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.

What makes Erwin Rommel a military 'great'?

Rommel is well respected for his tactical skill on the battlefield. Given open terrain and the ability to manuver, Rommel was a highly successful commander who was able to outmanuver or overcome the strengths of his enemies in specific instances. Much of this was also shaped by his willingness to put himself in the front lines.
In the Battle of France, his columns were attacked by British tanks near the town Arras. The heavily armored British Matildas were too well protected for the standard German anti-tank guns of the time. To break the British attack, Rommel established a gun line of 88mm Flak batteries which could take out the Matildas. In addition, his division moved with such speed and seemed to come out of nowhere in the battle seemed would earn the division the nickname "Ghost Division," though I cannot be sure who came up with the nickname. Some sources I have would give the origin to Germans because they couldn't get in contact with Rommel and didn't know where he was, and some other sources would say the French/British because he seemed to arrive where he was unexpected to arrive from.
His best campaign was in Africa, where he with a largely Italian force would drive the British from Benghazi, Libya to El Alamien Egypt. Here, with his skills in manuver was able to outflank and inflict heavy casualties on an enemy force that outnumbered him greatly and generally had more high quality troops available to them than were available to Rommel. In Tunisia, he would also rout American units in the Battle of Kasserine Pass and achieved such a victory that he could have broken Eisenhower's entire army in one fell swoop and prolong the African campaign by months.
Following Africa, Rommel was in relative obscuraty in Northern Italy and was partially responsible for disarming the Italian military after the surrender to the Allies in 1943. He would soon find himself back in France, this time to put forth the defense of the Atlantic Wall. Here, Rommel found himself increasingly at odds with other generals under his command and above him in the chain of command (some of this also occured in Africa, but not to the same degree as it was here). Rommel took the position that it would be best that Germany's tanks be placed close to the beaches so that they could hit the Allies while they were disorganized and getting off the landing craft. For, if they were allowed a toehold, the Western Allies' strengths of air power and logistics would easily defeat the Germans. However, his commander here, Gerd von Rundstedt was largely comming from the Eastern Front where Germany managed to maintain some semblence of air power and manuver up until 1943. Rundstedt argued that Germany's tanks would be better served in the interior to counter attack any possible penetration by the Allies. Hitler ultimately agreed with Rundstedt, and Rommel was left to improvise. His solution was to request mines by the millions, which the Reich couldn't provide him... and ultimately when the Allies did land in Normandy, Rundstedt's earlier victories and the Reich's inability to supply him proved Rommel's predictions right. The Allies gained a toehold and then used superior logistics and air power to outlast the Germans in Normandy. In this sense, Rommel accurately predicted how the Allies would win.
As such, Rommel's skills as a tactician were among the best in World War II. This is also not taking into account his career as a junior officer in WWI, which also included some heroic efforts. These efforts won him respect for his skills alone.
However, the respect and "honor" that has been given him doesn't come from his skills alone. His legacy, has largely been built on the fact that Rommel was not member of the Nazi Party and that there have been plenty of incidents that would create the image of an "honorable man" serving a dishonorable system. Rommel would disobey direct orders with regard to Hitler's favorite "no retreat" command. After El Alamien had gone so bad for him, Hitler gave the command as he always did, but Rommel ordered the retreat anyway to try and save the lives of his men. This action would actually set up the Battle of Kasserine Pass due to Rommel's assessment of Montgomery's caution and that it would prevent Monty from rushing to keep pressure on Rommel.
At other times in the African campaign, Hitler had issued orders that demanded the immediate execution of any commandos or Jews taken in Allied uniform. Most sources I've seen say that Rommel deliberately disobeyed these orders.
The biggest evidence of this comes from repeated incidents of criticizing the Fuhrer. Towards the end of the African campaign or while he was in Northern Italy, Rommel is famously quoted as saying that Hitler was living in some sort of "cuckoo land." The clinching factor in this argument comes from supposed connections between Rommel and the Valkyrie plot by Stauffenberg to kill Hitler. Rommel had no knowledge of the plot and wasn't actually a member of the plot, but two men that were implicated Rommel. One of them was also a member of Rommel's staff and had made the implication after being tortured by the SS. Hitler then gave Rommel a choice. He had the option of standing trial, for which he would certainly be found guilty, and his wife and son would also be executed for treason, or he could commit suicide via poison, and Rommel's family would be spared. Rommel took the poison to save his wife and son, which has created the image of an honorable man. The reason for Rommel's death that the Nazi's gave was ultimately that he had succumbed to wounds sustained in an allied air attack on his car on July 17, 1944.
These incidents created the image of an honorable warrior that fought not for Hitler but for Germany.
However, it would also bear to mind various criticisms of Rommel...
While Rommel was a great tactician, he probably was not that great a strategist. He was expressly ordered by Kesselring and by some Italian superiors not to cross into Egypt following the capture of Tobruk. Rommel ignored these orders and advanced into Egypt where he was soon facing a situation at El Alamien where his tactics of going around the flank wouldn't work. In that sense, Rommel set up his own defeat at El Alamein.
In addition, Rommel also mistakenly believed that the main Allied landings on D-Day would be at the Pas Du Calias, because the region would provide the best spot for Allied air cover. This largely left progress in the Normandy sector lacking and would help enable the Allies to win there. Rommel would be quick to realize that Normandy was the real landing zone, but the fact that he guessed wrong can not be denied. In fact, Rommel was not even at his HQ when the Allies attacked. He had gone back to Germany for either his wedding anniversery or his wife's birthday.
In addition, close examination of his political stances, while he wasn't pro-Nazi, he wasn't exactly anti-Nazi either. He has been described as apolitical, which I would agree with, but by being so, it could also mean that while he didn't agree with the Nazis, it was clear that he wasn't going to take a direct stand against them. The fact that he was not part of the Stauffenberg plot is clear of this aspect as well.
However, these things have not totally tarnished Rommel's record or removed his tactical skills.