Jagdpanzer
Encyclopedia
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for "hunting tank"
Tank destroyer
A tank destroyer is a type of armored fighting vehicle armed with a gun or missile launcher, and is designed specifically to engage enemy armored vehicles...
, is a name given to German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
self-propelled anti-tank guns.
It typically refers to anti-tank variants of existing tank chassis
Chassis
A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...
with a well-armoured casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
fixed superstructure, mounting an anti-tank gun with limited traverse in the front, and usually classed by the western Allies of World War II
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
as a tank destroyer
Tank destroyer
A tank destroyer is a type of armored fighting vehicle armed with a gun or missile launcher, and is designed specifically to engage enemy armored vehicles...
.
History
The Jagdpanzer designs followed on from the more lightly armoured PanzerjägerPanzerjäger
Panzerjäger was a branch of service of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War which were the anti-tank arm-of-service who operated anti-tank artillery, and made exclusive use of the tank destroyers which were also named 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. Also a lot of experience was gained from the Sturmgeschütz
Sturmgeschütz
Sturmgeschütz is a German word for "assault gun", usually abbreviated StuG. The vehicle was a leading weapon of the Sturmartillerie, a branch of the German artillery tasked with close fire support of infantry in infantry, panzer, and panzergrenadier units...
series of assault gun
Assault gun
An assault gun is a gun or howitzer mounted on a motor vehicle or armored chassis, designed for use in the direct fire role in support of infantry when attacking other infantry or fortified positions....
s for infantry support, which already used heavily armored casemates, completely enclosing the vehicle's crew—although they were associated to the artillery, they were very often used in the anti-tank role.
Tactical use
On the battlefield, the Germans sometimes had to retreat, or try to feign one. Their line of retreat would then preferably pass the location of their anti-tank units who would use their superior firepower to stop the enemy, perhaps even make possible a counter-attack. Therefore the ideal and only valid combat situation for Jagdpanzer units was in the planned ambush, and the skill of the commander of such units lay in correctly choosing and preparing such places long before needed.In 1945 the Panzerjäger term was applied to all Jagdpanzer types and the earlier Panzerjäger were reclassified as "self-propelled guns".
Types
Notable tank destroyers of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in the Jagdpanzer classification include:
- Jagdpanzer 38(t)HetzerThe Jagdpanzer 38 , later known as Hetzer , was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38 chassis. The project was inspired by the Romanian "Mareşal" tank destroyer.The name Hetzer was at the time not commonly used for this vehicle...
—sometimes known as "Hetzer", based on the Panzer 38(t)Panzer 38(t)The Panzerkampfwagen 38 was originally a Czech tank of pre-World War II design. After Czechoslovakia was taken over by Germany, it was adopted by the German Army, seeing service in the invasions of Poland and Russia. Production ended in 1942, when its armament was deemed inadequate. In all, over...
tank - Jagdpanzer IVJagdpanzer IVThe Jagdpanzer IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer designs, it was developed against the wishes of Heinz Guderian, the inspector general of the Panzertruppen, as a replacement for the...
—based on the Panzer IVPanzer IVThe Panzerkampfwagen IV , commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz...
tank - JagdpantherJagdpantherThe Jagdpanther was a tank destroyer built by Nazi Germany during World War II based on the chassis of the Panther tank. It entered service late in the war and saw service on the Eastern and Western fronts...
—based on the Panther tankPanther tankPanther is the common name of a medium tank fielded by Nazi Germany in World War II that served from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a counter to the T-34, and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV; while never replacing the latter, it served alongside it as... - Ferdinand/ElefantElefantThe Elefant was a "schwerer Panzerjäger" of the German Wehrmacht used in small numbers in World War II. It was built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand, after its designer Ferdinand Porsche. In 1944, after modification of the existing vehicles, they were renamed Elefant...
—88 mm PaK on Porsche Tiger ITiger ITiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...
chassis - JagdtigerJagdtigerJagdtiger is the common name of a German tank destroyer of World War II. The official German designation was Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf. B. The ordnance inventory designation was Sd. Kfz. 186. It saw service in small numbers from late 1944 to the end of the war on both the Western and Eastern Front...
—based on the Tiger IITiger IITiger II is the common name of a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B,Panzerkampfwagen – abbr: Pz. or Pz.Kfw. Ausführung – abbr: Ausf. .The full titles Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf...
tank
Post-war
After the war the name Jagdpanzer was kept in use in the BundeswehrBundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
, for a number of armoured vehicles used for anti-tank duties. This included the Kanonenjagdpanzer
Kanonenjagdpanzer
The Kanonenjagdpanzer 4 - 5 was a German Cold War tank destroyer equipped with a 90mm anti-tank gun, which remained from the outphased M47 Patton tanks...
carrying a 90 mm gun and the Raketenjagdpanzer
Raketenjagdpanzer
Raketenjagdpanzer is the designation of a range of German dedicated tank destroyers equipped with anti-tank guided missiles...
s. The first Raketenjagdpanzer was the Raketenjagdpanzer 1
Raketenjagdpanzer 1
The Raketenjagdpanzer 1 was an anti-tank guided missile-armed tank destroyer and was the first such vehicle in service with the West German Armed Forces and began service with them in 1961. It was built on the chassis of the Hispano-Suiza HS-30 which was also used on the Schützenpanzer SPz 12-3,...
built on the chassis of the SPz Lang HS.30
Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30
The Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30 was a German infantry fighting vehicle developed during the 1950s. It was a Swiss Hispano-Suiza design, with a Rolls-Royce engine. After some early mechanical problems only some 2000 were built of the 10,000 planned...
and armed with SS.11
SS.11
SS.11 is the designation of the Nord Aviation MCLOS wire-guided anti-tank missile. In American service the missile was designated the AGM-22. The missile entered service with the French Army in 1956. Production of the SS.11 ceased some time in the 1980s but in 1978 168,450 missiles had been produced...
missiles. The Raketenjagdpanzer 2
Raketenjagdpanzer 2
The Raketenjagdpanzer 2 or Raketenjagdpanzer SS-11 was a German tank destroyer employed from 1967 to 1982 and equipped with Nord SS.11 guided anti tank missiles...
was built on the same chassis as the Kanonenjagdpanzer, but was equipped with two SS.11 launch-rails instead of carrying a gun.
Later the Raketenjagdpanzer 2 and the Kanonenjagdpanzer were upgraded to Jaguar 1
Jaguar 1
The Raketenjagdpanzer Jaguar 1 was a German tank destroyer equipped with anti-tank guided missiles. From 1978 and 1982 obsolete Raketenjagdpanzer 2 units were converted into 316 Jaguar 1s by replacing the SS.11 missile system with a HOT launcher and upgrading the armour. During the period 1993 to...
and Jaguar 2
Jaguar 2
The Raketenjagdpanzer 4 Jaguar 2 was a German tank destroyer equipped with anti-tank guided missiles. It was only operated by the Bundeswehr. The vehicle is being used by United States Army as the Badger, and it is fitted with a large articulated arm in digging up IED's or any buried device and was...
tank destroyers, armed with HOT
Euromissile HOT
The HOT is a second-generation long-range anti-tank missile system developed originally as an effort to meet a joint German-French Army requirement, by the then German firm Bolkow and the French firm Nord, to replace the older SS.11 wire guided...
or TOW
TOW
TOW may refer to:* BGM-71 TOW, U.S. anti-tank missile* Maximum Takeoff Weight of an aircraft* Tug of war, a sport* Things on Wheels, video game...
missiles.