Jagdpanther G1

Jagdpanther G1

Panzer IV/70(V)

JPz 4-5

Jagdpanther G1

Panzer IV/70(V)

JPz 4-5

Germany

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.3	6.3	6.3

Class:

Tank destroyer

Research:46 000

Purchase:155 000

This page is about the tank destroyer Jagdpanther G1. For the premium version, see Bfw. Jagdpanther. For the other vehicles of the family, see Panther tank (Family).

Description

The Jagdpanther, Panzerjaeger Panther (8.8cm) Ausf.G1 is a rank IV German tank destroyer with a battle rating of 6.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41.

General info

Survivability and armour

The armour of the Jagdpanther in itself is average but can be utilized to become extremely effective due to ricochet mechanics.

Lighter shells (i.e. 76mm M1 from the Sherman, 88mm L/56 from the Tiger I, 90mm M3 from the Jackson/Pershing) will have issues with shells ricocheting off the front plate due to the angle of the tank's upper frontal plate. However, heavier and/or higher velocity shells (SU-152, IS-2, T29/T34 are examples of tanks that will not experience this problem very much) will not have this issue due to the weight or velocity compensating for the increased slope and penetrating anyway (that is not to say that these types of shells cannot bounce, it is just much rarer due to their weight and high velocities.)

The best way to use the Jagdpanther's armour is to find a small hill where you can angle the front of your tank upwards to where your gun can still fire back at incoming enemies, but also have your frontal armour maximized (due to the fact that your frontal armour will be at a higher angle for incoming shells, which will dramatically increase the odds of a shell ricocheting. ) Just be sure not to allow your bottom plate to be shown, as it is a potential weak point of the tank.

The side and rear armour of the Jagdpanther is extremely thin (AA guns often can penetrate) and should be protected at all costs (as your ammunition is also stored in the sides.)

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides (Slope angle)	Rear (slope angle)	Roof (Slope angle)
Hull	80 mm (55°) Front glacis 60 mm (54°) Bottom glacis	40 + 5 mm	40 mm (24-26°)	25 mm
Superstructure	Same as Hull	50 mm (26-29°)	40 mm (36°)	25 mm (85°)

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick, though the interleaved pattern of the wheels provides cumulative 20 mm protection.
• Tracks and lower side of the hull are covered by 5 mm thick armour plate, protecting them from HEAT and HE shells.
• Rear parts of the upper side hull armour have tracks attached to it, adding additional 20 mm of armour.
• Belly armour is 20 mm thick.

Mobility

This tank has decent mobility overall, however, there is one major downfall of this tank: its reverse speed. This tank cannot relocate quickly due to it's extremely slow reverse speed, so it is best to gain a position where this is not often necessary in the first place.

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
46.0	N/A	60 (AB)
		55 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	994	___
Realistic/Simulator	619	700
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	21.61	__.__
Realistic/Simulator	13.46	15.22

Armaments

Main armament

The main armament of the Jagdpanther is the PaK 43 88 mm gun, which is one of the best all-around tank weapons at it's BR. With an 11-second reload (not including Ace crew), it is accurate as well as causing large amounts of damage during a penetrating hit, as it also contains explosive filler that detonates once inside the hull of the target.

Available ammunition types

• The stock ammunition you get (PzGr 39/43) is by far the most useful ammunition for this tank and should be the primary type you carry thought your battles.

• The HE round (Sprgr) is ineffective against armoured targets, and should only either be carried for AA guns or not carried at all.

• Hl.Gr 39 is a HEAT round; it serves very little purpose, as it lacks enough penetration to penetrate tanks from the front (or even side at the B.R this tank is in).

• PzGr 40/43 is the APCR round of this tank; although on paper it appears to be a significant improvement in penetration capabilities, in reality, it is often ineffective for two reasons;

The amount of damage the shell creates within the hull of tank upon penetration is very little, with little to no shrapnel being created by a penetration. This makes a direct hit onto a critical module (such as a Gunner or Ammunition) a necessity for this ammunition, which can be sometimes difficult depending on the enemy you are facing.

