Gepanzerter Mannschaftstransportwagen 'Kätzchen'
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Gepanzerter Mannschaftstransportwagen 'Kätzchen'
The ''Gepanzerter Mannschaftstransportwagen Kätzchen'' (''Gep. MTW Kätzchen'') (German language, German for kitten) was a prototype German armoured personnel carrier of late World War II. Prototypes Auto-Union delivered two prototypes during 1944–45. The hull's shape was similar to the hull of the ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger II, but much smaller. The vehicle had front wheel drive with five or six overlapping steel road wheels, possibly resembling the never-built Entwicklung series#E-25, E-25 "replacement tank"'s suspension system in appearance. Power was provided by a List of WWII Maybach engines, Maybach HL50 P engine. Auto-Union was ordered to stop work on their design and instead, ČKD, BMM was given the task of adapting the Hetzer tank destroyer chassis for the role. This was referred to as the ''Vollkettenaufklärer 38(t) Kätzchen''. References Bibliography * * Further reading

* Rolf Wirtgen (Hrsg.): ''Vom Auto-Union "Kätzchen" zum SP 15 und SP 12.1. Ein Beitr ...
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German Language
German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It is also an official language of Luxembourg, German-speaking Community of Belgium, Belgium and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol, as well as a recognized national language in Namibia. There are also notable German-speaking communities in other parts of Europe, including: Poland (Upper Silesia), the Czech Republic (North Bohemia), Denmark (South Jutland County, North Schleswig), Slovakia (Krahule), Germans of Romania, Romania, Hungary (Sopron), and France (European Collectivity of Alsace, Alsace). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in the Americas. German is one of the global language system, major languages of the world, with nearly 80 million native speakers and over 130 mi ...
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Kitten
A kitten is a Juvenile (organism), juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are fully dependent on their mothers for #Establishing immunity, survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. After about two weeks, kittens develop quickly and begin to explore the world outside their nest. After a further three to four weeks, they begin to eat solid food and grow baby teeth. Domestic kittens are highly social animals and usually enjoy human companionship. Etymology The word "kitten" derives from the Middle English word , which in turn came from the Old French or . Juvenile big cats are called "cubs" rather than kittens; either term (but usually more commonly "kitten") may be used for the young of smaller wild felidae, felids, such as ocelots, caracals, and lynxes. Development A feline Litter (animal), litter usually consists of two to five kittens, but litters with one to more than ten are known. Kittens are typically born af ...
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Armoured Personnel Carrier
An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. According to the definition in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, an APC is "an armoured combat vehicle which is designed and equipped to transport a combat infantry squad and which, as a rule, is armed with an integral or organic weapon of less than 20 millimetres calibre." Compared to infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), which are also used to carry infantry into battle, APCs have less weapon, armament and are not designed to provide direct fire support in battle. Infantry units that travel in APCs are known as mechanized infantry. Some militaries also make a distinction between infantry units that use APCs and infantry units that use IFVs, with the latter being known as armoured infantry. History One of the first armored ve ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ...
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Auto-Union
Auto Union AG was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today. As well as acting as an umbrella firm for its four constituent brands (Audi, Horch, DKW, Wanderer), Auto Union is widely known for its racing team (Auto Union Rennabteilung, based at Horch works in Zwickau/Saxony). The Silver Arrows of the two German teams (Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union) dominated not only GP car racing from 1934 onwards but set records that would take decades to beat, such as the fastest speed ever attained on a public road (at 432.7 km/h (268.9 mph), a record lasting until 2017. After being reduced to near ruin in the aftermath of World War II, Auto Union was re-founded in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, in 1949, ultimately evolving into the modern day Audi company following its takeover by Volkswagen in 1964 and later merger with NSU Motorenwerke in 1969. The cu ...
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Tiger II
The Tiger II was a Nazi Germany, German heavy tank of the World War II, Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B, often shortened to Tiger B.Jentz and Doyle 1993, p. 16. The ordnance inventory designation was ''List of Sd.Kfz. designations, Sd.Kfz.'' 182. (''Sd.Kfz.'' 267 and 268 for command vehicles). It was also known informally as the ''Königstiger'' (German language, German for Bengal tiger, ). Contemporaneous Allied forces (World War II), Allied soldiers often called it the King Tiger or Royal Tiger. The Tiger II was the successor to the Tiger I, combining the latter's thick armour with the armour sloping used on the Panther tank, Panther medium tank. It was the costliest German tank to produce at the time. The tank weighed almost 70 tonnes and was protected by of armour to the front. It was armed with the long barrelled (71 calibres) 8.8 cm KwK 43 anti-tank cannon. The chassis was also the basis for the ''Jagdtiger ...
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Entwicklung Series
The ''Entwicklung'' series (from German language, German ), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Nazi Germany to produce a standardised series of tank designs. There were to be standard designs in five different weight classes (E-10, E-25, E-50, E-75 and E-100) from which several specialised variants were to be developed. Design standardisation was envisioned to bring improvements over extreme complexity of previous tank designs that resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability. Overview The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors; however, they offered only modest improvements in armour and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Hetzer, Jagdpanzer 38(t), Panther tank, Panther Ausf. G or Tiger II; and would have represented the final standardization of German armoured vehicle design. Indeed, nearly all of the E-series vehicles—up to and inc ...
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List Of WWII Maybach Engines
This is an incomplete list of gasoline engines designed by Maybach AG, manufactured by Maybach and other firms under licence, and fitted in various German tanks (German: , French: ) and half-tracks before and during World War II. Until the mid 1930s, German military vehicle manufacturers could source their power plants from a variety of engine makers; by October 1935 the design and manufacture of almost all tank and half-track engines was concentrated in one company, Maybach AG, located in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, S. Germany. Friedrichshafen was also home to the Zahnradfabrik (ZF) factory which made gearboxes for Panzer III, IV, and Panther tanks. Both Maybach and ZF (and Dornier) were originally subsidiaries of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH, which also had a factory in the town. The firm designed and made a wide range of 4, 6, and 12-cylinder engines from 2.5 to 23 litres; these powered the basic chassis designs for approximately ten tank types (including tank hunte ...
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ÄŒKD
ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) () was one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia and today's Czech Republic. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a tramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide. History ČKD was formed in 1927 from the merger of two smaller companies, Českomoravská-Kolben (founded 1896, produced machinery for hydro dams) and Breitfeld-Daněk (founded 1854, produced machinery for mines and food industry). From 1927 until 1929 ČKD's products included a motorcycle designed by Jaroslav František Koch. It was an advanced four-stroke single-cylinder unit construction with double overhead camshaft design of 500cc. It was sold under the marque BD, thus perpetuating the Breitfeld-Daněk identity. In 1929 ČKD sold its motorcycle business to Praga Hostivař, which re-branded the motorcycles under the Praga marque. It was one of the main suppliers to the Czechoslovak state of military vehicles during the 1930s. During the German occupation of ...
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Hetzer
The 38 (Sd.Kfz. 138/2), originally the 38(t), known mostly post-war as , was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis. German armoured forces in World War II created a variety of vehicles by mounting anti-tank guns on the chassis of obsolete tanks. These machines performed better than expected, but were still vulnerable due to their high vehicle profiles and open-topped turrets. Strategic bombing during World War II, 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 Sturmgeschütz III, StuG III and Marder series (Marder I, Marder II, II, and Marder III, III). Prototypes of the 38 were ready by 1944, and mass production began in April of that year. The 38 was covered entirely with sloped armour and possessed a compact form and low silhouette, giving it much improved defens ...
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