Early in June 1944, Army commanders expressed a need for a new breed of tank that could mount either a 90mm or 105mm main gun. This request was approved by the Army Staff soon thereafter even though trials of the new T26E1 had already begun back at Fort Knox earlier that year. Unfortunately, the first limited run of procurement vehicles did not occur until December 1944, largely due to in-fighting among the Army brass who were unsure which gun to use. The first twenty T26E3s were finally shipped out to the ETO in January 1945, with some seeing action in western Germany the following month.

Full production of the heavy tank began in March 1945 when it proved itself time and again against some of the more formidable German tanks fielded by the Wehrmacht. At the same time the tank was redesignated the M26 Pershing, in honor of WWI General 'Black Jack' Pershing. Total wartime production of the M26 reached 1,436 vehicles with a further 992 tanks produced in late 1945.

Early in 1943, orders were given to design a heavy, self-propelled anti-tank gun, which would mate a 12.8cm gun with a Tiger II chassis. On October 20th, 1943 a wooden mock-up of the enormous vehicle was shown to the OKH planners who authorized that a prototype be finished by April 1944. Two Jagdtigers were built with the Porsche-designed longitudinal torsion-bar suspension. During field testing, this arrangement proved entirely unsatisfactory, which further delayed production of the tank destroyer. The initial series was set at 150 vehicles, but an order issued in October 1944 stipulated that when these had been completed, production capacity was to be switched over to the Panther. This mandate was reversed in January 1945, and assembly of the Jagdtiger was to be resumed as fast as possible. By March 1945, only 77 examples were produced, all assigned to either the Panzerjagerabteilung 653 or the schwere Panzerabteilung 512.

Pictured here is a US M26 Pershing Heavy Tank and German Jagdtiger heavy tank destroyer. Now in stock!

Average Vehicle Dimensions:
Length: 3-1/4-inches
Width: 1-inch

Release Date: April 2020