Jagdpanther

The Jagdpanther is a German tank destroyer of the Second World War, given the ordnance designation Sd.Kfz. 173, that mounted the powerful 8.8cm Pak 43 anti-tank gun, closely related to the gun used in the Tiger II, on the well-regarded armor and running gear of the Panther medium tank chassis. Entering service in 1944 and built by three manufacturers, MIAG, Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hannover and Maschinenbau und Bahnbedarf, the Jagdpanther combined a low silhouette and sloped armor with a gun capable of defeating almost any Allied tank of the period at long range, and it fought on both the Eastern and Western Fronts during the war's final year. Wartime production difficulties limited output to only 413 vehicles, and the shortage of time to properly train crews on the new type reduced its overall battlefield impact relative to its strong individual design.