Before the start of World War II, the tank forces of the Third Reich (Panzerwaffe) were mainly equipped with light and medium tanks. The results of battles on the Eastern Front in 1941 showed that to successfully counter Soviet tanks, new types of armored vehicles with powerful guns and thick armor were needed. At the beginning of 1943, production of the Pz.Kpfw V Panther tank with a 75-mm long-barreled 7.5 cm KwK42 L/70 gun began. The weight of this tank, depending on the modification, ranged from 43 to 45.5 tons. This tank was classified as both medium and heavy based on various criteria. Many military historians consider it one of the best tanks of World War II. The Pz.Kpfw V also served as the basis for the Jagdpanther tank destroyer and the Bergepanther recovery vehicle. In the winter of 1944, production of another tank, the Pz.Kpfw VI Ausf B Konigstiger, developed by Henschel under the leadership of E. Aders, began. This tank had heavy armor and a long-barreled 88-mm gun. Its armor-piercing shell was capable of hitting any Allied tank at a distance of 2000 meters or more. The Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.B tanks served in heavy tank battalions until the end of the war, with a total of 479 Königstiger produced between 1944 and 1945.