Although the stat card shows that the penetration does increase, due to the overall weight of the shell decreasing, sloped armour is much more difficult to penetrate (which at this battle rating is very common.) This makes this shell somewhat useless as a result, with the standard ammunition (PzGr 39/43) being far more effective against slopped armour.

88 mm PaK 43
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
60			-8°/+14°	±11°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	7.04	9.75	__.__	__.__	13.93
Realistic	4.76	5.60	__.__	__.__	8.00
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
11.05	__.__	__.__	8.50

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
PzGr 39/43	APCBC	237	234	222	207	194	181
Sprgr. L/4,5	HE	13	13	12	12	12	12
Hl.Gr 39	HEAT	110	110	110	110	110	110
PzGr 40/43	APCR	272	270	250	228	208	189

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
PzGr 39/43	APCBC	1,000	10.16	1.2	14	108.8	+4°	48°	63°	71°
Sprgr. L/4,5	HE	820	9	0.1	0.5	698	+0°	79°	80°	81°
Hl.Gr 39	HEAT	600	7.64	0.0	0.3	1,100	+0°	62°	69°	73°
PzGr 40/43	APCR	1,130	7.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	66°	70°	72°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Jagdpanther.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
60	46 (+14)	31 (+29)	16 (+44)	1 (+59)	Yes

Left side empty: 31 (+29)

Machine guns

The machine gun on this tank is functional but is not powerful enough to cause much damage to even lightly armoured targets (such as AA vehicles).

7.92 mm MG 34
Hull mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
3,000 (150)				900	-5°/+10°	-10°/+5°

Usage in battles

The Jagdpanther is best used defensively, to cover capture points and prevent their capture, and cover friendly tank advances. It's highly recommended to hide the lower frontal plate in this tank, as it has a frontal mounted transmission which will set the tank on fire if shot, as well as destroying the transmission. It's also strongly advised to use this tank at long range, and change position often.

It is important to keep in mind that the Jagdpanther's armour is sloped. Using it on the side of a hill facing the enemy is extremely dangerous since this would decrease the angle at which the frontal armour and sloped and thus negate a large part of its survival capabilities. By hiding behind buildings, trees and bushes, or on top of a hill, you optimise it's fighting capabilities. A well-positioned Jagdpanther is very hard to destroy. In addition, using the Jagdpanther in a diamond position (with your right side facing the enemy) will mean that your most important crew members are better protected (driver, gunner, commander) since they are on the other side.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good mobility
• Excellent firepower with great long-range sniping abilities
• Armour of a Panther, so adequately armoured
• Unlike earlier Tank destroyers as the StuGs, Jagdpanzer IVs, Marders and Hetzer; it has five crew, rather than four
• Front of the Jagdpanther makes it easy to attach a lot of camouflage to conceal the tank destroyer
• Gunsight has an enhanced zoom level
• Has fully functional hull machine gun
• Since it is an SPG, it requires fewer spawn points in realistic battles than a normal tank

Cons:

• Bad reverse speed
• Panther hull armour isn't as effective against enemies it would face, rounds like the APDS from the 20 pdr can easily penetrate
• Front-mounted transmission. Can catch fire and immobilizes vehicle when shot through lower frontal plate
• Like most Tank Destroyers, it lacks a turret
• A lot bigger than the StuG III, Jagdpanzer IVs, and the Hetzer, so may need to get used to the size and how to conceal it
• Penetration from the sides would often mean lethal as sides are littered with ammo

History

Development

Nazi Germany created the formidable 8.8 cm Pak 43 anti-tank gun, a longer version of the 8.8 cm Kwk 36. 2 attempts were made to fit this gun onto a self-propelled configuration, the first was Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Ferdinand (later Elefant) and the second was the Nashorn. However, the Ferdinand was too heavy and unreliable while the Nashorn was too small and underpowered to propel such a gun. The Jagdpanther was proposed in late 1942, as a tank destroyer from the Panther chassis that could mount the formidable 8.8 cm Pak 43 with good armour and speed. The tank destroyer was created and designated SdKfz 173 and was demonstrated to Hitler on October 1943. Production then started in January 1944 under the simpler name Jagdpanther by Hitler rather than using the longer 8.8 cm Pak 43/3 auf Panzerjäger Panther.

