Among other things that blew the fuck up during that same parade.... a Buk caught fire...
Russian T 14
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pardus
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Yes, the Panther was the tank that all modern tanks are based upon. The Tiger II was an excellent tank though. I just did some quick reading, the Tiger II 88mm gun had a max effective range of 10km/6.2 ml. Amazing!
Can you imagine what would have happened if the Germans hadn't used all their resources on big and expensive wonder weapons that did nothing? But put them into proven designs? The mind boggles.
The funny thing is German tanks were outclassed at the beginning of the war. They didn't start making the best tanks of the war until late 42/ 43. Planes were a different matter, but it's armored vehicles weren't that good until later in the war.
pardus
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Like Freefalling states, the tanks were a bit different, sure there were a couple of designs in there that may have seemed good on paper but not so much in practice, but the Panther and Tiger II (Tiger I was no slouch though) were superb tanks and well needed. There were no really good proven tanks until the MKIV Ausf G (with the 75mm KwK 40 L/43 gun (that was able to compete with Soviet T-34s armed with 76.2mm gun)) which came out in May '42.
German industry couldn't have produced enough MKIV's (for example) to match all the T34s/Sherman's etc... being produced. As it was one Panther/Tiger I or II accounted for at least 4 enemy tanks for everyone one of their own lost. Maybe this was their best use of limited resources.
Out of curiosity I looked up the different main guns of various PzIV models compared to the Panther and Tiger series. I doubt if mounting the Panther's 75mm on a Panzer 4 chassis would work due to the weight and balance of the Panther's gun. The Pz IV was pretty maxed out in weight and capability by the J model.
In other words, if you wanted a better gun then you needed a bigger tank.
I do wonder if more tank destroyers would make a difference. Sure, they'd still lose the war but Jagdpanther's were easier to build than Panther's and were more suited to Germany's defensive state. Of course, Hitler would never allow a defensive mindset, but that's a different topic.
pardus
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Are you thinking that my post was supposing that this gun should be married with the PX IV?
Or that it was and was ineffectual?
The gun WAS mounted on the MKIV AusfG , Which was my point.
I was thinking out loud, what if the Pz IV had the Panther's gun?
The Panther and the Mk4 never had the same gun. A 75mm, yes, but not the same gun. The Panther had a KwK 42/ L70 while the Mk4 versions went through a number of main guns. A test version of the Panther II used an Ausf G turret, but there are no records of it seeing combat.
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/panzerkampfwagen-iv.htm
Ausf F1 Kwk 37 L/24
Ausf F2 KwK 40 L/43
Ausf G KwK 40 L/48
Ausf H KwK 40 L/48
42 L/70's were tried but too heavy for the chassis.
The Jagdpanzer IV initially used the PaK 39 L/48 but later models did indeed use the PaK 42 L/70.*
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/jagdpanzer-iv-sd-kfz-162-75mm-l48-1944.htm
The Panther used the KwK 42 L/70.
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/panzerkampfwagen-v-panther-sd-kfz-171.htm
* - A tank cannon is a KwK and an anti-tank cannon is a PaK. I've only included this trivia for the one or two people who don't geek out like us and may not understand the "difference." That's assuming anyone's left in the thread at this point.
http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/Panzer_IV.php
http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/Panzer-V_Panther.php
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