Panzerjägertruppe (Bundeswehr)

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Troop badge of the Panzerjäger troop

The tank destroyer force was a branch of service of the army of the Bundeswehr . The Panzerjäger troops were last among the armored combat troops . The main task was anti-tank defense . In 2006, the Bundeswehr's tank destroyer troops were decommissioned.

assignment

Panzer cannon during night shooting

The task was the anti-tank defense - i.e. the fight against enemy battle and armored personnel carriers . At the same time, the troops could monitor the area. Equipped with tank destroyers, the Panzerjäger troops fought in conjunction with the tank and armored infantry troops and, for this purpose, were integrated into the heavy armored infantry companies of each armored infantry battalion by means of independent brigade companies. Their tanks were able to protect the flanks of the operating tank and armored infantry units or to reinforce their fire in the anti-tank defense from a secondary perspective.

Tank destroyers were inexpensive weapon systems that were inconspicuous due to their low silhouette , especially in prepared positions . Their far-reaching and powerful anti-tank cannon , later their anti-tank guided weapons in conjunction with powerful optics and target acquisition, made it possible to fight distant and heavily armored targets.

In contrast to main battle tanks , tank destroyers did not have a rotating armored turret , which considerably restricted their effective range; however, the tank destroyer could turn on the spot very quickly. In anticipation of a frontal attack , the main focus of the armor was on the front, while the tank destroyer was otherwise relatively weakly armored. The lack of a turret and selective armor contributed to the tank destroyer's relatively low cost and fast production time. Because of these features, it was therefore the goal of excessive, mostly flanking and along the direction of the prepared anticipated direction of attack fire positions to fight attacking enemy armored vehicles out before they were able to elucidate the tank destroyer in their camouflaged positions and fight and / or before the Tank destroyers came within range of enemy battle tanks.

history

Lineup

Tank destroyer on the shooting range

The Panzerjäger troops were formed in 1956, in company strength as brigade troops. Initially she sat US tanks models M41 and M47 into tank destroyer battalions. Later, the troops also received the M48 and the wire-controlled SS 11 missile on the HS 30 armored personnel carrier with the type designation Raketenjagdpanzer 1 . From the mid-1960s these were replaced by the Kanonenjagdpanzer and the Raketenjagdpanzer 2 . These were replaced by the Jaguar 1 and 2 tank destroyers in the 1970s and 1980s .

Up until the beginning of the 1990s, tank destroyers were still in service with the homeland security force in the cadre tank destroyer companies. The tank battalions of the Homeland Security Brigades were equipped with M48A2C main battle tanks and served more as tank destroyers than as tank battalions. A conversion of the equipment units to other weapon systems planned from the end of the 1980s no longer took place, as these were dissolved due to the lack of necessity.

The airborne anti-tank companies and those of the grenadier troops were equipped in the early days with anti-tank guided missiles 810 on trucks 0.25t gl . These were later replaced by the TOW.

resolution

With the abolition of the weapon system Jaguar 2 in 1996, and the Jaguar 1 in 2005, the tank destroyer force was disbanded as a branch of service in 2006, the existing staff in the Armored Corps , but to parts in the armored reconnaissance troops and armored infantry units incorporated.

Several factors contributed to this development. For one thing, after the end of the Cold War, defending against large enemy tank units was an unlikely scenario. On the other hand, advances in weapon technology were responsible for the fact that the tank destroyers specialized in tank hunting could increasingly be replaced by other weapon systems . The main battle tank Leopard 2 had a considerable range and penetration combined with a suitable target acquisition, which enabled effective anti-tank defense. The infantry and the armored infantry troops were now also able to effectively fight enemy armored vehicles at great distances thanks to the addition of the anti-tank guided missile MILAN and the TOW . As part of the combined arms battle and the development of new search fuze ammunition for the artillery (the Bundeswehr uses SMArt 155 for this ), the artillery is now supporting the anti-tank defense with far-reaching fire. The anti-tank defense was also increasingly perceived by anti-tank helicopters . Thanks to advances in networked warfare , larger concentrations of tanks can also be fought by fighter-bombers as part of close air support (CAS) or battlefield lockdown (BAI) using bomblets or precision weapons .

education

The training and further development of the Panzerjäger troops took place most recently at the Panzer Troop School in Munster . The commander of the armored troop school was also the general of the armored combat troops (today: general of the armored troops ). He was responsible for the training and further development of the armored combat troops . An independent troop school for the Panzerjäger troops existed alongside the tank reconnaissance school in Bremen until 1957 . In 1957 the Panzerjägerschule (later name: Panzerabwehrschule) was relocated to Munster. There it was expanded to Combat Troop School III in 1963 and, after several intermediate steps (from 1972 Combat Troop School II / III, from 1975 Combat Troop School II), it was finally merged into the Armored Troop School.

organization

2nd platoon of the Panzerjägerkompanie 741 at REFORGER 84 in Wildflecken

classification

The tank destroyer troops belonged as the armored force , the armored reconnaissance troops and armored infantry troops to the armored combat troops of the army and thus to the combat troops .

