StuG III

Infantry support artillary developed as a class of its own by the begining of WWI. It was quickly noted that stationary artillary could be useful until t he beginning of the offensive, then it had to be stopped or moved further forward. To avoid leaving infantry defenceless against  the enemy weapon emplacements that survived the intial bombardment, they were given light regimental cannons that could be carried around the battlefield. these cannons were difficult to move and were very vulnerable to enemy fire. Many countries began look at placing these cannons on an armored self propelled carriage, but the German General, Erich von Manstein was the first one clearly formulated requirements to produce a self propelled artillary  for direct support of infantry. On June 15th 1936 Daimler Benz was ordered to produce the self propelled artillary. Since Daimler Benz was involved in the production of PanzerIII, they decided to use its chassis for the new vehicle. First production  based on Panzer II Ausf F started in 1940. it was armed with 75mm Stuk 37 L/24 gun. frontal armor of the vehicle was increased from 30mm to 50mm. by May 1940 , 30 StuG III Ausf A  were produced. 24 of them were equipped to Sturm Artillerie Batthery  640,660 and 665 and first saw action during the French Campaign. The other six were issued to SS Sturm Artillerie Battery of the Leibstantarte Adolf Hitler Panzer Grenadier Dvision.  during the French campaign it became obvious that suck weapon was highly valueable. in 1940 high command ordered the mass production of Gepanzerte Selbstfahr Lafetle fur Sturmgeschutz 7.5cm Kanone/ Sdkfz142, which was commonly referred to as StuG III.Self propelled artillary units gavve the german infantry an enourmous advantage during the first half of the second world war, until the enemy began produce similar weapons. Ausf A was followed by improved Ausf B,C,D and E , all armed with short 75mm Stuk 37 LO/24gun. total 822 Ausf A ,B,C,D and E were produced.

In March of 1942 Ausf F entered production. It was not only an assualt gun but also a badly needed tank destroyer. Ausf was replaced by Ausf F/8 armed with L/48gun. A Picture of StuG III Ausf F

Ausf G entered production in December of 1942. 7893 units were manufactured by Alkett and MIAG. Ausf G used Ausf F/8 hull while the superstructure was widened. The roof was raised in the rear to provide more room inside. A Picture of StuG III Ausf G

A picture of StuG 40

The Germans later developed  more powerful  self propelled artillary units but StuG III was in service until the end of the was . Over 13000 of them were manufactured more than any other vehicle in Germany.