The bolts indicate the additional armor added during the conversion from the VK 45.01 (P). The ball machine gun, seen here on the left side of the hull, is the easiest way of spotting an upgraded Elefant. Read More Sturer Emil – A Prototype that Actually Fought in BattleĪccordingly, a ball-mounted MG 34 machine gun was installed in the front of the hull for use by the assistant driver, and a cupola with vision blocks was provided on the top of the casement.īoth of these improvements were intended to increase the ability of the Elefant to protect itself against infantry assault. These upgrades were made in the first quarter of 1944, and led to a general improvement in the design of the vehicle but did not address all of the Elefant’s inherent flaws. Upgradesįollowing its combat debut at the Battle of Kursk, a redesign and upgrade program of the Elefant was ordered to correct several perceived flaws. In its casemate mounting, this weapon had a traverse of 28 degrees, with an elevation of +14 degrees, and depression of -8. With a barrel 71 calibres in length, it possessed exceptional armor-piercing capabilities. The only weapon provided in the original design was the magnificent PaK 43. The sides and rear were up to 80 mm thick. Porsche and Henschel beefed up their designs in response. This influenced the requirements of the breakthrough tank – it needed more armor and a bigger gun. Over the next few years, Henschel & Son and Porsche created number of designs in the 30-45 ton range to satisfy this requirement.īy 1941 Germany had come up against numerous well armed and protected Allied tanks, which required some serious firepower to kill and thick armor to resist. In the late 1930s Germany began seriously investigating the possibility of a heavy breakthrough tank. For the sake of simplicity, we will use Elefant for the entirely of this article. Please note – this vehicle was initially known as the Ferdinand, but this was officially changed to Elefant in February 1944 on Hitler’s orders. However, its capacity for destruction was rivalled by its unreliability and impracticality, something it shared with Germany’s other heavy tanks. It was armed with the 8.8 cm PaK 43, one of the best anti-tank guns of the war, which it used to great effect against Allied tanks, particularly on the Eastern Front. In ideal conditions it was a fearsome opponent, but on the otherhand it was so heavy and unreliable that most were lost to breakdowns.

Modern day tanks elephant