In addition, other branches of the army also had anti-tank systems to a limited extent, such as the infantry via the MILAN and the BGM-71 TOW .

For anti-tank defense, the paratrooper troops had (and still have) their own anti-tank units. These troop units were part of the paratrooper troops and not the tank destroyer troops. Initially, three anti- aircraft anti- aircraft companies were set up and equipped with the LFK SS11 on DKW Munga , later with TOW on Kraka . The anti-aircraft anti-aircraft companies were initially brigade units and were later incorporated into the 5th companies of the paratrooper battalions (see heavy company ). These were combined into three anti-tank anti- parachute battalions by the mid-1990s , but were reassigned to the heavy companies by 2002. The Kraka was replaced by the weapon carrier Wiesel with the TOW in the 5th / parachute battalions. The anti-tank platoons ( IV platoon ) of the paratrooper companies were (and still are) equipped with the MILAN anti-tank guided missile on Wolf off-road vehicles.

All types of troops were able to form tank destruction troops for the anti-tank defense of all troops and to fight enemy battle tanks at short range by means of anti-tank weapons (especially Panzerfaust 3 ).

Former units

equipment

Main weapon systems

In the first few years after their installation, US M41 and M47 tanks were their main weapons, later also M48 and wire-guided SS 11 missiles on HS 30 armored personnel carriers. From the mid-1960s these were replaced by the Kanonenjagdpanzer and the Raketenjagdpanzer 2. From the 1970s the Jaguar 1 rocket destroyer was the main weapon system. The Jaguar 1 was a weapon carrier for the HOT anti-tank guided missile . Until 1996, the Panzerjäger troops also had Jaguar 2 missile tank destroyers , which were equipped with TOW . The last Kanonenjagdpanzer 4-5 were retired from the field army in the mid-1980s and were only used by the territorial army until around 1990 .

uniform

The color of arms of the tank destroyer force, color of the strands and the insignia was, as in the Armored Corps last pink . Since the tank destroyers were originally counted as infantry, the weapon color was initially dark green, from 1962 onwards, as for all infantry branches, it was hunter green . The beret was black as with the armored troops and, as usual with the armored troops, was often worn in combat service. In 1992 the Panzerjäger troop received its own beret badge. Until 1992, they had worn the armored troop badge . The beret badge, introduced in 1992, showed a tank destroyer (probably an early model Jagdpanzer Jaguar 1 ) in the middle of the oak leaf wreath in front of two crossed arrows .

These uniform parts, which were specific to the type of service, were already relatively rare in the mid-1990s, since after the dissolution of the tank destroyer companies, most of the tank destroyers were integrated into the tank battalions and wore berets, troop insignia and the color of the armored infantry troops .

Tank crews wore instead of field trousers and tunic one-piece tank combination .

Tactical sign

The basic tactical symbol of the Panzerjäger troops was an upward-pointing triangle following the general NATO scheme. If a tank destroyer company was equipped with rocket tank destroyers, two more free-standing angles were added to the tactical symbol under the angle, which were generally used as marks for rockets.

Rank designations

Rank designation of the lowest rank soldier in units of the Panzerjäger troops was a tank destroyer . He corresponded to the rank designations Schützen, Funker, Panzergrenadier etc. of other military branches, branches of the armed forces and military organizational areas. The other ranks corresponded to the general ranks of the Bundeswehr .

Bundeswehr Cross Black.svg Team rank
Lower rank   Higher rank
- Tank destroyer Private

Rank group : Teams-NCOs-NCO-NCOs-Lieutenant-Captains-Staff officers-Generals

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volker Schubert: Obituary. The end of a branch of service. In: Website of the Army . Federal Ministry of Defense , head of the press and information staff , October 18, 2007, archived from the original on 2009 ; accessed on September 1, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Michael Poppe, Helmut R. Hammerich, Dieter H. Kollmer, Martin Rink: Das Heer 1950 to 1970: conception, organization and installation . Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2006, ISBN 3-486-57974-6 , p. 287 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  3. ↑ Panzerjäger military school. In: The German tank destroyers 1916 - today . Matthias Führ, June 13, 2009, accessed September 1, 2014 .
  4. ↑ a b The equivalent, higher and lower ranks are given in accordance with ZDv 14/5 B 185, cf. The Federal Minister of Defense (ed.): ZDv 14/5. Soldiers Act . DSK AV110100174, change status July 17, 2008. Bonn August 21, 1978, rank designations in the Bundeswehr, p. B 185 (Not to be confused with the Law on the Legal Status of Soldiers (Soldiers Act) . The order of the ranks shown in the info box does not necessarily correspond to one of the regular rank sequences provided for in the Soldiers' Career Ordinance , nor does it necessarily correspond to the rank hierarchy described in the Superiors Ordinance a managerial relationship ).