Throughout its production life of January 1944 to 1945, 415 total of these vehicles were made. MIAG produced 270 from January 1944 to the end of the war, MNH produced 112 from November 1944, and MBA produced 37 from December 1944. The supposed goal was 150 Jagdpanther produced a month, but Germany's deteriorating situation made this impossible. The Jagdpanthers were made in two variants, G1 and G2. The G1 had a small internally bolted main gun and modified Panther Ausf. An engine deck while the G2 had a larger simplified, outer bolted mantlet with a modified Panther Ausf. G engine deck. A proposal to mount the 12.8 cm Pak 80 was mentioned but never came around to production.

The Jagdpanther was a rather good design as a tank destroyer, it had a good power-to-weight ratio and had a gun that could destroy any Allied tank in service in the war. It did not suffer as much reliability problems due to being based on the later model Panther Ausf. G, which had most of the initial problems fixed. It also used an improved transmission and final drive (the two sources of most Panther issues) that was planned for the Panther II.

Combat Usage

Jagdpanthers were assigned to heavy tank destroyer battalions in the Western Front and Eastern Front, though most of the Jagdpanthers were sent to deal with the Soviet onslaught, where it first saw combat action. In Normandy, few of these vehicles were encountered by the Western Allies, though 12 were deployed in one occasion by the 654 schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung against British units. One instance in July 30, 1944 saw three Jagdpanthers engage and destroy 10-11 Churchill tanks in about two minutes, though two of them were abandoned by the crew due to damage. The 654th was the only battalion to have a full complement of Jagdtigers of about 42 Jagdpanthers at the Western Front, the 559th battalion only had 10 to 14 of these vehicles. The largest concentration of the Jagdpanther on the west was during the Ardennes Offensive of about 20 vehicles combat-ready.

After the end of World War II with Nazi Germany's fall, the Jagdpanther and its original Panther configuration saw service with France. The Jagdpanthers served France from 1945 to the 1960s.

In-game description

"One of the most powerful and most successful German tank destroyers of World War II. This tank destroyer was designed by the company MIAG and was based on the Pz.Kpfw. V Panther tank. From October 1943 to April 1945, the MIAG, MNH, and MBA factories produced a total of 413 Jagdpanthers.

The Jagdpanther was mass-produced in three variants which differed in the following ways.

The first variant was the early version of the G1 self-propelled gun, produced from January to September 1944. These vehicles had an 88 mm 8,8 cm Pak 43/2 gun with a one-piece barrel. The gun was fixed to the front armor with bolts inside the vehicle. Anti-magnetic Zimmerit paste was applied to the vehicle's vertical surface in its characteristic squares. Also, this variant lacked a snorkel. The plate covering the engine either completely lacked an opening or had an opening which was plugged closed.

The second variant was the standard G1, which had an 88 mm 8,8 cm Pak 43/3 gun with a composite barrel. This tank destroyer also received a new gun mantlet. Zimmerit was not applied. Heat shields were installed around the exhaust pipe, and the guide wheels had a larger diameter. The third variant was the G2, which was equipped with a new gun mantlet reinforced with bolts. An armored plate taken from the Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf. G Panther tank was installed over the engine. The trenching tool and cleaning rod tube was moved to the rear.

This tank destroyer was a very effective weapon against all types of Soviet and Allied tanks. It was used on the Western and Eastern fronts until the end of the war.

For a heavy vehicle, the Jagdpanther had good speed and maneuverability. On the other hand, this self-propelled vehicle inherited a number of disadvantages from the tank it was based on, primarily low mechanical reliability and relatively thin side armor."

Media

Skin and Camouflages for the Jagdpanther in Warthunder Live.

See also

• Bfw. Jagdpanther - Premium version of the Jagdpanther.

External links

• 3D Experience - Jagdpanther interior
• [Wikipedia] Jagdpanther