German tanks in World War II Nazi Germany had several tank designs during World War II . In addition to these domestic designs , Germany also used various captured and foreign - built tanks . Development and uses . The German tank force was an amazing success due to tactical innovation more than tank quality . Many of their tanks outclassed allied armor , delivered more casualties than they took in most engagements due to the impressive training the German soldiers received , and the excellent tactics used by the German forces . Using the " Blitzkrieg " , Guderian , Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist and other field commanders such as 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 armour performed poorly , but as a coherent unit , the combined arms tactic of the Blitzkrieg shocked the West . The German Panzer force at the start of World War II was not especially impressive . Only 4 % of the defence budget was spent on armoured fighting vehicle ( AFV ) production . Guderian had planned for two main tanks , the Panzer III was in production but the second support tank with a 75 mm gun was not . Designated the Panzer IV , design work 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 began by Krupp in Magdeburg ( Grusonwerk AG ) , Essen and Bochum in October 1939 with 20 vehicles built . Even that low number could not be sustained however , production dropping to ten in April 1940 . Production was also dropped because metal was very expensive and not many citizens were donating it . Nevertheless the number of available Panzer IV ' s ( 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 was split between 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 ) and Panzer II ( 20mm gun ) light tanks , and Czech tanks ( the Panzer 38 ( t ) and the Panzer 35 ( t ) ) . By May 1940 349 Panzer III ' s were 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 . That the Panzer III was undergunned was recognized during its conception and its design included 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 over - complex in comparison to the British tanks . After fighting in Libya in late 1940 the Ausf . H was put into production with simpler mechanics , wider tracks and improved armour . 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 , 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 and the German tanks were outclassed in every aspect of battle performance . A little later the American - made M3 Lee and then M4 Sherman tanks were encountered in the Western Desert , the M4 outclassing German armour in that theatre too . As an immediate measure the Panzer III ' s armour was upgraded to 70 mm by additional plates and to protect against hollow charge attacks spaced armour was introduced . But the Panzer III was clearly outclassed and production was ended in August 1943 with the Ausf . M ( a conversion of older types ) , the vehicle having been up - gunned to a 75 mm L / 24 and downgraded to a support role . The Panzer III chassis did continue to be made until the end of the war as the base of a range of special purpose vehicles like Sturmgeschütz III . Slow production of the Panzer IV had been continuing , by the end of 1940 386 Ausf . Ds were in service and in 1941 a further 480 were produced , this was despite an order from the army for 2 , 200 . The short 75 mm gun was the main advantage of the Panzer IV , weight and armour were close to that of the Panzer III . The Panzer IV became the most numerous tank of the Panzer divisions , although already outclassed in 1942 it was easy to maintain and simpler to produce than other German tanks . The Ausf . E was the major production variant , although the Ausf . F2 ( later renamed in Ausf . G ) with a long high velocity gun was the most impressive performer . First introduced in 1940 the 22 ton machine was progressively improved , with the addition of the L / 43 gun the most significant change – it could penetrate 80 mm of armour at 1800 m . Later variants further improved the gun to a 75 mm L / 48 but were mainly characterised by increasing the main armor and adding spacer and skirt armor to protect against anti - tank weapons . " Zimmerit " paste , to prevent magnetic charges attaching was also introduced on the Panzer IV . About 12 , 000 Panzer IV tanks ( derived chassis included ) were produced during the war , more than twice as many as the next tank . Despite continued efforts with the lighter tanks throughout the war the German designers did produce a direct counter to the heavier Allied tanks with the PzKpfw V , the Panther ( in 1944 the PzKpfw designation was dropped and the vehicle was known simply as the " Panther " ) . Design work on the replacement for the Panzer IV had begun in 1937 and prototypes were being tested in 1941 . The emergence of the T - 34 led to an acceleration of this leisurely time - table . At the insistence of Guderian a team was dispatched to the eastern front in November 1941 to assess the T - 34 and report . Three features of the Soviet tank were considered as most significant , top was the sloped armour all round which gave much improved shot deflection and also increased the armour thickness against penetration ; second was the wide track and large road wheels which improved stability ; and third was the long over - hanging gun , a feature German designers had avoided up to then . Daimler - Benz and MAN were tasked with designing and building a new 30 – 35 ton tank by next Spring . At the same time the existing prototype tanks were up - gunned to 88 mm and ordered into production as the PzKpfw VI , the Tiger . The two T - 34 influenced proposals were delivered in April 1942 . The Daimler - Benz design was a ' homage ' to the T - 34 , ditching the propensity for engineering excellence , and hence complexity , to produce a clean , simple design with plenty of potential . The MAN design were more conventional to German thinking and was the one accepted by the " Waffenprüfamt " 6 committee . A prototype was demanded by May and design detail work was assigned to Kniepkampf . If the over - hanging gun and sloping armour are ignored the Panther is a conventional German design , its internal layout for the five crew was standard and the mechanicals were complex . Weighing 43 tons it was powered by a 700 hp ( 522 kW ) petrol engine driving eight double - leaved bogie wheels on each side , control was through a seven - speed gearbox and hydraulic disc brakes . The armour was homogenous steel plate , welded but also interlocked for strength . Preproduction models had only 60 mm armour but this was soon increased to 80 mm on the production Ausf . D and later models had a maximum of 120 mm . The main gun was a 75 mm L / 70 with 79 rounds , supported by one or two MG 34 machine guns . The MAN design was officially accepted in September 1942 and put into immediate production with top priority , finished tanks were being produced just two months later and suffered from reliability problems as a result of this haste . With a production target of 600 vehicles a month the work had to be expanded out of MAN to include Daimler - Benz and in 1943 the firms of " Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen - Hannover " and Henschel . Due to disruption monthly production never approached the target , peaking in 1944 with 330 a month and ending around February 1945 with at least 5964 built . The Panther first saw action around Kursk on July 5 , 1943 . In addition to these mainstream efforts the German army also experimented with a variety of unusual prototypes and also put into production several peculiarities . Some Tiger tanks were fitted with anti - personnel grenade launcher s which were loaded and fired from within the tank as an anti - ambush device . The first of these German - built tanks was the Panzer I . It was not designed for combat , but rather as a training vehicle to familiarize tank crews with Germany ' s modern battle concepts , and to prepare the nation ’ s industry for the upcoming war effort . Nevertheless , the tank design did see actual combat , first during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 , then again during World War II , and elsewhere . Overview per tank . Panzer I . Since the tank was never intended to be used in actual combat , it was plagued by weapon and armour shortcomings through its entire life . Attempts were made to improve the design , but with little success . The Panzer I ’ s participation in the Spanish Civil war did , however , provide vital information to the German military about modern tank warfare . The Panzer II was ordered into production because the construction of medium tanks , later to be known as the Panzer III and IV , was falling behind schedule . The Panzer II was intended to “ fill the gap ” until the III and IV could come into full production . Along with the Panzer I , the II made up the bulk of German tank forces during the invasion of Poland and France . The Panzer III was intended to be the main medium core of the German armor force when it was designed during the inter - war period . While it was originally designed to fight other tanks , its 37 mm and later 50 mm guns could not keep pace with Soviet T - 34 and KV tanks . In 1941 , the Panzer III was the most numerous German tank , but by late 1943 it was largely replaced by later versions of the Panzer IV and Panther . Its self - propelled gun chassis variant , the Sturmgeschütz III was , with just over 9 , 400 units built , the most produced German armored fighting vehicle of World War II . The Panzer IV was the workhorse of the German tank force during World War II . It saw combat in all theaters , and was the only German tank to remain in production for the entire war . Panzer IV . The Panzer IV was originally intended to be a support tank . It was thus armed with a 75 mm howitzer intended primarily to fire high - explosive shells in support of other tanks or infantry . By Mid 1942 , it was rearmed with a longer 75 mm dual - purpose gun which could defeat most Soviet tanks . In the second half of the war , about half of all German tanks were Panzer IVs . The Panther was a medium tank ( 45 tonnes ) with a crew of five , which was designed to counter the excellent Soviet T - 34 tank . In weight it was comparable to Soviet heavy tanks . It had sloped armour ( for better protection ) and carried a long - barreled 75 mm gun . Series production began in 1943 and a total of 4 , 800 were produced . Initial mechanical problems were mostly fixed , and the Panther is considered the best German tank of the war . In response to the T - 34 after the invasion of the Soviet Union , the German forces ordered the construction of a new heavy tank . Originally to be named the Panzer VI , Hitler ordered the name changed . The tank had formidable firepower and thick armor . It had some mechanical problems due to its weight . Even larger and heavier than the Tiger I the Pzkpfw VIB Tiger II , which after the war received the nickname Königstiger ( King Tiger ) , was the largest and most powerful tank released by German forces during the war . It had the firepower to knock out virtually any Allied tank and enough armor to shrug off most Allied firepower at the time ( excluding hollow charge weapons ) , but it suffered from multiple mechanical problems due to its rushed development and excessive weight . It was named after the Tiger but was closer in relation to the Panther medium tank .