West Germany introduced a basic self-propelled anti-tank vehicle as the "Missile Hunter Tank 1" due to the outpouring of Soviet armor at the height of the Cold War. Officially classified as a "tank destroyer," the compact tracked vehicle has twin rocket launchers above its midsection, with rockets specifically designed to destroy armor at long distances.
The West German Army had 95 of these vehicles, and they formed part of a larger Western Alliance defense network to defend against a possible Soviet invasion of Western Europe. The car was taken over in 1961.
The rocket Jagdpanzer 1 was developed in a rather simple and logical way - to join the Air France Nord SS. Eleven wire-guided rocket launchers were installed on the chassis and fuselage of the existing Lang HS armoured personnel carrier of the Bundeswehr. 30 Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV).
So the final product is nothing more than a design line for HS. 30 with a launch vehicle mounted on the roof. The hull retains the sloping sides of the HS. 30 with its power pack and tracked chassis. The four crew members included the driver, commander, gun operator and ammunition handler.
The SS.11 launcher deployed two "ready-to-launch" rockets, reloading another ten rockets housed in the hull. Of the two available missiles, only one was exposed, the other was below the topline of the fuselage and was not put into place until the now empty, raised launcher was pulled back for reload.
As a wire-guided weapon, the SS 11 requires the operator to aim at the target throughout the missile's flight to ensure absolute accuracy.
The fully enclosed hull protects the crew from some battlefield and environmental hazards. Armor protection reaches a thickness of 30 mm on some surfaces. Power is provided by a British Rolls-Royce B81 Mk 80F 8-cylinder 235 hp petrol engine mounted in the rear compartment. The track system consists of a rear drive sprocket, a front track idler and three track idlers mounted on one side of the hull. There are also five twin-tire wheels on each side.
Smoke grenade launchers mounted along the front wings allow the crew to provide their own smoke screen to cover the operation if necessary. Local defense is provided by a 7.62mm MG3 general purpose machine gun, capable of firing 2,000 rounds.
Never used in combat, the vehicle was eventually abandoned in favor of a more modern solution, and the once divided German nation was finally reunited in the 1990s.
- anti-tank/anti-tank
5.56m
7.38 ft (2.25 m)
5.58 ft (1.7 m)
14 tons (13,000 kg; 28,660 lb)
51 km/h
168 miles (270 km)
2 x SS.11 Anti-Tank Missile Launchers (ATGM)
1 x 7.62mm MG3 General Purpose Machine Gun
10 x SS.11 Anti-Tank Missiles
2,000 x 7.62mm ammo
Missile Jagdpanzer 1 - Base series name