Armi Anticarro della Fanteria

Weapon Types ed Armour Penetration Capabilities

Airfix Panzerjäger Bren conversion German Panzerjäger Bren, based on a Universal Carrier Mk.II. Large numbers of veicoli francesi e britannici were captured during the 1940 campaign in Francia, e subsequently employed by the Wehrmacht. The Pz.Jäg.Bren was a practical, e cheap anti-tank firing platform, fitted con tre fixed 8.8 cm Panzerschreck 43 rocket projectors, quattro Panzerfaust, ed una mitragliatrice MG 34 for close defense. Boxed ammunition was carried on the back of the vehicle. The interior is in the original 1939 camouflage pattern britannica, e the exterior has been repainted in Wehrmacht dark yellow con a chocolate brown disruptive pattern. The conversion, e detailing work was done by Jim Gordon, using an Airfix 1:76 scale model kit of the Universal Carrier.

The table lists armour penetration values of fanteria anti-tank weapons da 0 al 100 metri range e 0 degrees inclination of armour. Dates indicate the year when a particular shell type entered production, not necessarily the year of availability to combat units. New shell types would take several months to reach the troops at the front, some favoured units receiving the new shells more quickly than others. Andrew Mark Reid is the author of Panzergranate, a set of regolamenti di wargame using prudentamente researched gunnery data to simulate armour penetration results.

