German Tanks in 1946

[admfisher]

The Panther II with the full Ohl set would of been in production if the war had went into late 46.

[Y Ddraig Goch]

I thought that the E-series, the E-50 and E-75 which were easier to build than the Panther or Panther II, and would have entered mass production instead.

[admfisher]

Apparantly Hitler expected to have the Panther with a 88mm KwK44 L/71 demonstrated in Mid-April 1945. Thus the Panther would of still have been in production in 46.
This is from Panther And Its Varients Walter Spielberger.

[Y Ddraig Goch]

The E-50 was a basically simplified Panther, with standardised parts, it would have had the same turret as the Panther II and because of its much simplified construction would have replaced the Panther (in theory) and would have rendered the Panther redundant. In 1945 the Germans were aiming for simplicity of construction and standardisation of parts and chassis, the E-series would have been part of this programme.

But because switching construction from one type to another would have created disruptions the original Panther could have remained in production until a later date.

[admfisher]

Good point the E-50 being an modified Panther. I guess this would take in the the new armor angles, the steel wheel boogies, there was talk of even keeping the 75 L/70 if the 88 was not availble in enough numbers.
I guess there are few more points I have missed though.
The one thing that would of been carried forward if possible was the use of the Ohl night sight systems. They were looking forward to this. I guess a gun stabilizer was in the works also.
But this is getting away from keeping it simple.

[Y Ddraig Goch]

The one thing that would of been carried forward if possible was the use of the Ohl night sight systems. They were looking forward to this. I guess a gun stabilizer was in the works also.
But this is getting away from keeping it simple.

The German rarely kept things simple, even if it was the whole purpose of a design. They would design dozens of variants even when there was no need for them. I guess thats wh I'm interested in German WW2 equipment, there was so much of it.