88 Flak Gun / Anti Tank Gun

German experiences with Soviet heavy tanks have resulted in the production of some very powerful guns. Among these is the Model 1943 88-mm gun. This improved 88 has a very high muzzle velocity, which enables gunners to lay on and hit even distant moving targets with considerable ease. In fact, the trajectory followed by the projectile is so flat that, with certain sights, the gunner can make his own elevation calculations up to a range of 3,700 yards for high-explosive projectiles and 4,400 yards for armor-piercing projectiles. A trajectory as flat as this naturally means that gunners can open fire on tanks and other armored vehicles without preliminary registration. The rise of the shell in its flight seldom will be greater than the height of a tank. 

  

Besides being used as a direct-laid gun, the variations of the Model 1943 can also fire either time-fuzed or percussion 20.68-pound, high-explosive shells as far as 16,570 yards.

The verified armor-penetration capabilities of the Model 43 88's are remarkable. With the newer type of 22.4-pound capped armor-piercing shell (with ballistic cap to provide streamlining), the following can be achieved:

Range			Penetration
	(shell hitting at right angles to the armor)
1,000 yards			7.87 inches
2,000 yards			6.61 inches
2,500 yards			6.02 inches

The Model 43 88's have certain drawbacks, however. While raising the muzzle velocity, the Germans have tried to keep down the weight of the gun. The result is a light tube with a considerably reduced safety factor. Therefore, German gun crews have been warned not to use high-velocity ammunition in Model 1943 tubes which have fired as many as 500 rounds. To preserve the gun tube against erosion, they may fire high-explosive shell with a low-velocity propellant rated at 1,080 feet per second. This ammunition gives a maximum range of only 7,765 yards. 

Thus far the Model 43 88's have appeared in the new Royal Tiger tank; in the "Elephant" (formerly called the "Ferdinand"), the "Rhinoceros" (formerly called the "Hornet"), and Panzerjäger Panther tank destroyers; and on two towed carriages (the Pak 43 and the Pak 43/41). Of these, the heavily-armored "Elephant" chassis has been found to be too cumbersome and mechanically unreliable. The "Rhinoceros" chassis is too slow; its armor is open on top, and provides protection only against shell splinters and caliber .30 bullets. The Pak 43/41 ground mount also appears to be unsatisfactory. Its conventional split-trail artillery carriage must be so heavy (9,660 pounds) that the complete piece weighs almost as much as the 12,300-pound 150-mm medium gun-howitzer s.F.H. 18. Such a weight precludes manhandling, and is a great handicap in getting the gun trained on a target which appears from an angle not covered by the carriage's 60-degree traverse.