The German PzKpfw V Panther owes its appearance to the Soviet T-34

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The German PzKpfw V Panther owes its appearance to the Soviet T-34

There are often disputes on the Web, during which some users prove that the Wehrmacht Panther tank is almost a copy of our T-34, while others are trying to prove that this machine has been developed since 1939.

It is worth noting that both camps are right in this discussion, but only partially.



The thing is that at the time of the invasion of Nazi Germany into the territory of the USSR, the Wehrmacht had two main tanks PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV. They were opposed by the Soviet KV-1, KV-2 and T-34.

When in the fall of 1941 the Wehrmacht tank formations began to suffer serious losses in battle with our armored vehicles, Inspector General of the Armored Forces Heinz Guderian requested the arrival of a commission to the front that could study the damaged Soviet equipment and make adjustments to the development of new German vehicles.

Such a commission arrived on the Eastern Front in early November 1941. After studying the samples of our tanks, the main struggle for the development of a new vehicle for the army began between two companies: MAN and Daimler-Benz.

It is worth noting that both companies have been developing new tanks since 1939. However, none of the prototypes at that time met the needs of the Wehrmacht.

Already at the end of November, the 41st MAN presented a drawing of a tank hull with rational armor slope angles. At the same time, earlier German concerns persistently offered only "rectangular" designs.

At the same time, MAN developed his car strictly within the framework of German tank building.

The same cannot be said about Daimler-Benz, which really tried to copy our T-34 by installing a diesel engine on the prototype, marking the transmission at the rear and sweeping the turret forward.

However, in the process of sea trials, the brainchild of Daimler-Benz completely failed. The competition was won by MAN, and so the PzKpfw V "Panther" was born.

Therefore, it cannot be said that the "five" was exactly copied from some Soviet tank. At the same time, it is obvious that the MAN designers took their inspiration from studying our machines. In particular, this is indicated by the aforementioned concept of a hull with rational angles of inclination, which was not previously used in German tank building.

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  1. +1
    16 December 2022 19: 58
    The German PzKpfw V Panther owes its appearance to the Soviet T-34
    Who has not known this for 30 years fool And the hospital is helpless. request For the Germans are pragmatists, no worse than the Japanese. I owe it to the angles of inclination of the hull and the shape of the turret, and the dimensions are traditions ... The film "The Lark" was very inconvenient in the T-34 to drink beer ... request
  2. +3
    16 December 2022 20: 06
    The German PzKpfw V Panther owes its appearance to the Soviet T-34
    And the T 34 owes its appearance to something else, and all tanks owe their appearance to a large "English tank" .....
    In general, the egg owes its appearance to the chicken or the chicken to the egg????
  3. 0
    16 December 2022 21: 12
    at the time of the invasion of Nazi Germany into the territory of the USSR, the Wehrmacht had two main tanks PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV. They were opposed by the Soviet KV-1, KV-2 and T-34.


    As of June 41, there were about 300 units in the troops of the Red Army. heavy tanks KV-1 and KV-2 and a little over a thousand T-34s.
    In total, the new KV and T-34 tanks accounted for about 10% of the total number of Red Army tanks in the European part of the USSR.
    (doesn't look like the current situation...)
    The tanks were considered secret, they tried not to use them during the exercises, the crews who had recently received new and still "crude" equipment had little knowledge of the device and the material base.
    The commanders had a poor command of the tactics of using new armored vehicles, often throwing tanks into battle without infantry, without high-quality reconnaissance of the battlefield.
    More than half of the new tanks dropped out as "non-combat losses" due to malfunctions, lack of spare parts, tractors, towing vehicles, fuel and ammunition, many tanks burned down on endless marches under the blows of Nazi aircraft, drowned in swamps, were blown up in minefields ...
    Therefore, there is no need to talk about the serious impact of new tanks on the results of the battles of the 41st year.
    Most of the light tanks of the Red Army, which, according to various estimates, were 10-12 thousand, were also lost in the first months of the war. Non-combat losses among them also reach 50-60%.

