''Panzerabwehrkanone'', usually referred to with the acronym Pak, is the German language term for

anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...

. Before and during World War II, the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

produced a series of 13 anti-tank guns which they designated Panzerabwehrkanone, i.e. Pak. In addition they produced one weapon they designated an anti-tank rifle, which is generally considered to actually be an anti-tank gun; and one gun they designated Panzerabwehrwerfer, PAW, the anti-tank launcher.

Description

In military terminology, a gun is a weapon too heavy to be hand held when fired. These weapons ranged from a weight of to a weight of . The smallest caliber was and the largest was . Over the six-year course of World War II the armor of the tanks steadily improved, so in order to be effective the size of the projectile had to increase. A larger projectile required a heavier weapon. All of these guns were meant to be towed. The earlier ones were light weight enough to be moved by hand, over short distances, into, and out of, their firing positions. Some variants were only used on tank destroyers, which are self-propelled, like the cannons on tanks.

List

After each gun, the year of introduction is given. * 2.8 cm sPzB 41 (1941) * 3.7 cm Pak 36 (1928) * 4.2 cm Pak 41 (1941) * 4.7 cm Pak 38(t) (1939) Exclusively mounted on a

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 wi ...

. * 4.7 cm Pak 181(f) (1937) * 5 cm Pak 38 (1937) * 7.5 cm Pak 97/38 (1941) *

7.5 cm Pak 39 7.5 cm Pak 39 (L/48) ''(7.5 cm Panzerjägerkanone 39)'' was a 7.5 cm German Second World War era Anti-tank warfare#Anti-tank guns, anti-tank gun. The gun was used to equip Jagdpanzer IV, Jagdpanzer IV/48 and Hetzer, Jagdpanzer 38 ta ...

(1943) At this was too heavy to move by hand. As were all later guns. *

7.5 cm Pak 40 The 7.5 cm Pak 40 (''7,5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 40 -'' "7.5cm armour defence cannon 90") was a German 75 millimetre anti-tank gun of the Second World War. The gun was developed in 1939–1941 and entered service in 1942. With 23,303 ex ...

(1942) *

7.5 cm Pak 41 The 7.5 cm Pak 41 was one of the last Nazi Germany, German anti-tank guns brought into service and used in World War II and notable for being one of the largest anti-tank guns to rely on the Squeeze bore, Gerlich principle (pioneered by the G ...

(1942) * 7.5 cm Pak 42 Exclusively mounted on the

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 develop ...

. * 7.62 cm Pak 36(r) (1942) Captured Soviet anti-tank gun, modified to suit the needs of the German Army. * 8 cm PAW 600 (1945) High pressure combustion chamber, delivered propellant gas to a light weight barrel. *

8.8 cm Pak 43 The Pak 43 (''Panzerabwehrkanone 43'' and ''Panzerjägerkanone 43'') was a Nazi Germany, German 88 mm anti-tank gun developed by Krupp in competition with the Rheinmetall 8.8 cm Flak 41 anti-aircraft gun and used during World War II. The P ...

(1943) * 12.8 cm Pak 44 (1944)

Description

List

See also