JagdPanzer series of medium tracked armoured vehicles

JAGDPANZER

SERIES OF MEDIUM TRACKED ARMOURED VEHICLES

The German Army made extensive use of tank destroyers during the Second World War and continued development of them after the war. They first tried mounting a 90mm gun on the HS-30 which was then entering service with the German Army but this was not a success and the development was halted. It was then decided to develop a basic chassis for use as a tank destroyer and ATGW system. The ATGW vehicle became the JagdPanzer Rakete and has an identical hull to the JagdPanzer Kanone assault gun version. In common with standard german practice a large number of prototypes were produced by different companies. This enabled many problems to be sorted out before they entered production as well enabling the best design features to be used. The first series of JagdPanzer Kanone prototypes were designed in the 1950's with the actual prototypes being first built in 1960/62 with Hanomag building two vehicles, Henschel also building two and Mowag building one. These were followed by a second series during 1963/64. This time Hanomag and Henschel built three vehicles each. Finally there was a third series of prototypes with Hanomag and Henshel building three examples each again. The prototypes all differed in minor ways with slightlly different hulls, number of roadwheels and different mechanical components. The preproduction prototypes were being trialled by the Bundeswehr between 1964/65 and they were followed by a total of 750 production vehicles which were built between 1965 and 1967 with 375 constructed by Henschel and 375 by Hanomag. The Jagdpanzer Rakete followed a similar line of development. The first prototype, the RU 234, was built by Hanomag. This was followed in 1963 by a further three prototypes also produced by Hanomag; the RU 341, RU 342 and RU 343, as well as three prototypes manufactured by Henschel; RU 344, RU 345 and RU 346. Each company then built 185 production vehicles, the first being completed in 1967 and the last in 1968. The hull of the JagdPanzer is of all-welded construction. It is divided into the fighting compartment and the engine compartment. The driver is seated at the front of the hull on the left-hand side and is provided with a one-piece hatch that opens to the right and three periscopes for driving whilst closed down. Positions of other hatches and armament vary according to the use of the vehicle. The suspension consists of torsion bars, bumper springs and hydraulic shock absorbers. There are five roadwheels and three top rollers each side. The idler is at the front with the sprocket at the rear. The engine compartment is at the rear of the hull and contains the engine, transmission, fuel tanks and an automatic fire extinguishing system. The transmission is a Renk HSWL 123 3 which combines a hydrostatic steering gear with a differential gear. The engine is a Daimler-benz V-type 8-cylinder 500hp diesel. An NBC system is provided, as are infra-red driving lights.