"We must do everything we can to promote anti-tank defense, and work just as hard to guarantee successful counter-attacks through the instrument of powerful tank forces of our own."
- Major-General Heinz Guderian, "Achtung Panzer!"
In the fall of 1942, the German Waffenamt issued an order to develop a heavy assault gun to combat the growing menace posed by Russian armored forces all along the "ostfrontier" or eastern front. What resulted was the Sd. Kfz. 173 Jagdpanther tank destroyer, arguably the best long-range tank destroyer of the war. The Jagdpanther mounted a powerful 8.8cm Pak L/71 cannon within a fixed turret, which was situated atop a standard Panther V chassis. Although production of the tank was begun at MIAG in January 1944, it took another ten months before the larger NMH plant could expand the production run in time for the "Wacht am Rhein" counteroffensive. By war's end only 392 vehicles had entered service with the Wehrmacht, but these had a telling effect on the prosecution of the war.
The German Jagdpanther tank destroyer series consists of six vehicles in differing paint schemes. Now in stock!
Set includes the following vehicles:
- Early production Jagdpanther, Fuhrer-Grenadier-Brigade, East Prussia, December 1944
- Late production Jagdpanther, sPzJgAbt. 560, Ardennes, 1944
- Final production Jagdpanther, sPzAbt. 654, Alsace, November 1944
- Early production Jagdpanther, sPzAbt. 559, Autumn 1944
- Late production Jagdpanther, Panzer Lehr Division, Hungary, Spring 1945
- Final production Jagdpanther, Spring 1945
Dimensions:
Length: 1-1/2 inches
Width: 1 inch |
