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Jagdpanzer
''Jagdpanzer'' (JgPz) is the name given in German to a heavily-armoured, tracked tank destroyer, although it may also be used for other kinds of self-propelled guns. Literally translated from German, ''Jagdpanzer'' is "hunting tank". It typically refers to anti-tank variants of existing tank chassis with a well-armoured casemate fixed superstructure, mounting an anti-tank gun with limited traverse in the front, and classed by the western Allies of World War II as a tank destroyer. History The ''Jagdpanzer'' designs followed on from the more lightly armoured ''Panzerjäger'' ("tank hunter") designs, which took an anti-tank gun and mounted it on top of a tank chassis with supplementary armour fitted around the gun crew. However, the armour had an open rear and top, almost never providing the crew with full protection from the elements. In addition, much experience was gained from the Sturmgeschütz series of assault guns for infantry support, which already used heavily armour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hetzer
The ''Jagdpanzer'' 38 ( Sd.Kfz. 138/2), originally the leichter Panzerjäger 38(t), known mostly post-war as ''Hetzer'', was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis. German armored forces in World War II created a variety of vehicles by mounting anti-tank guns on the chassis of obsolete tanks. These machines performed even better than expected, yet were still vulnerable due to high vehicle profiles and open-topped turrets. Allied bombings took a heavy toll on German production facilities, and further increased the need for an easily produced yet effective light tank destroyer to replace vehicles like the StuG III and Marder series (Marder I, II and III. Prototypes of the ''Jagdpanzer'' 38 were ready by 1944 and mass production began in April of that year. The ''Jagdpanzer'' 38 was covered entirely with sloped armor, and possessed a compact form and low silhouette, giving it much improved defensive abilit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jagdpanzer IV
The ''Jagdpanzer'' IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank") designs, it was developed against the wishes of Heinz Guderian, the inspector general of the ''Panzertruppen'', as a replacement for the ''Sturmgeschütz III'' (''StuG'' III). Guderian objected against the needless, in his eyes, diversion of resources from Panzer IV tank production, as the StuG III was still more than adequate for its role. Officially, only the L/48-armed vehicle was named Jagdpanzer IV. The L/70-armed vehicle was named Panzer IV/70. In this article, both versions are referred to in general as Jagdpanzer IV, except in the variants and surviving vehicles section. Development With experience gained during the initial phases of the Battle of Stalingrad, in September 1942 the Wehrmacht's arms bureau, the ''Waffenamt'', called for a new standard for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tank Destroyer
A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often with limited operational capacities. While tanks are designed for front-line combat, combining operational mobility and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities and performing all primary tasks of the armoured troops, the tank destroyer is specifically designed to take on enemy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles. Many are based on a tracked tank chassis, while others are wheeled. Since World War II, gun-armed powerful tank destroyers have fallen out of favor as armies have favored multirole main battle tanks. However, lightly armoured anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) carriers are commonly used for supplementary long-range anti-tank work. The resurgence of expeditionary warfare in the first two decades of the 21st century has s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jagdtiger
The ''Jagdtiger'' ("Hunting Tiger"; officially designated ''Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf. B'') is a German casemate-type heavy tank destroyer (''Jagdpanzer'') of World War II. It was built upon the slightly lengthened chassis of a Tiger II. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 186. The 71-tonne ''Jagdtiger'' was the heaviest armored fighting vehicle (AFV) used operationally by any nation in WWII and the heaviest combat vehicle of any type to be produced during the conflict. it was armed with a 128 mm Pak 44 L/55 main gun which could out-range and defeat any AFV fielded by the Allied forces. It saw brief service in small numbers from late 1944 until the end of the war on both the Western and Eastern Front. Although 150 were ordered, only around 80 were produced. Due to an excessive weight and an underpowered drivetrain system, the ''Jagdtiger'' was plagued with mobility and mechanical problems. Three ''Jagdtigers'' survive in museums. Development With the success of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elefant
The ''Elefant'' (German for "elephant") was a heavy tank destroyer used by German Wehrmacht Panzerjäger during World War II. Ninety-one units were built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand, after its designer Ferdinand Porsche, using VK 45.01 (P) tank hulls produced for the Tiger I tank design abandoned in favour of a Henschel design. In January to April 1944, ''Ferdinands'' received modifications and upgrades. They were renamed ''Elefant'' in May 1944. The official German designation was ''Panzerjäger Tiger'' (P)Not to be confused with either the ''Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. H'' or ''Ausf. E'' versions of the Tiger I, or the ''Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B'' (Tiger II) and the ordnance inventory designation was ''Sd.Kfz.'' 184. Development history Porsche GmbH had manufactured about 100 chassis for their unsuccessful proposal for the Tiger tank, the " Porsche Tiger", in the Nibelungenwerk factory in Sankt Valentin, Austria. Both the successful Henschel proposal and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panzerjäger
