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Based on the Czech Panzer 38(t) chassis Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer was an excellent tank destroyer: it was better armoured than the earlier Panzerjäger (60 mm sloped armour at 60 degrees, giving a equivalence of about 180 mm), carried a reasonably powerful gun, was mechanically reliable and small and easily concealed. It was also cheap to build. Its main failings were the cramped working condition of the crew and the gun mounting, which leftwards only allowed a limited traverse.
The Hetzer was intended to be more cost-effective than the much more ambitious Jagdpanther and Jagdtiger designs of the same period. Using a proven chassis, it avoided the mechanical problems of these mammoth armoured vehicles.
The Hetzer fitted into the lighter category of German tank destroyers that began with the Panzerjäger I, then the Marder series, then the Hetzer. It had neither a very powerful gun (the 75 mm gun fitted was the same as the late Panzer IV marks and far less powerful than the 88 mm guns on other tanks or tank destroyers) nor particularly heavy armour. For this reason the Hetzer could not stand head-to-head with Allied heavy tanks or tank destroyers.
It should be noted that the name Hetzer was at the time never used for the vehicle. The usage is a postwar mistake conferring the name of a related prototype.
The Jagdpanzer 38(t) succeeded the Marder III (based on the same chassis) in production from April 1944; about 2584 were built till the end of the war. Its purpose was to equip the Panzerjaegerabteilungen of the infantry divisions, giving them some limited mobile anti-armour capability. After the war Czechoslovakia continued to build the type and exported 158 vehicles to Switzerland. Most exemplars in today's collections are of Swiss origin.
Characteristics
- Role: tank destroyer
- Power plant: 120 kW (160 hp)
- Speed: road 42 km/h
- Range: 177 km
- Length: 6.38 m
- Width: 2.63 m
- Height: 2.17 m
- Weight: 15.75 tonnes
- Crew: 4
- Armament: 75 mm L/48 Pak39 gun with 50 rounds; remote-controlled mg on roof
- Armour: front 60 mm, side 20 mm
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