The German Jagdpanzer family

The Jagdpanzer family – Jagdpanzer Kanone or KanonenJagdpanzer

The Jagdpanzer family (Modern)

The Jagdpanzer family was made up of 2 vehicles. The Jagdpanzer Kanone or KanonenJagdpanzer was a design reminiscent of the Jagdpanzer IV Tank Destroyers of WW2. It mounted a 90mm gun in the front of its hull, slightly offset to the right.

It was built by Henschel and Hanomag between 1966 and 1967. A total of 770 were built. From April 1975, 80 Jagdpanzer Kanones were also delivered to the Royal Belgian Army.

The 90mm gun used was from the out of service U.S. M47 Patton medium tank. Due to the gun being mounted in the hull, it could only be traversed 15 degrees to each side.

The Jagdpanzer Kanone had a crew of 4 – Commander, Driver, Gunner and Loader. It was light, fast and highly agile being powered by an MTU MB 837 500hp V8 water-cooled multi-fuel diesel-engine. It had a top speed of 65.25 km/h and a maximum range of 385km.

The Jagdpanzer family – Kanone

At the same time as the Jagdpanzer Kanone was being built, a parallel design was also built on the same chassis. This was the original version of the Jagdpanzer Rakete or RaketenJagdpanzer, and was initially armed with the French designed SS-11 Wire Guided Anti-Tank Missile Between 1967 and 1968. 370 were built, 185 by Henschel and 185 by Hanomag. These became known as the Jagdpanzer Jaguar 1, and were armed with the Euromissile HOT Wire Guided Anti-Tank Missile.

When the T64 and T72 MBT’s entered service with the Soviets, the 90mm gun of the Jagdpanzer Kanone became obsolete. Therefore between 1983 and 1985, 163 Jagdpanzer Kanones were converted into Jagdpanzer Jaguar 2s and were fitted with a roof mounted TOW Wire Guided Anti-Tank Missile launcher.

This page was writtern and Submitted by Bruce Forrest.