Kugelblitz

Kugelblitz
1/35 scale model of Kugelblitz
Type	Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Production history
Produced	1945
No. built	5
Specifications
Weight	23 tonnes
Length	5.92 m (19 ft 5 in)
Width	2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)
Height	2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
Crew	5 (commander, two gunners, radio operator, driver)
Armor	80 mm (3.1 in) maximum
Main armament	Zwillingsflak 30mm MK 103 twin anti-aircraft gun
Secondary armament	7.92 mm MG34
Engine	12-cylinder Maybach HL 120 TRM gasoline 300 PS (296 hp, 221 kW)
Power/weight	13 PS/tonne
Fuel capacity	470 l (120 US gal)
Operational range	200 km (120 mi)
Speed	38 km/h (24 mph)

The Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz ("Ball Lightning") was a German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun developed during World War II. By the end of the war, only a pilot production of five units had been completed. Unlike earlier self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, it had a fully enclosed, rotating turret.

The need for a specialised self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, capable of keeping up with the armoured divisions, had become increasingly urgent for the German Armed Forces, as from 1943 on the German Air Force was less and less able to protect against enemy fighter bombers.

Therefore, a multitude of improvised and specially designed self-propelled anti-aircraft guns were built, many on the Panzer IV chassis, starting with the Flakpanzer IV Möbelwagen and progressing through the Wirbelwind and Ostwind models. However, these designs were tall, open-topped stopgap designs with no protection for the crew. These flaws were to be eliminated in the Kugelblitz, the final development of the Flakpanzer IV.

The first proposal for the Kugelblitz envisioned mounting a modified anti-aircraft turret developed for U-boats on the Panzer IV chassis, which was armed with dual 30 mm MK 103 Brunn guns (a configuration known as Doppelflak, "dual flak"). This was however abandoned as impractical, as development of this gun had not yet been completed, and in any case the entire production run of this gun turret was reserved for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine.

Instead, the 30 mm Zwillingsflak ("twin flak") 103/38 twin gun, a twinned-mount version of the MK 103 cannon, was used, which had also been fitted in single mounts to such planes as the Henschel Hs 129 in a ventral gun pod, and to the twin-engined Dornier Do 335. The rate of fire of the twin 30 mm guns was 450 rounds a minute per gun.