Jagdpanzer IV

Jagdpanzer IV
Jagdpanzer IV at the Deutsches Panzermuseum
Type	Tank destroyer
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Production history
Produced	December 1943 – April 1945
No. built	about 2,000
Specifications (Jagdpanzer IV/70(V))
Weight	25.8 tonnes (28.4 short tons; 25.4 long tons)
Length	8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
Width	3.17 m (10 ft 5 in)
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Crew	4
Armor	10–80 mm (0.39–3.15 in)
Main armament	1x 7.5 cm Pak 42 L/70 55 rounds
Secondary armament	1x 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 600 rounds
Engine	Maybach HL 120 TRM 300 PS (296 hp, 221 kW)
Power/weight	11.6 PS (8.6 kW) / tonne
Suspension	Leaf springs
Operational range	210 km (130 mi)

The Jagdpanzer IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank") designs, it was developed against the wishes of Heinz Guderian, the inspector general of the Panzertruppen, as a replacement for the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III). Guderian objected against the needless, in his eyes, diversion of resources from Panzer IV tank production, as the Sturmgeschütz III was still more than adequate for its role.

Officially, only the L/48-armed vehicle was named Jagdpanzer IV. The L/70-armed vehicle was named Panzer IV/70. In this article, both versions are referred to in general as Jagdpanzer IV, except in the variants and surviving vehicles section.

After the Battle of Stalingrad, in September 1942 the Wehrmacht's arms bureau, the Waffenamt, called for a new standard for assault weapons: 100 mm of armor to the front, 40–50 mm on the sides, wider tracks, ground clearance of 50 cm, top speed of 26 km/h and the lowest possible firing positions. The new Panzerjäger ("tank hunter") design would be armed with the same 7.5 cm gun as fitted to the Panther: the Pak 42 L/70. Initially a new chassis was planned, but that of the Panzer IV had to be used.

Previous efforts to mount bigger guns on smaller chassis resulted in the Marder series as well as StuG IIIs. The Marder series were tall and had open crew compartments. The new design had a low silhouette and completely enclosed, casemate fighting compartment.

The Jagdpanzer IV used Panzer IV chassis 7 (known as BW7), but the almost-vertical front hull plate was replaced by sloped armor plates. Internally, the layout was changed to accommodate the new superstructure, moving the fuel tanks and ammunition racks. Since the Jagdpanzer lacked a turret, the engine which originally powered the Panzer IV's turret could be eliminated.