''Panzerjäger'' (German language, German "armour-hunters" or "tank-hunters", abbreviated to ''Pz.Jg.'' in German) was a branch of service of the Nazi Germany, German Wehrmacht during the World War II, Second World War. It was an Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank arm-of-service that operated Self-propelled artillery, self-propelled anti-tank artillery, also named ''Panzerjäger''. Soldiers assigned to tank hunting units wore ordinary Feldgrau, field-gray uniforms rather than the black of the Panzer troops, while ''Panzerjäger'' vehicle crews wore the Panzer jacket in field gray. Development From 1940, the ''Panzerjäger'' troops were equipped with vehicles produced by mounting an existing anti-tank gun complete with the gun shield on a tracked chassis to allow higher mobility. The development of ''Panzerjägers'' into the fully protected ''Jagdpanzer'' armored vehicle designs began before the war with the ''Sturmgeschütz''-designated armored Self-propelled artillery, artillery ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jagdpanther
The ''Jagdpanther'' (German: "hunting Panther"), Sd.Kfz. 173, was a tank destroyer (''Jagdpanzer'', a self-propelled anti-tank gun) built by Germany during World War II. The ''Jagdpanther'' combined the 8.8 cm Pak 43 anti-tank gun, similar to the main gun of the Tiger II, and the armor and suspension of the Panther chassis. It entered service in 1944 and served on the Eastern and Western Fronts. During the last stages of the war, limited German production resulted in small production numbers, shortage of spare parts, and shortened crew training periods of younger operators. Development The Jagdpanther was preceded by two attempts at mounting an 8.8 cm gun as a self-propelled anti-tank weapon; ''Ferdinand'' - also known as ''Panzerjäger Tiger'' (P) - using the ninety-one leftover Porsche-built VK 45.01 (P) chassis from the Tiger tank competition it lost to Henschel in 1942, and the ''Nashorn'' on the Geschützwagen III/IV (which used a combination of the Panzer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanonenjagdpanzer
The Kanonenjagdpanzer (''KanJPz''; also known as Jagdpanzer Kanone 90mm, "tank destroyer, gun 90mm") was a West German Cold War tank destroyer. Its design was very similar to that of the World War II Jagdpanzer IV. History The first prototypes of the Kanonenjagdpanzer were built in 1960 by Hanomag and Henschel for West Germany and by MOWAG for Switzerland. A second round of 6 prototypes this time built just by Hanomag and Henschel were constructed between 1962 and 1963. After that another set of six prototypes were built over the next two years still by Hanomag and Henschel. The features of the various prototypes were then combined into the final design. Between 1966 and 1967, 770 units were built for the Bundeswehr, 385 by Hanomag and 385 by Henschel. Eighty of them were delivered to Belgium from April 1975 onward. When the Soviets began deploying their T-64 and T-72 main battle tanks, the 90 mm gun was not capable of engaging them in long-range combat and the Kanonenjag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-propelled Artillery
Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mortar, and rocket artillery. They are high mobility vehicles, usually based on continuous tracks carrying either a large field gun, howitzer, mortar, or some form of rocket/missile launcher. They are usually used for long-range indirect bombardment support on the battlefield. In the past, self-propelled artillery has included direct-fire vehicles, such as assault guns and anti-tank guns ( tank destroyers). These have been armoured vehicles, the former providing close fire-support for infantry and the latter acting as specialized anti-tank vehicles. Modern self-propelled artillery vehicles often mount their main gun in a turret on a tracked chassis so they superficially resemble tanks. However they are generally lightly armoured which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, the term "casemate wall" means a double city wall with the space between the walls separated into chambers, which could be filled up to better withstand battering rams in case of siege (see #Antiquity: casemate wall, Antiquity: casemate wall). In its original early modern meaning, the term referred to a vaulted chamber in a fort, which may have been used for storage, accommodation, or artillery which could fire through an opening or embrasure. Although the outward faces of brick or masonry casemates proved vulnerable to advances in artillery performance, the invention of reinforced concrete allowed newer designs to be produced well into the 20th century. With the introduction of ironclad warships, the definition was widened to include a prot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sturmgeschütz
''Sturmgeschütz'' (abbreviated StuG) meaning " assault gun" was a series of armored fighting vehicles used by both the German ''Wehrmacht'' and the ''Waffen-SS'' formations during the Second World War (1939-1945). The main StuGs were the StuG III and StuG IV based on the Panzer III and Panzer IV medium tank chassis respectively. The more common of the two, the StuG III was developed in the late 1930s on the chassis of the Panzer III. It was initially designated "StuG" but with the development in 1943 of the StuG IV to make up for lost StuG III production, it was re-designated as "StuG III" to distinguish the two. Initially, the ''Wehrmacht'' intended to use StuGs as armored self-propelled infantry support guns, providing close fire-support to infantry by destroying bunkers, pillboxes and other entrenched positions. A secondary capability as an anti-tank weapon became more important as the war progressed. Following the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, a signific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assault Gun
Assault gun (from german: Sturmgeschütz - "storm gun", as in "storming/assaulting") is a type of self-propelled artillery which uses an infantry support gun mounted on a motorized chassis, normally an armored fighting vehicle, which are designed to provide direct fire support for infantry attacks, especially against other infantry or fortified positions. Assault guns were pioneered by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany during the 1930s, initially being self-propelled guns with direct fire in mind (such as the Soviet SU-5-1), with Germany introducing the first purpose-built (and purpose-named) assault gun, the Sturmgeschütz III, in 1940. Historically, the concept of assault guns was very similar to that of the infantry tank, as both were combat vehicles intended to accompany infantry formations into battle. However, during World War II assault guns were more mobile than tanks and could be utilized as both direct and indirect fire artillery. Although they could approximate the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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