Panzer projects & prototypes.

World War II German Military
#381

Porsche Typ 175 ( Radschlepper ost)



This strange vehicle was the Porsche response to a German army requeriment for a towing and transport lorry.

The radschlepper ost (wheeled tractor for the East) was to be capable to operate in the worst mud and snow conditions, for that purpose the doktor Porsche choosed a design with all steel spiked roadwheels with large diameter wich teorically helped to achieve grip is soft ground but probably gave a very hard ( and noisy) ride over pavement.

The vehicle weight was 7000kg, had all wheel drive and it was capable to carry his own weight or tow about 5 tons, maximum speed in soft terrain was just 15 km/h, the weak 4 cilinders engine with just 90 hp probably didnt help to the maneouver.

Uncle addie gave a closer look to the Typ 175.

200 Typ 175 were ordered in 1942 but the order was reduced to merely 50 made by Skoda in 1943 after the the failure to fullfill the requeriments.

#382

Only 90 HP??? That is woefully underpowered…

#383

Sure, no wonder why the Army rejected it.

#384

I’m going to take a contrarian view on this subject. I personally think that in terms of general AFV design the Germans were frankly obsolescent compared to Soviet designs–and Allied design didn’t fare so well either. If the war had continued long enough for designs such as the E-series to reach production they would have been utterly outclassed by the new generation of Soviet tanks.

Consider that the T-54 would reach production just a few years after the war, and was merely an up-armored and up-gunned version of the T-44 which reached production before the war ended. These tanks weren’t a high priority because it was clear that the war was going to be over soon. Had this not been the case they would have been pushed into production much more quickly. The T-54 had thicker armor than the King Tiger and a gun which was as effective an AT weapon as the Panther’s–though clearly not as good as the long 88. Yet it weighed in at just under 40T. Yes, the most powerful German designs were better, but at nearly twice the weight!

To my mind the Germans had excellent guns and optics, but their the other aspects of their tank designs were still firmly rooted in 1930’s design philosophy which fatally limited their potential for ultimate success. And that is even before you consider reliability and mass production!

#385

I’m going to take a contrarian view on this subject. I personally think that in terms of general AFV design the Germans were frankly obsolescent compared to Soviet designs

Probably is true up to 1942, then the german design surpassed the soviet ones in quality.
Having the Pz III in production in 1943 was not very wise.

#386

Raketenwerfer aus Panzer IV fahrgestell

A panzer IV ausf D chassis equipped with a protected rack for launching the 21cm “wurfkorper”. It had no turret but an aditional protected cabin for the rocket operator. The date of this projekt is 1943, unfortunately I have no more data on the manufacturer or other performances.

#387

It amazes me that you see modern weapon systems, then you see pictures of many of the same weapon systems from WW2 that the Germans were experimenting on using! Way back then!:shock:

#388

Agreed, this is other modern looking experiment:

Pzkpfw IV mit 7,5 cm Ruckstossfrei Kanone 43 & 3cm MK 103

Very interesting design for a recce vehicle based on Panzer IV chassis. Instead the normal 75mm gun it had a fully automatic belt fed MK 103 30mm aeronautic gun. The single place turret is also armed with two 75mm spin stabilized recoiless gun ( rifled bore rocket launchers) in each side, similar concept to several modern IFVs wich had a medium caliber automatic gun and missile launchers like the Bradley.

#389

Wow! Sweet looking machine. Obviously I’m glad these machines (not just this particular model) weren’t produced and used during the war since my dad and uncles were fighting against the Axis back then. (It would have been a much tougher fight) Yet I’m also a little sad, it would have been cool to see these in action many years before actually being produced. Kind of like a “what if” scenario…

#390

Where? My great uncle fought in Italy with the Canadians.

#391

My dad did anti-submarine duty in the Atlantic. Then ship was transferred to the Mediterranean for a short while for the invasion of Italy. Then was transferred to the Pacific for the war against Japan. 1944-45. My uncle saw action on D-day and fought in the campaign against Germany. My other uncle was in the army in the Pacific but didn’t see action before coming home.

#392

amazing seeing the pictures you have PK. :wink:

#393

amazing seeing the pictures you have PK.

Thank you.

Wow! Sweet looking machine. Obviously I’m glad these machines (not just this particular model) weren’t produced and used during the war since my dad and uncles were fighting against the Axis back then

Worried about those inoffensive Pz IV variants ? just be thankful that he didnt had to face this monsters.

#394

Is… Is the F-14 an AA gun???

@ Navyson: That’s cool, what type of sub was your dad in? And which regiment did your uncle fight in?

#395

Take another look. Every page/model says “F-14”.:wink:

#396

The last one… <_<

#397

The Bär is a howitzer, 28cm if I remember correctly.

(Don´t know if it´s the same lengthened Tiger II based chassis that was also planned to carry the 17cm and 21cm guns, but they both had a superstructure different from the one pictured here. A prototype chassis was produced, but remained gun-less at war´s end. “Grille” was supposed to be the name of the 17 & 21cm SPG (several types of German SPG´s carried that name, so I don´t know how official these names were)).

#398

More or less so, but the caliber of the “Mörser” ( the name that germans used for heavy howitzers) is 305 mm.

#399

Wow!
The PzKpfw VII was a nice looking tank! My uncles probably could have walked faster than those others could move, they were so large and heavy.

#400

The projected speed was 30km/h , engine: Daimler Benz V-12 850 hp, maximum weight 71 tons, main gun 105 or 128 mm, armor 120mm.