Captured German equipment in Soviet use on the Eastern front During World War II losses of major items of equipment were substantial in many battles . Due to the expense of producing such equipment , many armies made an effort to recover and re - use enemy equipment that fell into their hands . Equipment Capture . Small items of equipment such as personal firearms , clothing and so forth are routinely lost as personnel are wounded , killed , or taken prisoner . There is often a perception ( and sometimes a reality ) amongst soldiers that the foreign equipment is better or more convenient than the equipment issued by the soldier ' s own Army . Thus it was not uncommon for Soviet troops to make use of German boots , knives , mess kits , flashlights and other personal items . Likewise , German troops often sought Soviet winter boots ( vаlenki ) and hats . Oddly , troops on both sides each favored the other ' s submachineguns . Photos of German troops using Soviet PPSh - 41 submachineguns are as common as photos of Red Army troops using German MP - 40 s . For larger items such as tanks or artillery pieces , equipment can be lost when it is immobilized through breakdown or minor damage . In general , a retreating force tends to lose a lot of heavy equipment regardless of actual combat losses . The heavy maintenance demands of armored fighting vehicles are both a cause of loss and an obstacle to re - use . For example , after the Battle of Stalingrad , several hundred German Panzer III tanks were captured . So many were available that an effort was made to repair and re - use them . Hundreds were rebuilt as the SU - 76i self - propelled gun . Artillery pieces can also be lost during retreats , when battery positions are overrun , or when they are immobilized during road movement . Use of Captured Equipment . Use of captured equipment has obvious benefits and less - obvious drawbacks . Soldiers of all armies are trained to destroy any equipment that they cannot keep out of enemy hands . For example , if a tank unit cannot remove its tanks during a retreat , it will destroy its own tanks with gunfire , explosives , or via mechanical means such as destruction / discarding of key parts or running the engines with the oil drained until it seizes . Thus a high proportion of equipment should be difficult for an enemy to recover . However , the tactical situation does not always allow these procedures to be carried out . When Axis tanks were captured and could be repaired , they were often used in deception operations . A common tactic was for a Soviet tank unit to approach a German position using one or two captured German tanks in the lead . The hope was that the German defenders , recognizing a " friendly " tank , would not fire , or would delay their fire long enough for the Soviet unit to make a close approach . Axis tanks and other AFVs were also re - marked and sometimes re - armed with Soviet weapons . Evidence exists of German Panzer I - based command vehicles re - armed with Soviet 20mm ShVAK cannons , for example . Usually , however , the vehicles were neither modified nor re - marked . The drawbacks to using enemy equipment are significant . First , the vehicles are very vulnerable to friendly fire . Second , it is difficult to repair or maintain them ; the simple act of obtaining ammunition or minor engine parts can be insurmountable . Third , equipment such as radios may not be compatible with other friendly equipment . Fourth , troops may not understand the maintenance requirements of the unfamiliar enemy equipment . In the case of very high - value items , such as the Panther tank , these disadvantages may be more than balanced by the quality of the equipment . Photographic evidence exists of usage of much enemy equipment , usually for short periods of time . Often , captured equipment is of more value as intelligence than in re - use on the battlefield . Thus the first examples of German Tiger I tank and Königstiger tank s captured in combat were sent to Soviet proving grounds for evaluation rather than being re - used at the front . With the exception of the Panzer III tank , most of the vehicles listed below were captured in very small numbers and never contributed significantly to Red Army strength in any operation .