8.8 cm Pak 43
type of Anti-tank gun
The Pak 43 (Panzerabwehrkanone 43 and Panzerjägerkanone 43) was a German 8.8 cm anti-tank gun developed by Krupp in competition with the Rheinmetall 8.8 cm Flak 41 anti-aircraft gun and used during World War II. The Pak 43 was the most powerful anti-tank gun of the Wehrmacht to see service in significant numbers, also serving in modified form as the 8.8 cm KwK 43 main gun on the Tiger II tank, the open-top Nashorn and fully enclosed, casemate-hulled Elefant and Jagdpanther tank destroyers.
The improved 8.8 cm gun was fitted with a semi-automatic vertical breech mechanism that greatly reduced recoil. It could also be fired electrically while on its wheels. It had a very flat trajectory out to 910 m (1,000 yd), making it easier for the gunner to hit targets at longer ranges as fewer corrections in elevation were needed. The gun had exceptional penetration and could defeat the frontal armour of any Allied tank to see service during the war at long range, even the Soviet IS-2 tanks and IS chassis-based tank destroyers. The gun's maximum firing range exceeded 15 km (9.3 mi).
Design
KwK 43 and Pak 43s were initially manufactured with monobloc barrels but the extremely high muzzle velocity and operating pressures caused rapid barrel wear, resulting in a change to a two-piece barrel. This did not affect performance but made replacing a worn out barrel much faster and easier than before. A new PzGr.39/43 APCBC-HE projectile was designed, which, apart from the addition of much wider driving bands, was identical to the older 10.2 kg (22 lb) PzGr.39-1 APCBC-HE projectile used by the 8.8 cm KwK 36 and Pak 43 guns. The wider driving bands resulted in an increased weight to 10.4 kg (23 lb) for the PzGr.39/43.
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