1 year ago

Watch this epic air kill with a Panzer IV/70(A) in Realistic Battles.
The Panzer IV/70(A) is a premium rank III German tank destroyer with a battle rating of 4.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced as a premium pack in Update 1.41.27 and was removed from the store after the 2018 Winter sale.

War Thunder - Tanks - TeamG Squad Play

In September 1942, the Wehrmacht arms bureau called for a new type of assault vehicles. The specifications listed were 100 mm front armour, 40-50 mm on the sides, wide tracks, a top speed of 26 km/h, ground clearance of 50 cm, and a very low firing position. The design was to be armed with the 75 mm Pak 42 mounted on the Panther tanks. Though this project was originally conceived over a completely new chassis, the Panzer IV was chosen to be used instead. The design was to have a low silhouette and an enclosed casemate fighting compartment after experiences with the Marder IIIs showed that such features were necessary for a successful fighting vehicle.

The Panzer IV chassis was converted into the Jagdpanzer IV, which featured new designs to the original. The utilization of the Panzer IV chassis was met with much criticism by General Heinz Guderian, who saw the diverting of Panzer IV tank resources as unnecessary since the current assault gun StuG III was more than adequate in the role and Germany still needed reliable tanks that it could use. The vertical front hull armour was replaced with large sloped armour plates, ammunition and fuel were moved to accommodate the new superstructure design, and the auxiliary engine that once powered the Panzer IV turret was removed. The superstructure had 80 mm thick sloping armour that gives it an effective 100 mm thick. To simplify the production of this vehicle, the superstructure was essentially made of large interlocking plates that are welded together. The vehicle had a crew of four, the commander, gunner, loader, and driver. The vehicle was armed with a 75 mm gun, though originally suppose to be the one from the Panther, shortages forced the mounting of older guns such as the 75 mm Pak 39 L/48 cannon, which were less powerful than the Panther's PaK 42, but were still lethal. Due to the different gun mounts, three main variants were produced from the Jagdpanzer IV, the original Jagdpanzer IV (with the 75 mm Pak 39 L/48 cannon), the Panzer IV/70 (V), and the Panzer IV/70 (A) (Both of which have the 75 mm Pak 42 L/70 cannon).

The Panzer IV/70 (A), mounting the 75 mm Pak 42, was produced by Alkett, a manufacturer of the StuG III (hence the "A"). It was produced from August 1944 to March 1945 and was made for the purpose of simplifying the design for easier manufacturing and increased the production rate. To make production easier, the design used an unmodified Panzer IV chassis, while the previous two used a modified superstructure built up from the suspension. The unmodified chassis gave the Panzer IV/70(A) the flat frontal hull known on the Panzer IV design, with which the sloped armour is built on top of. This, in turn, caused the overall height of the vehicle to be increased by 50 cm, which gave it a much bigger silhouette, but was done to simplify production and send more of the 75 mm Pak 42 L/40 to the front lines as quickly as possible. The Panzer IV/70 (A) was more of an interim solution in order to fulfil battlefield demands, only about 278 units were produced before production ended. The early version had Zimmerit anti-magnetic paste added to the vehicle. However, the Zimmerit was removed after September 1944 due to rumours that they were causing vehicle fires. Other modifications were made to the design over time, but the biggest change in its production was the addition of Schürzen side armour plates.

#WW2 #WWII #World War II #Panzer

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