The Sturmtiger or Sturmpanzer VI was a German armored gun from the Second World War. The first prototypes of the vehicle were created in 1943, and serial production continued in the period 1944-1945, ending with the production of only 18 cars. The Sturmtiger was powered by a 700hp Maybach HL 230 P4 single engine. It was armed with a single 380mm STuM RW61 rocket mortar, 1 7.92mm MG34 machine gun and 1 90mm grenade launcher.
The Sturmtiger was created as a result of the Wehrmacht's experience in street fighting in Stalingrad in 1942-1943. The new vehicle was to be able to demolish buildings or fortified resistance points with one shot and be heavily armored. The design of the new armored gun was based on the chassis of the PzKpfw VI Tiger tank - interestingly enough, only the chassis of the PzKpfw VI vehicles damaged in combat were used to create all 18 Sturmtiger vehicles. The frontal armor was 150 mm thick, and the side armor was up to 80 mm. Sturmtiger took a very limited part in the fighting during World War II. Units equipped with them fought during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, in the offensive in the Ardennes at the turn of 1944-1945 and in the last battles of this war in Germany in 1945.
The ISU-152 is a Soviet self-propelled gun (also classified as a tank destroyer) from the Second World War. The first prototypes of this vehicle appeared in 1943, and the weapon entered mass production and the line in the same year. The weight of the vehicle in the basic version was 46 tons. The drive was provided by a single 520 HP W-2-IS engine. It was armed with a 152.4 mm ML-20S cannon-howitzer and one 12.7 mm DSzK machine gun. The self-propelled gun ISU-152 was developed at the Fabryka im. Kirov in Chelyabinsk. Initially, it was assumed that the new vehicle would be structurally based on the KW-1s tank, but it was quickly decided to use the new IS-2 heavy tank for this purpose. It is worth adding that the ISU-152 shared many structural elements and components with the ISU-122 self-propelled gun, which of course greatly facilitated the production and operation of both types of vehicles. As the ISU-152 showed high combat value in the course of combat operations in 1944-1945, the vehicle remained in the line or reserve of the Soviet Army for a good part of the Cold War. After 1945, two modernized versions of this vehicle were built. The first one was called ISU-152K and was developed in 1953. It had a new engine (the same as in the T-54 tank) and an increased supply of fuel and transported ammunition. In 1959, a version of the ISU-152M was created, which differed slightly from the ISU-152K. Among other things, she used another machine gun as an additional weapon.
PzKpfw VI Ausf. B Tiger II or colloquially Konigstiger (Polish royal tiger) was a German heavy tank from World War II. The first prototypes of the vehicle were built in 1943, and serial production continued in 1944-1945, ending with the production of 487 vehicles. The Tiger II was powered by a single Maybach HL 230 P30 engine producing 700hp. It was armed with 1 88mm PaK 43 L / 71 gun and 2 7.92mm MG34 machine guns.
PzKpfw VI Ausf. The B Tiger II was created in connection with the commission by Albert Speer in January 1943 of the Henschel and Porsche plants to design a new heavy tank for the German armed forces. The first prototypes were ready by October this year, and a car designed by the Henschel company entered mass production, with 50 units of the new tank having a tower designed by Porsche (the so-called Porsche tower). The royal tiger had a great anti-tank gun, capable of destroying any armored vehicle of the Red Army or Allies at the time at a distance of 1500-2000 m. It was also very well armored, and its armor was carefully contoured. In fact, the new German tank was unattainable for most enemy vehicles at distances above 1000-1200 m. Undoubtedly, the Tiger II had numerous disadvantages: first of all, the engine was definitely too weak, which was the same as the 11 tons lighter Tiger I. The gearbox was also damaged. and the entire driveline system, which was extremely failing and prone to failure. The Tiger II was also incredibly time-consuming and expensive to produce, which, taking into account the difficult situation of Germany on the fronts in the period 1944-1945, was also a big minus. The Royal Tiger underwent its baptism of fire during the Normandy operation in the summer of 1944 as part of the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion and 101st SS Heavy Tank Battalion. Later, units equipped with these tanks also fought on the Eastern Front in 1944-1945, and perhaps the largest number of Tiger II tanks in one operation was used in the offensive in the Ardennes at the turn of 1944-1945.
The Pz.Kpfw VI (Sd.Kfz.181) Tiger is a German heavy tank from World War II, one of the most famous combat vehicles of that time. The command of the German Panzerwaffe had the idea of creating a heavy tank from the beginning of the war, but the first attempts in the form of the centuries-old Neubaufahrzeuge tank turned out to be unsuccessful. In 1939 and 1940 they were conducted ineffectively, but after the clash with the T-34 and KW-1 on the eastern front, work on the new heavy tank sped up. On April 20, 1942, the prototype of the new tank, under the designation VK 4501 (H), underwent field trials in the presence of Adolf Hitler and was put into mass production shortly after. The first production versions were designated Pz.Kpfw VI Ausf.H1 (later Ausf.E). In the course of production, in the years 1942-1945, the tank was systematically modified by, for example, adding Feifell dust filters, different placement of headlights, modernization of optical equipment, changes to the commander's turret, etc. The drive was provided by a Maybach HL230 P45 12-cylinder carburetor engine with a capacity of 700 HP. The Pz.Kpfw VI tank, although it did not have such a contoured front hull as the T-34 or Pantera, was a heavily armored vehicle (frontal armor up to 120mm), armed with a very effective KwK 36 L / 56 88mm gun, which earned the reputation of being the most effective tank of the Second World War. It was a vehicle much better than the Allied M4 or Churchill and the Soviet T-34/76. He could also easily fight the IS-2 or M-26, surpassing them with the effectiveness of the main armament. On the other hand, the Pz.Kpfw VI had some disadvantages - first of all, it was extremely time-consuming to produce and had a very complicated suspension. In the later period of the war, the quality of the Tiger's armor also deteriorated, which resulted from the lack of access to the molybdenum deposits by the German economy. Despite these drawbacks, the Tiger on the battlefields proved to be a very effective weapon. He successfully fought in Tunisia, the Kursk Arch, Normandy and on the Eastern Front. Technical data: length (with a barrel): 8.45m, width: 3.7m, height: 2.93m, engine power: 700KM, weight: 56.9 t, range (on the road): 100km, maximum speed (on the road) ): 38 km / h, armament: 1 88 mm KwK 36 L / 56 gun, 3 7.92 mm MG 34 machine guns.