Tank destroyer

A self-propelled anti-tank gun, or tank destroyer, is a type of armoured fighting vehicle. Tank destroyers are used primarily to provide antitank support in combat operations. They may mount a high-velocity anti-tank gun or sometimes an antitank guided missile launcher, or ATGM.

Tank destroyers cannot fulfil the many roles of tanks; they are much less flexible, and usually lack a strong anti-infantry capability. A common feature of a tank destroyer is the absence of a turret. However, as a result of having no turret and fewer parts, being less versatile on the battlefield, tank destroyers are much less expensive to manufacture.

Gun-armed tank destroyers have been largely supplanted by the more general-purpose tanks since Second World War, but lightly-armoured ATGM carriers are used for supplementary long-range antitank capabilities.

World War II

Dedicated antitank vehicles made their first major appearance in the Second World War, as combatants developed effective armoured vehicles and tactics.

These tank destroyers fell broadly into two categories. Some were designed to be faster and cheaper than medium tanks while still able to destroy heavy armour at long range. Some of these designs were clearly expedients rushed into production. The second design strategy was to create heavily-armoured vehicles that were more effective in tank-versus-tank combat than enemy tanks.

German designs

The first German tank destroyers were the Panzerjäger ("tank hunters") which took an existing anti-tank gun and put it on a convenient chassis to give mobility. For instance, the German Panzer I light tank was obsolete before the war even started, with only thin armor and machine guns for armament. It was put into battle during the invasion of Poland, where it was found to be a deathtrap. Before the subsequent invasion of France, 202 were rebuilt as the Panzerjäger I self-propelled 47 mm anti-tank guns. Similarly Panzer II tanks were used during Operation Barbarossa: captured Soviet 76.2 mm anti-tank guns were mounted on Panzer II chassis, producing Marder II anti-tank guns. The most common mounting was a German 75 mm anti-tank gun on the Czech Panzer 38(t) chassis to produce the Marder III. The Panzerjäger continued up to the 88 mm equipped Nashorn.

Although the Panzerjager carried effective weapons they were generally lacking in protection for the crew having thinly armoured open-topped superstructures and used older designs of chassis. They were to be followed by the Jagdpanzers '("hunting tanks") which and mounted the gun in better superstructures - sacrificing the wider traverse capability of the anti-gun carriage for good armour protection. The best of the designs is considered to be the Jagdpanther which put an 88 mm gun in one of the later tank chassis, that of the Panther tank. The Germans became side-tracked into production of large numbers of tank-destroyers because they could be produced more cheaply than full tanks. The Jadgpanzers were better suited to defence than attack because of their limited traverse and the later designs such as the Jagdtiger were heavy and conequently less manoveurable albeit extremely hard to defeat.

Soviet

As with the Germans, the Soviet designs mounted anti-tank guns, with limited traverse in turretless hulls. The results were smaller, lighter, and simpler to build than tanks, but could carry larger guns. This design methodology was used by both the USSR and the Germans to provide heavier anti-tank capability at lower cost, during the rapid up-armoring of all AFVs that took place during the war. The Soviets produced the 85mm SU-85 and 100mm SU-100 self-propelled guns based on the same chassis as the T-34 medium tank, as well as the 122mm ISU-122 and 152mm ISU-152 which shared components with the IS-2 heavy tank and was nicknamed Zveroboy ("beast killer") for its ability to destroy German Tigers, Panthers and Elephants. The gun was so powerful that in close range it could rip the turret clean off the tank. In 1943, the Soviets also shifted all production of light tanks like the T-70 to much simpler and better-armed SU-76 self-propelled guns, which used the same drive train.

US Army tank destroyer doctrine

U.S. and derivative British designs were very different in conception. U.S. doctrine was based on the need to defeat German blitzkrieg tactics. U.S. units expected to be faced with large numbers of German tanks attacking on relatively narrow fronts. In actual practice, such attacks rarely happened.

The U.S. tank destroyer designs were intended to be very mobile and heavily armed. Most retained a turret, but left it open on top both to save weight and to accommodate a larger gun. The earliest expedient design was an M3 Half-track mounting an M1897 75mm gun in a limited-traverse mount. The larger guns required a counterweight at rear of the turret, which can be seen on designs like the 3-inch gun 3in Gun Motor Carriage M10 and the 90mm Gun Motor Carriage M36. The 76mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 came closer to the U.S. ideal; the vehicle was very fast, small, and mounted a 76mm gun in a turret. Of these, only the 90mm gun of the M36 proved to be effective against the German's larger tanks and tank destroyers. The open top made these particularly vulnerable to anything from ordinance such as an artillery shell or a hand grenade, and even the elements, which reduced fighting crew capability. Also, the very idea of independent anti-tank groups was found unworkable.

United Kingdom and Commonwealth

By 1944, a number of the "basic" Shermans in British use were being converted to Sherman Fireflies by adding the potent QF 17 pounder gun — giving each platoon of Shermans a dedicated anti-tank tank. The 17 pounder was also used to equip the US supplied M10 Wolverine to give the "Achilles" and to create the Archer from the Valentine tank. Another attempt to give a specialist anti-tank tank was to fit the 17 pounder to the Cromwell chassis to give Tank, Cruiser, Challenger (A30).

Post–World War II development

In the face of the Warsaw Pact, a general need for extra firepower was identified. In the 1950s, the UK produced the FV 4101 Charioteer to beef up the tank regiments, mounting a 20 pounder gun in an oversize turret on the Cromwell tank hull - it lacked the all round capability of the Centurion tank. it was followed by the Conqueror tank which carried a 120 mm gun.

With the development of flexible ATGMs which can be installed on almost any vehicle in the 1960s, the concept of the tank destroyer has waned. With the weight of main battle tanks growing to the forty to seventy-tonne range, airborne forces were unable to deploy reasonable antitank forces. The result was a number of attempts to make a light vehicle, including the conventional ASU-85, the recoilless rifle–armed Ontos, and missile-armed Hornet Malkara armoured car and Sheridan light tank.

Modern tank destroyers

Many forces' IFVs carry ATGMs in every infantry platoon, and attack helicopters have also added antitank capability to the modern battlefield. But there are still dedicated antitank vehicles with very heavy long-range missiles, and ones intended for airborne use.

There have also been dedicated antitank vehicles built on ordinary armoured personnel carrier or armoured car chassis. Examples include the U.S. M901 "Improved TOW Vehicle" and the Norwegian NM142, both on an M113 chassis, several Soviet ATGM launchers based on the BRDM reconnaissance car, and the German Raketenjagdpanzer series built on the chassis of the HS 30 and Marder IFV.

A US Army mechanized infantry battalion has four infantry companies with TOW missile–armed Bradley IFVs and can bring a large concentration of accurate and lethal fire to bear on an attacking enemy unit that uses AFVs.

Some gun-armed tank destroyers continue to be used. The German army had specialized Kanonenjagdpanzer, similar in design to the WWII tank destroyers, from the mid-1960s until the 1980s. In the same timeframe, Sweden developed an indigenous tank destroyer to supplement its armoured forces: the Ikv 91, armed with a high-velocity 90mm cannon. China has developed the PTL02 tank destroyer. This wheeled assault tank destroyer armed with a 100mm rifled gun was developed by NORINCO for the PLA new light (rapid reaction) mechanised infantry divisions. The vehicle has a three-man turret derived from the Type 88 MBT, and a 6×6 wheeled chassis based on the WZ551 APC.

References

Harry Yeide, (2005) The Tank Killers: A History of America's World War II Tank Destroyer Force. Havertown, PA: Casemate. ISBN 1-9320-3326-2

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