Anti-aircraft tank Kugelblitz - “Ball Lightning” of the Wehrmacht

In 1944, a variety of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns began to appear based on the Panzer IV. Despite the fact that all of these ZSUs met the requirements of the Wehrmacht, they had various significant drawbacks relating, first of all, to crew protection, fire density and power.

The development and production of the next ZSU was carried out by Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz. The already familiar Panzer IV was taken as a basis, which by 1944 became the record holder in terms of production volumes and the most massive German a tank in the course of the war.

The new vehicles were called Flakpanzer IV. The armor protection of the gun was made in the form of a ball, to which two 30-mm aviation MK-103 belt-fed guns. This Flakpanzer was also called Kugelblitz (ball lightning). Initially, they planned to install a Rheinmetall turret in the new ZSU, which was developed to be installed on 21 series submarines. However, in the spring of 1944, experiments with the new turret did not go very well, as a result of which everyone cooled down to the idea except General Heinz Guderian, who clearly understood the position of German aviation and that his tank divisions were forced to defend themselves from attack aircraft.

As a result, already in December 1944, a model of a new anti-aircraft tank was presented. The overall architecture of the product remained the same with a spherical tower capable of rotating around its axis. To control the guidance system it was supposed to use manual drives. According to some reports, hydraulics were also provided.

Due to difficulties with production, only three to five of these ZSUs and several separate towers were produced. It is reliably known that “ball lightning” took part in the battles for Berlin as part of an additional air defense division.

Comments

[Victor Leningradets]

I always thought that G. Guderian was our secret agent behind enemy lines.
Everywhere they slammed the production of the obsolete Pz-IV and the Kunststük based on it. The creation of the Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz looks especially stupid with this closed turret, from which no fighter-bombers or attack aircraft can be seen until they hit you with the PC.
It was much easier to re-equip the Wirbelwind already mastered in production with the Flakvierling 103/38 installation, mounted on the same carriage as the 2 cm Flakvierling 38. And the open cabin of such installations is not a disadvantage, but on the contrary - at that time the only way to timely detect targets and control fire.

[geraet4501]

Everywhere they slammed the production of the obsolete Pz-IV and the Kunststük based on it.

It is not true. Guderian put forward demands for lighter and more massive vehicles of several types, including ZSU. The old Pz.Kpfw.IV did not fit into them. However, neither VK 28.01 nor the projects of Porsche and Rheinmetall even reached the metal, so, for lack of anything better, the “four” continued to be produced.

[Victor Leningradets]

It is not true. Guderian put forward demands for lighter and more massive vehicles of several types, including ZSU. The old Pz.Kpfw.IV did not fit into them. However, neither VK 28.01 nor the projects of Porsche and Rheinmetall even reached the metal, so, for lack of anything better, the “four” continued to be produced.

Alas, this is true, Dmitry!
He drowned, Gein the Swift, and he was right, dog!
In the first half of 1943, without the Pz-IV, the Germans couldn’t do it! But then came the reckoning. Instead of launching the production of new vehicles (and for this the Germans needed to build their Tankograd somewhere in the foothills of the Alps back in 1942), parallel production began of the next reincarnation of the Pz-IV and the new Pz-V vehicle, but all at the AVAILABLE capacities, and this is a dead end! Similarly, in our country, I.M. Zaltsman drove the T-1942 in parallel with the T-60 in 70 so that quantitative indicators obscured the real picture.
On the case: Wirbelwind - was well mastered in production in 1944, Flakvierling 103/38 and 2-cm Flakvierling 38 are interchangeable, since they have a common carriage. There was no point in pushing the hunchback against the wall, introducing a specific naval installation on a self-propelled tank chassis.

[Victor Leningradets]

I’ll add: when comparing the Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz and the hypothetical Wirbelwind Flakvierling 103/38, it must be admitted that four barrels are better than two.

[futurohunter]

Victor Leningradets
This “obsolete” T-4 was the “workhorse” of the Wehrmacht and a very dangerous adversary for our T-34, and was practically in no way inferior to it. As the tankers told me, the only advantage of the T-34 was that when the tank caught fire, ours had a minute to leave it. The Germans did not have this moment.
And did the Germans have an alternative to the T-4? Just don't talk about Tigers and Panthers. How many times more expensive were they than T-4? An unsuccessful and complex chess move, the Panther's cannon was very unique, requiring unique shells. And they say that there was no OFS for the Panther.
So Guderian took what he had and made the most of it.
And the T-4 is a good tank, which had reserves for modernization - inclined armor, torsion bar suspension, a more powerful gun, etc. And there were projects for a more advanced four. But we know why they remained only projects. And one of the very indirect reasons was the passion for heavy tanks

[Victor Leningradets]

This “obsolete” T-4 was the “workhorse” of the Wehrmacht and a very dangerous adversary for our T-34, and was practically in no way inferior to it.

In the Pz-IVG and Pz-IVH modifications, it is not inferior to the T-34 produced in 1943 in the frontal projection, everything else, especially cross-country ability and dynamics, is much worse, not to mention the acquired “blindness”. And most importantly, the maximum output is almost four times lower than that of the thirty-four.

And the T-4 is a good tank, which had reserves for modernization - inclined armor, torsion bar suspension, a more powerful gun, etc. And there were projects for a more advanced four. But we know why they remained only projects. And one of the very indirect reasons was the passion for heavy tanks

Don't read popular literature. Otherwise, you will know everything, but only from the top, and the devil is in the details.
Pz-IVG is the last justified modification. What followed were only partial improvements, at the expense of loss of mobility, visibility and reliability. Regarding modernization reserves (in fact, they are absent), it is best to look at the fate of the Pz-IV/70(V). Combat use showed that the overweight chassis did not allow free maneuvering on the ground, and tankers gave this installation the nickname “Guderian’s Duck.” And in the Pz-IV/70(A) modification, attempts to fight off-road led to suspension failures and engine-transmission group accidents. This is the best illustration of the dreams of those who like to install a “schmalturm” from a KwK-42 on a Pz-IV chassis.

[futurohunter]

What about torsion bar suspension like on the T-3 and sloping armor?

[Victor Leningradets]

What about torsion bar suspension like on the T-3 and sloping armor?

The answer is simple: no way.
The Germans abandoned the single Pz-III/Pz-IV chassis not because they could not create something based on two vehicles, but because what came out of it did not in any way resemble a “thirty-four winner.”
The same problems of poor maneuverability and maneuverability, insufficient weapons in the near future remained, but most importantly, the lack of possibility of producing this vehicle in comparable quantities to the T-34.
From an engineering point of view, it was possible to lengthen the Pz-III base chassis from six to seven rollers in a row and install a turret box. But neither the transmission nor the engine would have been able to pull the heavier car. So the Germans had no special alternatives.
Just in case, I am not a fan of the Pz-V. I consider this vehicle to be an extremely unsuccessful fighter tank, unsuitable either for breakthroughs or for supporting infantry, which was actually confirmed by the course of hostilities.
In 1943, the Germans needed a tank with slightly better mobility than the Tiger, with its level of protection and a 105-mm gun of moderate ballistics with unitary loading (for example, based on the SKC-32). And all this within 50 tons. But at existing facilities, the production of such machines would be no more than 600 units. per month, which is extremely little.

[ussuri]

Interesting arrangement for the crewed module. Now if there were a way to detect incoming large shells or rockets and an mechanism to eject the crew module before impact that could save lives.

Such units could be very lightly armored and be on duty against fpv drones and also act as a machine gun nest and for general purpose.