Anti-Tank Rifles e Mitragliatrici	Shell Type	Penetration
Mitragliatrice leggera 0.30 Inch (U.S.)	"K" Bullet	12 mm
Fucile e Mitragliatrice leggera/pesante 0.303 Inch (Gran Bretagna)	"K" Bullet	13 mm
7.92 mm Fanteria Rifle (German)	"K" Bullet (1916)	13 mm
"K" bullets were heavier than rifle ammunition regolare, they had a tungsten-carbide core which gave the bullet longer range, e better penetration. "K" bullets were more prudentamente made than rifle ammunition regolare, to ensure that their flight characteristics were very similar, e predictably accurate. Tiratori scelti e mitraglieri tedeschi were issued "K" bullets in 1915, to be used for long-range firing out to 800 yards, e to penetrate the boiler plate armour often used to protect enemy sentries e lookouts. When the first carri armati appeared in the west in aprile 1917, it was found that the "K" bullet penetrated the armour. Accordingly, German fanteria was issued "K" bullets as an anti-tank measure. This did not escape the britannici, who upgraded their carri armati Mark IV con hardened steel plate to withstand the "K" bullet.
7.92 mm C.Z. Marosheck	A.P.	34 mm
Named after the Czech engineer who came up con the idea of firing a 7.92 mm "K" bullet from a 20 mm cannon shell case. Barrel pressure is enormous when these types of bottlenecked rounds are fired, ed a very long length calibre is required to obtain high velocity. After German annexation of Czechoslovakia, this design became available to the Wehrmacht, ed all German anti-tank rifles of 7.92 mm employed the Marosheck principle.
7.92 mm Panzerbüchse 38 (German)	A.P.	34 mm
7.92 mm Panzerbüchse 39 (German)	A.P.	34 mm
7.92 mm C.Z. Model S.S. 41	A.P.	34 mm
An innovative Czech design commissioned by the Waffen SS. This weapon featured automatic firing, a centrally mounted pistol grip, ed a magazine which protruded out of the stock at a 30 degree downward angle to the right. A telescopic sight was fitted. The S.S. 41 fired the same ammunition as the Panzerbüchse 38/39 series, but it was significantly shorter than either of these weapons. The S.S. 41 was prone to seizures caused by dust, dirt, heat, ed other adverse battlefield conditions. It was dropped as a frontline weapon in 1942, at a time when anti-tank rifles were already obsolete. The modern esercito britannico S.A. 80 rifle is nearly a scaled down replica of the S.S. 41 design, ed it suffered from similar problems during the 1991 Gulf War. By the end of that conflict, truppe britanniche were using captured A.K. 47 rifles which proved more reliable, ed offered greater effective range.
0.50 Inch H.M.G. (US Browning, Brit. Vickers)	A.P.	25 mm
0.50 Inch H.M.G. (US Browning, Brit. Vickers)	A.P./I. (Incendiary)	22 mm
0.55 Inch Boyes Anti-Tank Rifle (britannico)	A.P.	21 mm
13 mm Mauser T-Gewehr (German, M.1917)	A.P.	21 mm
The Mauser Tank-Gewehr anti-tank rifle was an upscaled version of the Model 98 fanteria rifle, designed to defeat the armour of upgraded carri armati inglesi Mark IV tanks which were immune to the "K" bullet.
14.5 mm P.T.R.S. (Soviet)	A.P.	29 mm
14.5 mm P.T.R.D. (Soviet)	A.P.	29 mm
20 mm S.18/100 Solothurn (Swiss)	A.P.	38 mm
The Solothurn anti-tank rifle was used by the Wehrmacht right up to at least 1944. The author recalls reading an account of a skirmish between a German bicycle fanteria unit, ed an American unit mounted in semicingolati, where this weapon was used. The Italian army of seconda guerra mondiale probably used the Solothurn S.18/100 as well. The S.18/100 is still in production today, it is listed in Jane’s "Smallarms of the World 1979".
20 mm L.53 Anti-Tank Rifle (giapponese)	A.P.	29 mm
2.8 cm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 (German)	A.P.S.V./A.P.S.B.	94 mm
Anti-Tank Devices e Rocket Projectors	Warhead	Penetration
Sticky Bomb (britannico)	Chemical (Thermide)	42 mm
The Sticky Bomb was rejected by the Army in the U.K. as being to dangerous for use by troops so it was issued to the Home Guard instead. Anyone who has seen the film Dad’s Army may recall that the main hazard was the Bomb’s ability to stick to the user’s trousers, which then gave the user 7 seconds in which to remove his trousers, e remove himself to a safe distance.
P.I.A.T. (britannico)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	85 mm
The P.I.A.T. (proiettore anticarro per fanteria) britannico was different from Bazooka, Panzerfaust, e Panzerschreck rocket projectors in that it developed no backblast. The weapon had a spring operated firing mechanism which actually hurled the bomb instead of using a propellant to fire it. The P.I.A.T. was the only weapon of this type which could be safely fired from a building o similar enclosure. If the P.I.A.T. misfired, the spring could be difficult to re-cock manually.
50 mm Bazooka (U.S.)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	119 mm
Faustpatrone/Panzerfaust 50 Klein (German)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	153 mm
Faustpatrone/Panzerfaust 100 Klein (German)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	219 mm
8.8 cm Raketenpanzerbüchse/Panzerschreck (Ger.)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	209 mm
Bazooka, Panzerfaust, e Panzerschreck rocket projectors developed a tremendous backblast upon firing, which immediately revealed the firing position of the weapon. Another problem associated con the backblast was that these weapons could not be fired safely from buildings, bunkers, e similarly enclosed positions. In the heat of battle, this important safety instruction was often ignored, resulting in many accidental caduti among the operators.
3.7 cm & 5 cm Stabgranate (German, 1941)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	180 mm
