PaK 40 (PanzerAbwehrKanone 40)

History

Adapting to current battlefield conditions, the German Army designed and developed the 50 mm (5 cm/1.97 in) PaK 38 anti-tank gun as early as 1939. But even before this new 50mm system reached front-line troops, German authorities had decided to use a new, more powerful anti-tank gun to counter the expected increase in tank armor.

Although there was initially little demand for this weapon, the German invasion of the Soviet Union - and the subsequent emergence of the heavily armoured T-34 medium tanks and KV-1 and KV-2 heavy tanks - forced this weapon to be the highest priority for the Germans ranks.

The German company Rheinmetall-Borsig AG was selected to produce the next version of the PaK anti-tank gun, which basically took the existing PaK 38 design?? and "scaled it up" into the powerful PaK 40 for 75 mm L/ 46 (7.5 cm/2.95 in) main weapon. The PaK 40 officially entered service with the Bundeswehr in 1940, although production deliveries were slow - samples did not appear until the end of the year (November), and the factory only had 15 units per month.

As such, it did not enter quantitative service until February 1942, after which German troops are now fully engaged in the war against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front and in ongoing campaigns across Europe and the rest of North Africa in an attempt to maintain a steady supply of manpower, machinery and critical resources . However, the PaK 40 should continue to prove itself, as in the second half of World War II, the PaK 40 became the most widely used German anti-tank gun and the standard in the Wehrmacht inventory.

The PaK 40 will continue to be produced until the end of the war, largely unchanged in its original form - such is its excellent design and general utility on the battlefield, coupled with the fact that Germany finally fought a full-scale defensive battle . In total, German factories produced more than 23,000 PaK 40 guns, 11,728 in 1944 alone. The PaK 40 served into the last days of the war and is still considered capable of "talking" to most enemy tanks when needed.

The PaK 40 laid the foundation for many other notable developments, including a dedicated tank-style main gun and a light version designed for use by ground attack aircraft. The Split Trail carriage was also a mount for a simple infantry gun, with a short-barreled 75mm gun mounted. The PaK 40 was used as a field gun under the designation 7.5cm FK 40 "Field Gun". The PaK 40 became the main armament of the tracked vehicles, forming the makeshift "Marder" tank destroyer and mounted on 8x8 armored reconnaissance vehicles and half-tracks for infantry fire support missions and standoff tank destroyers.

About 6,000 PaK 40 series guns were mounted on vehicles in this way.

The PaK 40 was in service with the German Army during World War II, and its operators included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Norway, Hungary and Romania (some by force). Soviet troops even used captured PaK 40s (a common practice on both sides) against their former owners as an informal way of showing "respect" to the German design.

After the war, Norway kept a stock of PaK 40s in its army inventory for some time.

By the way, the abbreviation "PaK" stands for "PanzerAbwehrKanone".

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

Depends on the ammunition carrier. AP and HE projectile types.

Changes