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Flakpanzer is a German term for "anti-aircraft tanks" ("flak" is derived from Flugabwehrkanone, literally "aircraft defence cannon"; "panzer" is derived from Panzerkampfwagen, literally "armored fighting vehicle"). These vehicles are modified tanks whose armament was intended to engage aircraft, rather than targets on the ground.
The Flakpanzer 38(t) was intended to be issued to the anti-aircraft platoon of each tank battalion (Panzer Abteilung) in a Panzer division. Most of the Flakpanzer 38(t)s were issued to Panzer Divisions on the Western Front, the remainder served on the Eastern Front. An example user being the 12th SS Panzer Division. [2]
The 2 cm Flak 38 auf Panzer I Ausführung A, commonly known as the Flakpanzer I, [1] was a rare self-propelled anti-aircraft gun conversion of the Panzer I in use by the military of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Now, Flak Divisions were also inserted on the frontline, where the flak guns were used not just for anti-aircraft fire, but also to support ground-level combat, notably against enemy armored vehicles. The 12th Flak Division was the first such new mobile Flak division to see action, participating in the battles outside of Moscow in early 1942 ...
Early Gepard system during trials in the US. The Gepard was developed during the 1960s [4] [6] [7] as a replacement for the M42 Duster. [7] Two projects were investigated. These were the ‘Matador’ (designed by Rheinmetall, AEG, Siemens, and Krauss-Maffei) and the ‘5PFZ-A’ (designed by Oerlikon, Contraves, Siemens-Albis, Hollandse Signaalapparaten and Kraus-Maffei/Porsche). [7]
This is a list of German-made and German-used land vehicles sorted by type, covering both former and current vehicles, from their inception from the German Empire, through the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany, to the split between West Germany and East Germany, through their reunification and into modern-day Germany.
The Panzer IV's turret was removed and replaced with an open-top, nine-sided turret that housed a 2 cm Flakvierling 38, a quadruple mount of 20 mm cannon. A closed-top design would have been preferable, but this was not possible due to the heavy smoke generated by the four anti-aircraft guns.
Therefore, a multitude of improvised and specially designed self-propelled anti-aircraft guns were built, many on the Panzer IV chassis, starting with the Flakpanzer IV Möbelwagen (a stopgap design) and progressing through the Wirbelwind and Ostwind models. However, these designs were tall, open-topped designs with sub-optimal armor.