    The shortcomings of armored vehicles in reliability, poor provision of spare parts, fuel, ammunition, repair and recovery vehicles were compensated by the courage and dedication of the tankers, who, at the cost of huge losses in people and equipment, managed to bleed the fascist shock armies and stop their breakthrough deep into Russia, and then completely defeat.
    My grandfather Alexander went through the entire war as a T-34 driver, burned several times in a tank, was wounded and shell-shocked, was awarded orders and medals, in May 45 he signed the Reichstag, eternal memory and glory to the Victorious Heroes !!!
  4. +1
    16 December 2022 21: 26
    There are often disputes on the Web, during which some users prove that the Wehrmacht Panther tank is almost a copy of our T-34, while others are trying to prove that this machine has been developed since 1939.

    And the practical meaning of this dispute?) Regardless of the versions, the Panther appeared at the front and contributed to the course of hostilities. And I agree with Victor:
    And the T 34 owes its appearance to something else, and all tanks owe their appearance to a large "English tank" .....
  5. 0
    17 December 2022 07: 15
    at the time of the invasion of Nazi Germany into the territory of the USSR, the Wehrmacht had two main tanks PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV.

    Here I was very surprised! How can tanks be called the main ones if they are present in an absolute minority or absent altogether?
    For example, according to German reports.
    On June 22.06.1941, 6 in the XNUMXth Panzer Division there were:
    Pz. II - 47
    Pz.35(t) - 155
    Pz. IV-30
    Pz. Bef. 35(t) - 5(13)
    Others - 8 Pz.Bef.?
    Total: 245

    That is, there were a minority of fours, and there were no triples at all. The main composition of the Czechs, even the commanders and then the Czechs.
  6. -1
    17 December 2022 11: 27
    With the arrangement of armor at rational angles, everything is not as simple as it seems, especially when it comes to tanks characteristic of World War II with differentiated armor.
    For which it is characteristic that the thickness of the armor of the horizontal sections is much less than the vertical ones. Therefore, in practice, making the armor thicker, but vertical, or thinner, but at an angle, does not affect the overall weight of the armor as much as it seems at first glance.
    And secondly, shells during the Second World War acquired normalizers and new types, which are also characterized by the normalization of the shell - that is, when it hits inclined armor, the shell turns perpendicular to the armor, normalizes, and the effect of inclined armor is lost - the shell still pierces the armor in a perpendicular direction , over the shortest distance.
  7. 0
    18 December 2022 10: 15
    Even in different industries, the same technique will differ from the original (equipment, materials, components, only Stalin could force them to copy the one from the American fortress, up to the clock), and the design school, all the more, will make its contribution. The Germans were never able to make cheap aircraft engines or tanks. The same panther, after modifications, was the best tank in the Second World War, but the number of panthers in the troops did not give any advantage, just like jet aircraft. and only in the autumn, when we learned to fight, did the Hederian worry, in the summer our tanks clicked like seeds.
  8. Des
    +1
    19 December 2022 06: 46
    From the article: "The thing is that at the time of the invasion of Nazi Germany into the territory of the USSR, the Wehrmacht had two main tanks PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV. They were opposed by the Soviet KV-1, KV-2 and T-34." That is, the Germans did not have other tanks. As the USSR did not have other tanks. Bravo to the analysis. Long live VO! )
  9. 0
    20 December 2022 18: 23
    What can not be said about Daimler-Benz, which really tried to copy our T-34


    In 2022, writing this should be ashamed. The Daimler-Benz panther has already been described in all the remaining documents, from the gearbox to the suspension. In addition to the sloped armor from the T-34, there is almost nothing there, including the layout of the engine-transmission compartment. In the T-34, the gearbox is transverse and behind the engine, in Daimler-Benz it is longitudinal and on the side of the engine, and so on. What kind of copying are we talking about here?

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