Kanonenjagdpanzer (Jagdpanzer Kanone - JPK)

History

During World War II, the German Army developed the Panzerjager, or "Panzerjager" or tank destroyer - an armored vehicle specially designed to counter the presence of enemy tanks by sheer firepower. They first installed a proven 75mm anti-tank gun on a medium tank chassis and used an open turret configuration with a three-sided armor shield arrangement for crew protection and maximum combat space. Many designs were based on the availability of existing equipment, and even included the use of equipment captured from Polish and French armies as the war progressed.

Most of the hulls are tank systems, which have passed their heyday as true tank systems and have gained new life as dedicated tank destroyers.

After the war in 1945, Germany no longer needed its own standing army, as the country was now divided between the Allies and the Soviet Union in a "meeting of east and west". When the Korean War broke out in 1950, the United States demanded that West Germany rearm to protect Western Europe from a possible land invasion by the Soviet Union.

The first prototypes of the "Kanonen Jagdpanzer" were built in 1960 by Hanomag and Henschel for the Bundeswehr. This tank destroyer is designed to be low profile and highly maneuverable, increasing its survivability on the battlefield if war strikes Europe again.

The "Jagdpanzer Kanone" was built with a welded steel hull protected by only 50mm of armor. Speed ??will be her innate defensive quality, as her 500-horsepower diesel engine supports a crew of four and she can hit speeds in excess of 43 mph.

The commander, driver, gunner and loader are confined to the vehicle dimensions of 28.7 feet long, 9.7 feet wide and 6.8 feet high, and the combat cab is NBC protected against the real threat of nuclear, biological and chemical from the Soviet Union threaten.

Of course, their main role as tank destroyers is to destroy enemy tanks within range with their powerful 90mm Rheinmetall BK 90/L40 main guns. 2 x 7.62mm MG3 general purpose machine guns are secondary, used as a weapon to suppress enemy forces. For camouflage, destroyers can use 8 integrated smoke grenade launchers when retreating to cover.

These grenades also provide a handy smokescreen when you're attempting a potentially offensive counterattack. However, the ideal operational situation for these TD units is an ambush plan, and the dexterity of these units, fighting from a prepared location and waiting, is a battlefield quality that could prove a much-needed one should war break out in Europe Battlefield quality. superior.

Hanomag and Henschel produced tank destroyers until 1967, 770 of which were built for the West German government. Among them are 375 systems from Hanomag and another 375 systems from Henschel. At least 80 of these were eventually delivered to the Belgian Army in April 1975 and later.

When the Soviet Union deployed the newer T-64 and T-72 main battle tanks, the tank destroyer's 90mm gun was no longer capable of destroying Soviet tanks at long distances, making the gun destroyer obsolete as a self-propelled tank destroyer.

Between 1983 and 1985, approximately 163 Jagdpanzer tank destroyers were converted to receive anti-tank missiles by removing the original main gun and installing a roof-mounted missile for the Jaguar 2 rocket destroyer missile system launcher. Some modified tank destroyers were in service until 1990 with a new look.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

Not available.

Changes