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Concept
Jagdtiger
Summary
The Jagdtiger ("Hunting Tiger"; officially designated Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf. B) is a German casemate-type heavy tank destroyer (Jagdpanzer) of World War II. It was built upon the slightly lengthened chassis of a Tiger II. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 186.
The 72-tonne Jagdtiger was the heaviest armored fighting vehicle (AFV) used operationally by any nation in WWII and the heaviest combat vehicle of any type to be produced during the conflict. it was armed with a 12.8 cm Pak 44 L/55 main gun which could out-range and defeat any AFV fielded by the Allied forces.
It saw brief service in small numbers from late 1944 until the end of the war on both the Western and Eastern Front. Although 150 were ordered, only around 80 were produced. Due to an excessive weight and an underpowered drivetrain system, the Jagdtiger was plagued with mobility and mechanical problems. Three Jagdtigers survive in museums.
With the success of the StuG III, Marder I, Marder II, and Marder III Panzerjäger, the military leadership of Nazi Germany decided to use the chassis of existing armored fighting vehicles as the basis for self-propelled guns (serving as assault guns and tank destroyers). German tank destroyers of World War II used fixed casemates instead of fully rotatable turrets to significantly reduce the cost, weight, and materials necessary for mounting large-caliber guns.
In early 1942, a request was made by the Army General Staff to mount a 128 mm gun on a self-propelled armored chassis. Firing tests of the 128 mm gun showed it to have a high percentage of hits; smaller caliber guns, such as the ubiquitous 88 mm and the slightly larger 105 mm, were also tested.
By early 1943, a decision was made to install a 128 mm gun on either a Panther or Tiger I chassis as a heavy assault gun. The Panther chassis was considered unsuitable after a wooden mockup of the design was constructed. On 20 October 1943, another wooden mockup was constructed on a Tiger II heavy tank chassis, and presented to Hitler in East Prussia.
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