page_title: German tanks in World War II
section_title: Development and uses
hierarchical_section_title: German tanks in World War II / Development and uses
caption_attribution_description: Information added by Wikimedia users.EN Translation: Western campaign, France [June 1940]; Brig. Gen. Erwin Rommel (center) at briefing / studying maps with his officers; 2nd from left Colonel Karl Rothenburg [commander of 25th Panzer Regiment] EN Translation (original caption before Feb. 2016): Brigadier General Rommel [3rd from right]; with the [25th] Panzer Regiment during Western campaign June 1940; 2nd from left Colonel Karl Rothenburg (Knight Cross awarded on 3 June 1940 with the Pour le Mérite); Captain [Adalbert] Schulz, Chief of 1st [battalion of] the 25th Panzer Regiment, later, as a Brigadier General, commander of the 7th Panzer Division.
context_page_description: Nazi Germany developed numerous tank designs used in World War II. In addition to domestic designs, Germany also used various captured and foreign-built tanks.
context_section_description: The indigenous German tank forces were a success due to tactical innovation more than tank quality.
  Using so-called "Blitzkrieg" ("lightning war") tactics, Guderian, Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist and other field commanders such as Erwin Rommel broke the hiatus of the Phoney War in a manner almost outside the comprehension of the Allied — and, indeed, the German — High Command. In actual tank-on-tank encounters the German armor performed poorly, but as a coherent unit, the combined arms tactic of the Blitzkrieg shocked the Allies.
  
  The German Panzer forces at the start of World War II were not especially impressive. Only 4% of the defense budget was spent on armored fighting vehicle (AFV) production. Guderian had planned for two main tanks: the Panzer III and the Panzer IV, with production starting in 1937 and 1936 respectively. The design work for the Panzer IV had begun in 1935 and trials of prototypes were undertaken in 1937, but by the time of the invasion of Poland only a few hundred 'troop trial' models were available. The development work was then halted and limited production was begun by Krupp in Magdeburg (Grusonwerk AG), Essen and Bochum in October 1939 with 20 vehicles built. However, even that low number could not be sustained, with production dropping to ten in April 1940. Such low production numbers were due to tanks being given a low priority for steel relative to the more conventional needs of an army, such as artillery shells. 
  Nevertheless, the number of available Panzer IVs (211) was still larger than that of the Panzer III (98). There were also technical problems with the Panzer III: it was widely considered to be under-gunned with a 37 mm KwK L/45 and production of was split among four manufacturers (MAN, Daimler-Benz, Rheinmetall-Borsig, and Krupp) with little regard for each firm's expertise, and the rate of production was initially very low (40 in September 1939, 58 in June 1940) taking until December 1940 to reach 100 examples a month. The Panzer force for the early German victories was a mix of the Panzer I (machine-gun only), Panzer II (20mm gun) light tanks, and two models of Czech tanks (the Panzer 38(t) and the Panzer 35(t)). By May 1940 there were 349 Panzer III's available for the attacks on France and the Low Countries. Through superior command/control and tactics, the Germans were able to prevail in the Battle of France, despite the deficiencies of their Panzers.
  The objection of the limited gunnery of the Panzer III was recognized during its conception and its design was altered to include a large turret ring to make it possible to fit a 2250 ft/s (656 m/s) 50 mm KwK L/42 gun on later models. In July 1940, too late to see action in the final weeks of the Battle of France, the first 17 of these models were produced. Designated the Panzer III Ausf. F, the other changes included an upgraded Maybach engine and numerous minor changes to ease mass production.
  The Ausf. F was quickly supplanted by the Ausf. G, which was the main tank of the Afrika Korps in 1940–41 and also saw action in Yugoslavia and Greece. Around 2,150 Panzer IIIs were produced, of which around 450 were the Ausf G. These tanks were still under-gunned, poorly armored and mechanically overly-complex in comparison to equivalent British tanks. After fighting in Libya in late 1940 the Ausf. H was put into production with simpler mechanics, wider tracks and improved armor. In April 1941 there was a general 'recall' of the Panzer III to upgrade the main gun to the new 50 mm L/60, with the new Panzergranate 40 round, and muzzle velocity was pushed to 3875 ft/s (1,181 m/s). New tanks produced with this gun were designated Ausf. J.
  The invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa signalled an enormous change in German tank development. In July 1941 36 Panzer and motorized infantry divisions were assigned to the invasion fielding over 3000 AFV's. In June 1941, these tanks first encountered the Soviet T-34. The German tanks were outclassed in every aspect of battle performance. A little later the American-made M3 Lee and then M4
caption: Rommel in the Western Europe campaign (June 1940)
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