Panzer IV/70 (A)

The Panzer IV/70 (A) was a German tank destroyer of the Second World War, an interim design that put a casemate superstructure and the long 7.5 cm PaK 42 L/70 gun onto the standard Panzer IV chassis. The letter in brackets stands for Alkett, the Berlin firm that in July 1944 received the order to redesign the Jagdpanzer IV superstructure for mounting on an ordinary Panzer IV hull, so that long gun vehicles could reach the front sooner than the rival Vomag design, the Panzer IV/70 (V), which used a modified chassis. Because it kept the unmodified chassis, the Alkett vehicle was narrower than the Vomag one, its superstructure stood 2.35 metres high against 1.85 metres, and about 40 cm of extra height resulted. Like its rival it was nose heavy. Production began in August 1944 at the Nibelungenwerk, and 278 were built by March 1945. The crew was four, the engine a Maybach HL 120, and the front armour 80 mm.