A modification for the 3.7 cm PaK 35/36 e 5 cm PaK 38, using the 15 cm Gr.38.H1A artiglieria shell H.E.A.T./H.E.A.C. warhead. The oversized warhead had a stick attached to it which could be inserted into the PaK barrel. A blank cartridge was used to fire the device. Tail fins stabilized the warhead in flight, but it was not a very accurate weapon beyond 200 metri range. If a hit was achieved, the device proved successful even against carri pesanti KV-1. Reloading had to be done by a courageous crew member walking around the gun shield, ed exposing himself to fuoco nemico while he inserted another stick grenade into the muzzle. In effect, this was a one-shot ambush weapon, very difficult to conceal after it had fired.
Geballte Ladung (German)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	180 mm
Seven stick grenade heads wired together on a common handle. A figure carrying this device is included in Revell’s 1:72 scale set of German engineers.
Panzergranate 46 Rifle Grenade (German)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	89 mm
Panzergranate 61 Rifle Grenade (German)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	89 mm
M9 Rifle Grenade (U.S.)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	100 mm
The U.S. M9 rifle grenade had a range of 10 metres, ed a blast radius -- mainly directly towards the firer -- of 12 metres. The weapon was not safe to be fired from the open o from poor cover.
V.P.R.S. Grenade (Soviet)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	76 mm
The Soviet V.P.R.S. grenade required a very strong individual to throw it, the device resembles a large paint can con a handle attached underneath.
Ceramic Grenade (Tipo 1, giapponese)	Chemical (Thermide)	38 mm
Anti-Tank Grenade (Tipo 3, giapponese)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	70 mm
Lunge Pole Mine (Tipo 3, giapponese)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	70 mm
The Lunge Mine demanded operator parcipation in that the soldier had to run towards the tank, e ram the Lunge Mine into the side of the vehicle. Anyone attempting this was usually either shot by the equipaggio del carro armato o the fanteria supporting it, o killed by the mine explosion afterwards.
Dog Mine (Soviet)	Explosive (Wracking)	20 mm (Approx.)
The Russian Dog Mine is described in The Book of Heroic Failures Volume I. The weapon was supposed to work as follows: The dogs were kept hungry, e they were only fed underneath running tanks, to familiarize them con the high noise level. The dogs were then trained to get used to carrying a large weight of explosives (T.N.T.) strapped to their backs e sides. In operation, the dogs would be taken to the battlefield, e released when carri armati nemici were clearly visible. The dogs would run underneath the veicoli nemici, expecting to be fed, e the device would be set off con catastrophic results for the tank, e the unsuspecting animal, of course. In actual use, the device did not work as planned. The dogs had been trained underneath Soviet tanks, e they only expected to be fed there, not underneath veicoli nemici. As a result, when they were first deployed in 1941, the dogs immediately made a beeline for the nearest veicoli sovietici. Apparently, an entire tank division had to be withdrawn from the combat zone until the fanteria had shot all the uncontrollable mine dogs.
Tellermine (German)	Explosive (Wracking)	20 mm (Approx.)
Mines are triggered by the weight of a vehicle driving over them. If they do not destroy the vehicle itself, they may immobilize it by breaking the tracks, o rupturing tires.
Panzerwurfmine (German)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)
A shaped charge attached to a stick con spring-loaded fabric fins at the rear. When it was thrown, the fins unfolded e stabilized the warhead in flight.
Haftmine (German)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	175 mm
Haftmine Anti-Tank Magnetic Mines sported tre industrial magnets at the front of the device which held the shaped charge firmly in place against armour plate. When the device became available in 1944 it proved very effective, ed it was assumed that l’armata sovietica would copy it immediately. As a counter-measure, the Wehrmacht developed Zimmerit anti-magnetic coating for veicoli corazzati, defeating its own magnetic mine technology. The Soviets never did copy the Haftmine, e Zimmerit turned out to have been an unnecessary precaution.
Zimmerit Mine (German)	H.E.A.T. (Munroe)	175 mm
An anti-tank device designed to defeat veicoli equipped con Zimmerit anti-magnetic coating. Stronger magnets were used to hold the device firmly in place against the uneven surface of a vehicle coated con Zimmerit. Like the Haftmine, it used the 15 cm Gr.38.H1A artiglieria shell H.E.A.T./H.E.A.C. warhead.

As can be seen, most fanteria anti-tank weapons that involve throwing, o even placing the weapon, are more hazardous to the operator than the target. Fanteria without tank, o anti-tank support frequently had to rely on these weapons as a last resort. Fanteria tank hunter teams learned to use a variety of anti-tank devices, and, if the terrain favoured them, it was often possible to stalk tanks, e destroy them at very close range. The Sticky Bomb, Lunge Mine, Dog Mine, Russian V.P.R.S. grenade, e U.S. M9 rifle grenade belong to a category of their own, they were downright dangerous to the user even when there were no carri armati inglese enemy in the vicinity.

Andy Reid

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– Pubblicato: 1996 – Aggiornato: 23.05.2007
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