Panzerabwehrkanone
World War II German anti-tank cannons
title: "Panzerabwehrkanone" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["world-war-ii-anti-tank-guns-of-germany"] description: "World War II German anti-tank cannons" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzerabwehrkanone" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary World War II German anti-tank cannons ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Bovington_Tank_Museum_German_WWII_PaK_anti_tank_gun.JPG" caption="A Pak anti-tank gun at the [[Bovington Tank Museum"] ::
Panzerabwehrkanone (abbreviated as Pak), changed to Panzerjägerkanone in 1941, is the German term for anti-tank gun. In the english-speaking countries, however, Pak refers to the fifteen variants of Wehrmacht's anti-tank gun produced before or during World War II. Of these fifteen, PAW 600 and sPzB 41 do not bear the Pak designation in their names.
Overview
A Pak's weight is within the range of 229 kg to 10160 kg. The smallest caliber was 28 mm and the largest was 128 mm.
Over the six-year course of World War II the armor of the tanks steadily improved, so the size of the projectile had to increase. A larger projectile required a heavier weapon. All of these guns were meant to be towed. The earlier ones were light enough to be moved by hand over short distances, into and out of their firing positions. Some variants were only used on self-propelled guns.
Variants
::data[format=table title="Pak variants{{Cite web |title=Schwere Panzerbüchse 41 |url=https://www.tankarchives.ca/2016/08/schwere-panzerbuchse-41.html |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Tank Archives}}"] | Designation | Produced (year) | Mass | Additional notes | 3.7 cm Pak 36 | 4.7 cm Pak 181(f) | 5 cm Pak 38 | 4.7 cm Pak 38(t) | 2.8 cm sPzB 41 | 4.2 cm Pak 41 | 7.5 cm Pak 97/38 | 7.5 cm Pak 40 | 7.5 cm Pak 41 | 7.62 cm Pak 36(r) | 7.5 cm PaK 39 | 7.5 cm Pak 42 | 8.8 cm Pak 43 | 12.8 cm Pak 44 | 8 cm PAW 600 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1928 | 327 kg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1937 | 1070 kg | Captured French anti-tank gun (47mm SA mle 1937) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1937 | 1000 kg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1939 | 590 kg | Exclusively mounted on a tank destroyer | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1941 | 229 kg | sPzB stands for schwere Panzerbüchse, literally "heavy anti-tank rifle" | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1941 | 560 kg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1941 | 1190 kg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1942 | 1425 kg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1942 | 1390 kg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1942 | 1710 kg | Captured Soviet anti-tank gun, modified to suit the needs of the German Army | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1943 | 1235 kg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1943 | 1000 kg | Mounted on the Jagdpanzer IV and the Panther tank, although, on the latter, it is designated 7.5 cm KwK 42 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1943 | 3650 kg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1944 | 10160 kg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1945 | 640 kg | High-pressure combustion chamber, delivered propellant gas to a light-weight barrel. PAW stands for Panzerabwehrwerfer, literally "anti-tank launcher." | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::
References
References
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::