The Jagdtiger was a German WWII heavy tank destroyer. The first prototypes of the vehicle were made in 1943, and serial production continued in the period 1944-1945, ending with the production of only 88 cars. The Jagdtiger was powered by a 700hp Maybach HL 230 P30 single engine. Its primary armament was the powerful 128mm PaK 44 L / 55 gun and one 7.92mm MG34 or MG 42 machine gun.
The Jagdtiger was created at the Henschel factory in connection with an order from the Reich Armaments Office in August 1943 for a vehicle that could be armed with a new 128mm gun. The new vehicle was based on the modified chassis of the Pzkpfw VI Ausf tank. B (Tiger II). In the end, the heaviest armored vehicle of World War II was created, weighing as much as 75 tons, with weapons that could destroy enemy tanks at distances of up to 3500-4000 meters, and well-armored. At the same time, it was characterized by terrible maneuverability, very low top speed, definitely too weak engine and high susceptibility to faults - especially the gearbox. The Jagdtiger tank destroyers served in two heavy tank destroyer battalions, 512 and 653, from September 1944, fighting primarily on the Western Front.
PzKpfw VI Ausf. B Tiger II or colloquially Konigstiger (Polish royal tiger) was a German heavy tank from World War II. The first prototypes of the vehicle were built in 1943, and serial production continued in 1944-1945, ending with the production of 487 vehicles. The Tiger II was powered by a single Maybach HL 230 P30 engine producing 700hp. It was armed with 1 88mm PaK 43 L / 71 gun and 2 7.92mm MG34 machine guns.
PzKpfw VI Ausf. The B Tiger II was created in connection with the commission by Albert Speer in January 1943 of the Henschel and Porsche plants to design a new heavy tank for the German armed forces. The first prototypes were ready by October this year, and a car designed by the Henschel company entered mass production, with 50 units of the new tank having a tower designed by Porsche (the so-called Porsche tower). The royal tiger had a great anti-tank gun, capable of destroying any armored vehicle of the Red Army or Allies at the time at a distance of 1500-2000 m. It was also very well armored, and its armor was carefully contoured. In fact, the new German tank was unattainable for most enemy vehicles at distances above 1000-1200 m. Undoubtedly, the Tiger II had numerous disadvantages: first of all, the engine was definitely too weak, which was the same as the 11 tons lighter Tiger I. The gearbox was also damaged. and the entire driveline system, which was extremely failing and prone to failure. The Tiger II was also incredibly time-consuming and expensive to produce, which, taking into account the difficult situation of Germany on the fronts in the period 1944-1945, was also a big minus. The Royal Tiger underwent its baptism of fire during the Normandy operation in the summer of 1944 as part of the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion and 101st SS Heavy Tank Battalion. Later, units equipped with these tanks also fought on the Eastern Front in 1944-1945, and perhaps the largest number of Tiger II tanks in one operation was used in the offensive in the Ardennes at the turn of 1944-1945.
The Pz.Kpfw VI (Sd.Kfz.181) Tiger is a German heavy tank from World War II, one of the most famous combat vehicles of that time. The command of the German Panzerwaffe had the idea of creating a heavy tank from the beginning of the war, but the first attempts in the form of the centuries-old Neubaufahrzeuge tank turned out to be unsuccessful. In 1939 and 1940 they were conducted ineffectively, but after the clash with the T-34 and KW-1 on the eastern front, work on the new heavy tank sped up. On April 20, 1942, the prototype of the new tank, under the designation VK 4501 (H), underwent field trials in the presence of Adolf Hitler and was put into mass production shortly after. The first production versions were designated Pz.Kpfw VI Ausf.H1 (later Ausf.E). In the course of production, in the years 1942-1945, the tank was systematically modified by, for example, adding Feifell dust filters, different placement of headlights, modernization of optical equipment, changes to the commander's turret, etc. The drive was provided by a Maybach HL230 P45 12-cylinder carburetor engine with a capacity of 700 HP. The Pz.Kpfw VI tank, although it did not have such a contoured front hull as the T-34 or Pantera, was a heavily armored vehicle (frontal armor up to 120mm), armed with a very effective KwK 36 L / 56 88mm gun, which earned the reputation of being the most effective tank of the Second World War. It was a vehicle much better than the Allied M4 or Churchill and the Soviet T-34/76. He could also easily fight the IS-2 or M-26, surpassing them with the effectiveness of the main armament. On the other hand, the Pz.Kpfw VI had some disadvantages - first of all, it was extremely time-consuming to produce and had a very complicated suspension. In the later period of the war, the quality of the Tiger's armor also deteriorated, which resulted from the lack of access to the molybdenum deposits by the German economy. Despite these drawbacks, the Tiger on the battlefields proved to be a very effective weapon. He successfully fought in Tunisia, the Kursk Arch, Normandy and on the Eastern Front. Technical data: length (with a barrel): 8.45m, width: 3.7m, height: 2.93m, engine power: 700KM, weight: 56.9 t, range (on the road): 100km, maximum speed (on the road) ): 38 km / h, armament: 1 88 mm KwK 36 L / 56 gun, 3 7.92 mm MG 34 machine guns.
PzKpfw IV (Panzerkampfwagen IV) was a German medium tank from the Second World War. The first prototypes of the vehicle were created in 1936, and serial production continued in the period 1938-1945, ending with the production of about 8,600 vehicles. The D version of the tank was powered by a single Maybach HL 120 TRM engine with a capacity of 300 HP. It was armed with 1 75mm KwK 37 L / 24 gun and 2 7.92mm MG 34 machine guns.
The PzKpfw IV was created as a result of a competition announced at the end of 1934 by the German Armaments Department for a medium tank weighing up to 18 tons and armed with a 75 mm gun. The competition was won by the Krupp company, whose vehicle was put into mass production - as it turned out, it was a vehicle that can be safely called the "workhorse" of German armored forces during World War II and one of the most intensively developed and modernized Wehrmacht tanks. Numerous variants of the PzKpfw IV were created in the course of production. Chronologically, the first was the A version, armed with a 75mm short-barreled gun and a 230hp engine. However, versions B and C appeared quickly, in which several significant changes were made: first of all, more powerful engines (265 HP in version B and Maybach HL 120 TRM with 300 HP in C version - which were installed in PzKpfw IV until 1945 year), and the armor of the entire car was improved. The F1 and F2 versions turned out to be a real revolution, in which the frontal armor was increased to 60 mm, and the main armament was changed to the great, long-barreled 75mm KwK 40 L / 43 cannon, which in 1942 and 1943 allowed them to fight any Allied or soviet. The most frequently produced versions of the PzKpfw IV were the G, H and J versions, which were very similar to the F1 and F2 versions. The main armament has not changed significantly (it was still the KwK 40 cannon), as well as the engine and chassis. On the other hand, the armor was slightly strengthened, and from the beginning of 1943 armored screens (Schurzen) were installed on them. Numerous other vehicles were built on the chassis of the PzKpfw IV, such as the StuG IV assault gun, the Nashorn tank destroyer or the Wirbelwind self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. PzKpfw IV tanks were used on almost all fronts of World War II - from the September campaign in 1939, through the campaign in France in 1940, the Barbarossa and Typhoon operations in 1941, the Battle of Kursk in 1943, to the last operations of the German army against The USSR and the Western Allies in 1944-1945.