AC70089 GERMAN ARMOR SET 2

The Jagdpanzer 38 (t) Hetzer was a German WWII tank destroyer. The first prototypes of the vehicle were created at the turn of 1943 and 1944, and serial production continued in the period 1944-1945, ending with the production of approximately 2,800 vehicles. The Hetzer was powered by a single Prague EPA AC2800 160hp engine. It was armed with 1 75mm PaK 39 L / 48 gun and 1 7.92mm MG34 or MG 42 machine gun. The Hetzer was built on the basis of the tank's chassis Panzerkampfwagen 38 (t), but had a completely new casemate and drive. Its great advantages included a very low silhouette of the vehicle, considerable slope of the armor plates and nice armament. Moreover, the Hetzer could be produced on a large scale at relatively low cost, which was very important for Germany in the last stage of World War II. Production took place especially in the factories of the Skoda company. The downside was the small crew compartment, which made it difficult to operate the gun and reduced its rate of fire. The self-propelled flamethrower Flammpanzer 38 (t) and the technical support vehicle Bergepanzer 38 (t) were built on the basis of the Hetzer vehicle. The Hetzer tank destroyer was used on the western and eastern fronts in the period 1944-1945, e.g. in battles in Poland with the Red Army. After World War II, it was still produced for the Czechoslovak army under the designation ST-1.The StuG III (Sturmgeschutz III) was a German armored gun from the Second World War. The first prototypes of the vehicle were built in 1937, and serial production continued in the period 1940-1945, ending with the production of about 10,300 vehicles. The StuG III in the E version was powered by a single Maybach HL 120 TRM engine with 300 hp. It was armed (version E) with a 75mm short-barreled cannon. and 1 MG34 machine gun cal. 7.92 mm. The StuG III was created as a result of an initiative undertaken by Erich von Manstein, who in a letter to General Beck in 1935 signaled the need to create assault artillery for the advancing infantry within the mechanized units of the Wehrmacht. Ultimately, the order to design a new vehicle was commissioned to Daimler-Benz, which in turn used the chassis of the PzKpfw III Ausf. B. Several versions of the StuG III gun were produced during series production. Chronologically, the first was the A version, armed with the 75mm Stuk 37 L / 24 gun and based on the chassis of the PzKpfw III Ausf tanks. F and G and produced from the beginning of 1940. Soon after, version B was created - the first one to be produced on a large scale, which differed only slightly from the version A. In 1941, version D, which had better armor and sights, entered the production. The E version was quickly created, which was the first to receive additional armament in the form of the MG34 machine gun. At the beginning of 1942, the StuG III underwent a major modification to become actually a tank destroyer by installing a long-barreled 75mm StuK 40 L / 48 gun. The designation of the car was also changed to StuG 40. In the period 1940-1945, the StuG III served on almost all fronts on which the German army fought. It turned out to be a very useful weapon, cheap to produce and, most importantly, effective. It is estimated that different versions of the StuG were responsible for the destruction of approximately 20,000 Soviet tanks and armored vehicles in 1941-1945.