Panzer III

The Panzer III is a first generation medium tank designed in the 1930's to replace the Panzer I and II in tank combat. It is a small but formidable medium tank that was replaced by the Panzer IV  to the appearance of the new Soviet T-34 medium tank in the early 1940's
==Combat History==
The Panzer III was designed to fight in tank to tank combat. From 1939-42, it showed a formidable balance of speed, firepower against light tanks and average armor against the french FCM 36, the British Matilda, and the Soviet T-26 and BT-5 tanks. However it was inferior to the Russian T-34 and KV-1 tanks, so was upgunned with an improved 50 MM gun.  Due to the introduction of the up-gunned and up-armored Panzer IV, the Panzer III was moved to secondary roles and was succeded by the Panzer IV and Panther tanks after the Battle of Kursk as the main German medium tank. Many Panzer IIIs had been converted to StuG assualt guns by the end of the war and had almost no frontline use.
==In the Endless War series==
Model 	Gun
Ausf A - early Ausf F	37 mm Kwk 36 L/45
late Ausf F - Ausf J 	50 mm KwK 38 L/42
Ausf J1 - Ausf M 	50 mm KwK 39 L/60
Ausf N 	75 mm KwK 37 L/24
In the game, the Panzer III is the Ausf J variant with the 50 mm KwK 38 L/42 gun and two MG-34 machineguns. It has a relatively faster speed than the StuG III and the other tanks in Endless War 7. It offers good maneuverability at the cost of a weak gun and below average armor for a medium tank.
Category:Tank