort to destroy American amphibious tanks landing at Utah Beach, the defenders of strongpoint W5 resorted to deploying their eight Goliaths. However, the bulk of the miniature armored force proved useless since their electrical systems

malfunctioned, causing them to roam aimlessly until running out of fuel. U.S. engineers defused all of them, with the exception of one that exploded after a grenade was thrown next to it. When encountered at other times during the war, the lightly armored vehicle was extremely vulnerable to small arms fire and GIs,

perhaps more amused by the contraption than afraid of it, practiced severing the control cables with gunfire.

( source: http://www.skylighters.org/encyclopedia/index2.html )