This model altered the driver's front armour plate, along with other minor differences. 164), though it was also known as the Panzerjäger Hornisse (in English "tank-hunter Hornet")ĭuring the first half of 1943, a new model of the Hornisse was introduced into production. It had numerous official designations, such as 8,8 cm Pak 43 (L/71) auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen III/IV (Sf) or 8,8cm Pak43 (L/71) auf Geschützwagen III/IV (Sd. This model was presented for approval to Adolf Hitler in October 1942 and entered production in early 1943. Thus, like the Marder series, the vehicle was not intended to engage in tank fights, but to provide mobility to a powerful anti-tank gun. The shielding provided was adequate to protect the crew from blast and small arms, but not armour-piercing rounds. The amount of armour provided for the crew compartment was limited.
To accommodate the long and heavy gun, the hull had to be lengthened and the engine moved from the rear to the centre of the chassis. The gun had the same traverse and elevation as if it had been on its carriage: 15° to either side and between -5° to +15° elevation. The 8,8 cm Panzerjägerkanone 43/1 L/71 (PaK 43/1) a long-barreled anti-tank gun (also used, as the 8.8 cm KwK 43, for the main armament of the Tiger II tank) was mounted on the rear of the chassis complete with its gun shield, and an open-topped superstructure was built up around the gun to give the crew some protection. In February 1942, the Alkett ( Altmärkische Kettenwerke GmbH) arms firm of Berlin designed a tank destroyer using their recently developed Geschützwagen III/IV chassis which, as its name indicated, used components of both the Panzer III and Panzer IV medium tanks. Nashorn tank destroyers on the Eastern Front in 1944Īfter the first German experiences with the newer Soviet tanks like the T-34 medium tank or the Kliment Voroshilov heavy tank during Operation Barbarossa, the need for a Panzerjäger capable of destroying these more heavily armoured tanks became clear.
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