Panama
Posts: 1362
Joined: 10/30/2009 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay quote:
ORIGINAL: golden delicious S'an interesting point- however 88mm FlaK guns continued to be effective in more close environments. After 1942, we weren't fighting in the Western desert. Nevertheless, the Germans were compelled to create a true 88mm AT gun. Why do that if you don't have to? The AT gun can't be used in a Flak role. That's unlike the DP gun, which can do both. The 8.8cm Flak 18/36/37/ was heavy, requiring a heavy tractor, almost impossible to hide, it's about 8 feet tall at the horizontal off the carriages. It had an advantage over it's Allied counterparts in that it could be fired while mounted on it's mobile chasis simply by being able to drop the frame while still mounted. It was first used in an anti tank role in the Spanish Civil War. The fact is all 8.8 cm FlaKs were capable of the dual role. It could penetrate over 150mm of armor at more than 2 kilometer. Its standard anti-aircraft platform allowed gunners to depress the muzzle below horizontal, unlike most other anti-aircraft guns. So, it was a very nice dual role gun unlike most other AAA. The Pak43 was developed because it was lighter, closer to the ground, easier to hide, harder to hit and afforded more protection for it's gunners. It was, no doubt, easier to produce too. Some were mounted on a cruciform mount, much like the flak version only much lower to the ground. To speed up production some were put on the typical howitzer type two wheel split rail carriage. What compelled them was the numbers game they became mired in with the Soviets. Forgot to mention: The Soviets used their 85mm AAA gun as an emergency AT gun in 1941 (stating the obvious since they would have used anything that could shoot to shoot at whatever was there). So since it was already in mass production this was the natural anti Tiger gun. To get it to the battlefield quickly the AAA guns were put into AT battalions with their heavy antiaircraft mountings. Not saying they were used in dual roles anymore than the 88 Flak but they could be used as AAA since they were in essence AAA pressed into AT service to counter the Tiger. Again, the numbers game was the innovation catylist.
< Message edited by Panama -- 6/21/2010 7:05:12 PM >
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