Cannone Anticarro da 7.5 cm L.46 PaK 40 della Wehrmacht

Cannoni carro e cannoni anticarro da 75 mm were introduced to counter the threat posed by Soviet medium e carri armati pesanti which surprised the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. Carri armati sovietici KV-1 e KV-2 were immune to cannoni carro e cannoni anticarro tedeschi, con the exception of the cannone contraerei da 88 mm. The famous 88 had already been involved in the tank battles of the 1940 campaign in Francia when the standard cannone anticarro di fanteria da 37 mm proved incapable of penetrating Char B1 francese e carri di fanteria Matilda britannici. German Panzerjäger, tank destroyer units attached to fanteria formations, were equipped con the 5 cm L.60 PaK 38, but there were never enough of these to cover all likely routes of attack of carri armati nemici.

The PaK 40 had an unusual design feature, it fired bottle-necked rounds con a 75 mm shell ed a super-calibre cartridge behind it. To accept the larger round, the PaK 40 had a super-calibre breech. The operating principle is to squeeze-bore the explosive force behind the shell, causing a more rapid acceleration of the shot along the barrel. Unburnt explosive is forced into the barrel, ed it continues to burn there. Guns firing bottle-necked rounds have to be designed e manufactureed to tolerate higher breech pressures e temperatures caused by the enormous explosive forces involved in the process.

The 7.5 cm PaK 40 proved very reliable, ed it was capable of taking on Soviet armour at acceptable ranges. The weapon was built in large enough numbers to equip Panzerjäger units e plotoni anticarro in fanteria formations. PaK 40 became the weapon of choice for a number of successful Panzerjäger conversions based on obsolete veicoli corazzati which continued to serve as self-propelled cannone anticarro platforms.

Modellini Disponibili

• 1:72 ESCI 8350
• 1:72 Roden 711
  • 7.5 cm Brass Shells for PaK 40, 1:72 Schatton 7212
• 1:76 AB soldatini AP12
• 1:76 Airfix 02315
• 1:76 Airfix / Heller 79994
• 1:76 Hinchliffe 20/25
• 1:76 Matchbox 40171
• 1:76 MMS G2
• 1:76 Milicast G99
• 1:76 Ostmodels G5
• 1:76 Revell (Matchbox) 03150

Caratteristiche Tecniche

• Calibro: 75 mm
• Lunghezza canna: L.46
• Cadenza di tiro: 12 shots al minuto
• Perforazione della carrozza a 0-100 m:
  • Panzergranate 39 (A.P.) 149 mm
  • Panzergranate 40 (A.P.C.R.) 176 mm

Bibliografia

• Hogg, Ian: Twentieth-Century Artillery

Utilizzo Storico

• Armata tedesca, aprile 1941 - maggio 1945
• Armata romena, 1944–1945
• 5 cm L.60 Panzerabwehrkanone 38 (similar to PaK 40).

Conversione

• 7.5 cm L.48 PaK 39
• 7,5 cm L.30 Puteaux PaK 50 (f)
• 5 cm L.60 PaK 38 Sfl. A.12 Matilda - Panzerjäger A.12

Carri Semoventi

• 7,5 cm L.46 PaK 40 Sfl. auf Geschützwagen LrS (f) - Pz.Jäg. Marder I (Sd.Kfz. 135)
• 7,5 cm L.46 PaK 40 Sfl. auf Gw. II - Pz.Jäg. Marder II (Sd.Kfz. 131)
• 7,5 cm L.46 PaK 40 Sfl. auf Gw. 38 (t) - Pz.Jäg. Marder III Ausf. H (Sd.Kfz. 138)
• 7,5 cm L.46 PaK 40 Sfl. auf Gw. 38 (t) - Pz.Jäg. Marder III Ausf. M (Sd.Kfz. 138)
• 7,5 cm L.46 PaK 40 Sfl. auf Gw. 39 H (f) (StuG.Abt. 200, Normandie)
• 7,5 cm L.46 PaK 40 Sfl. auf Steyr RSO/01 (Raupenschlepper Ost)
• 7,5 cm L.46 PaK 40 Sfl. auf m.Schützenpanzerwagen Sd.Kfz. 251/22
• 7,5 cm L.46 PaK 40 Sfl. auf Pakwagen Sd.Kfz. 231/- (1945)
• 7,5 cm L.46 PaK 40 Sfl. auf Pakwagen Sd.Kfz. 234/4 (1945)

Airfix e Matchbox/Revell offer very nice model kits of the PaK 40, including Opel Blitz o Sd.Kfz. 11 tractors e soldatini dell’equipaggio. Il modello di Airfix is more suitable as a gun in action, the Matchbox PaK 40 looks better towed behind its tractor.

Domande più frequenti

Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.

Soldatini Tedeschi della Seconda Guerra Mondiale

– Pubblicato: 16.10.1997 – Aggiornato: 18.06.2008
© 1997-2011 by IDL Software GmbH, Darmstadt, Germania. Tutti diritti reservati.