![]() The Alkett concern handled the initial design work beginning in November of 1942 with manufacture of two modified pilot vehicles managed by Nibelungenwerk (by way of Krupp). Unlike previous German self-propelled gun offerings, the Porsche vehicle would provide all-around protection for all of the crew within. The turret concept of the Porsche Tiger was dropped and, in its place, a stout, fixed superstructure was designed to house the gun breech, recoil system, ammunition stores and gunnery crew. The selection of gun was the excellent 8.8cm (88mm) KwK L/71 (PaK 43/2, a development of the FlaK 18-37 anti-tank system) capable of knocking out all known Allied armor miles away. Porsche had dedicated large amounts of manpower and resources into developing the Porsche Tiger - including near-complete hulls - it was decided in September of 1942 that development should proceed with the tank being converted to a dedicated tank destroyer. Production began in 1942 and rendered 1,347 units before the end of 1944, these fighting into the final weeks of the war. Thus it was the simpler and more conventional Henschel design that won out and garnered the contract to develop and ultimately produce the SdKfz 181 "Tiger" Heavy Tank for the German Army. While innovative as a gas-electric drive, the technology in a tank was unrefined and posed technological challenges. Porsche designed a new drivetrain for its heavy tank submission, one that coupled two conventional engines driving a pair of generators which, in turn, powered electric motors which drove frontal drive sprockets of the track gear. Ferdinand Porsche and his "Porsche Tiger" were thought in the lead due to the doctor's close relationship with German leader Adolf Hitler. Henschel and Porsche were both charged with design of a new class of heavy tank with impressive armor protection and fielding the fabled 88mm field gun. It was the development of the Tiger that proved interesting to the origins of the Ferdinand/Elephant tank killing vehicle. The Panther entered service in 1943 and saw service in the post-war years across foreign hands. ![]() Both went on to see widespread service in the years after 1939, 5,774 and as many as 9,000 of both produced respectively.Īfter the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June of 1941, and the introduction of the T-34 Medium and IS-2 Heavy tanks, it became painfully clear that the Germans required more formidable solutions and this, in turn, spurred development of the Panzer V "Panther" Medium and Tiger Heavy tanks. This prompted development of the Panzer III and Panzer IV medium-class tanks, the former intended to combat enemy armor directly and the latter designed as an infantry support vehicle. However, both were ill-equipped to counter the threat posed by British and French systems most likely to be encountered in a war in Europe. ![]() ![]() ![]() The Panzer I fielded a machine gun armament in a traversing turret while the Panzer II improved to a 20mm turreted cannon. While the Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks were already in circulation within the German Army in the mid-1930s, it became clear that the future of warfare would involved better armored and armed vehicles. ![]()
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