Chapter 1621: Air Defense Leopard by chance

The Corian anti-aircraft tank is a front-line dedicated field anti-aircraft vehicle modified based on the chassis of the Panther 5 medium tank.

It is also because of the use of the Panther tank body and chassis that the Corian has very strong armor protection, comparable to the main medium tanks on the front line.

Not only is the protection of the car body reliable, its turret protection is also at the standard medium tank level, and it adopts a fully enclosed rather than open turret design. Its protective performance is unrivaled among armored combat vehicles such as anti-aircraft vehicles. .

Strictly speaking, Corian is the frontline field air defense vehicle with the best protective performance and comprehensive combat effectiveness at present and even in the entire World War II, at least in terms of paper performance.

As for actual performance, many additional factors are involved, such as the reliability of Corian and the performance of the newly installed fully enclosed anti-aircraft turret, which has yet to be tested in actual combat.

In terms of firepower, Corian uses two FLAK 44 37mm fully automatic anti-aircraft cannons. The Panther tank’s spacious and huge chassis, which is comparable in size to Allied and Soviet heavy tanks, gives these two 37mm automatic anti-aircraft cannons. mm main gun with an unusually high amount of ammunition.

In other words, as long as the Corian is not destroyed and the fuel pipe is full, this thing can continue to accompany the frontline troops in many high-intensity battles without leaving the firing line and without the need to replenish ammunition.

This is crucial for anti-aircraft vehicles that consume huge amounts of ammunition. It means that Corian can maintain high-intensity combat for a long time even if there is no supply of ammunition vehicles. This is exactly what the German army will need in the future.

In the original existing history, in that timeline where the special time factor of Malashenko did not exist.

Corian should not have been born at this time, but much later.

And the first Corian was only equipped with a wooden proportional turret for testing. Until the building of the Third Reich collapsed, Corian never went on the battlefield and exerted his strength to compete with other turrets of the Third Reich. Prototype test vehicles of various models have also become funerary objects.

But in this timeline, the emergence of Malashenko ultimately indirectly led to Corian's accidentally achieving mass production and embarking on the battlefield.

The full conversion of the Panther 2 tank caused a problem. A large number of Panther 1 chassis that had been produced in advance were abandoned because their armor thickness did not meet the needs of the German Army.

The German Army, which attaches great importance to the protective performance of the Panther 2, simply cannot accept the "waste of resources" of having the new Panther 2's turret mounted on such a "thin-skinned and bulky" vehicle body that looks like paper in front of the Russian heavy tanks. ".

Just like the situation when Dr. Porsche's bid for the Tiger tank project was ultimately unsuccessful, these Panther 1 body chassis that were pre-produced in advance cannot be wasted. We must find a way to transform these body chassis and manufacture them into other products. It is a front-line armored vehicle for special purposes, achieving special "waste recycling", just like the original Ferdinand tank destroyer.

The MAN company, the parent company of the Panther tank, submitted two modification plans to the German Army.

One is to refer to the successful case of the Ferdinand tank destroyer and transform these Panther 1 tank chassis into tank destroyers. The newly finalized plan is called the "Cheetah" tank destroyer, equipped with the same PAK 43 71-caliber 88mm main gun as the Ferdinand. The tilt angle of the armor on the front of the car body was modified and extended upward to cover the entire front of the fighting room, greatly strengthening the defense to a level that can withstand Russian heavy tanks bombardment within conventional combat distances.

The second is to transform it based on the company's latest concept of a front-line field mobile anti-aircraft armored vehicle. Based on the chassis of the Panther 1, a fully enclosed electric turret and a dual-mounted high-firing anti-aircraft cannon are installed, making it a It has become an anti-aircraft tank that can accompany the German front-line armored forces to perform air defense operations and repel enemy tactical air attacks.

MAN's engineers called this new blueprint vehicle "Corlian", and the relevant plans and options were quickly submitted in writing to the director of the armored forces who was ordered by the head of state and was fully responsible for tanks and armored vehicles: Gu Derian's hands.

In view of the powerful and near-destructive tactical air raid capabilities displayed by the Allied forces during the Sicily Campaign, Guderian finally decided to use at least half of the black weapons after listening to the suggestions and reports of frontline officers who participated in the campaign. Leopard 1 tank chassis to build this new Corian anti-aircraft tank.

Not only to prevent the Allied strategic bombing of German industrial areas, but relying on small-caliber anti-aircraft cannon tanks like the Corian cannot stop those superior Allied forces from bombing.

Guderian only hoped that this kind of anti-aircraft tank, which looked very good in terms of design ideas and paper data, could escort the German armored forces fighting on the front line and support a theater air defense network. At least it would not let the German tanks Become a prey to the slaughter in front of Allied aircraft.

Of course, Guderian did not fail to consider another modification plan provided by MAN engineers: a Cheetah tank destroyer equipped with a long 88mm main gun. This is also an excellent armored combat vehicle that looks very powerful, but Guderian Another report received was less optimistic.

Due to the excessive pursuit of a slender fishing rod-like artillery barrel, the ultra-high penetration value is achieved. The eccentric German military industry has already experienced the pain caused by an excessively high barrel diameter ratio: the scrap rate of barrel drilling is really frighteningly high.

The direct result of this is that the actual output of Chang 88 is actually not high. Especially under the premise that this thing also needs to take into account the construction and supply of anti-tank guns, the actual situation is even more bleak, and it is completely "more guns and fewer barrels."

The information Guderian has at hand shows that there are currently at least four types of armored combat vehicles that are already in mass production or planned for mass production, and they need to be equipped with a long 88 main gun. One type of heavy tank and three types of anti-tank destroyers, and this is without counting the supply of anti-tank guns.

Guderian does not believe that the German military industry, which is currently suffering from Allied strategic bombing, can deliver so many Chang 88 main guns for vehicle production and assembly on time in the short term. Moreover, anti-tank weapons are also in short supply on the infantry side, and the demand for Chang 88 anti-tank guns is also very high. We cannot only focus on armored combat vehicles and abandon the poor infantry.

In view of this, Guderian finally decided to reduce the production share of the Jaguar tank destroyer, giving more of the precious and limited chassis to the equally important frontline field anti-aircraft tanks.

There is another personal reason, which is that Guderian himself is more fond of those Stalker tank destroyers that are small in shape, but have the same protective performance as Xiaoqiang, and are also very cost-effective. Building more Stalkers is obviously better than It’s more cost-effective to get a cheetah.

Due to various complicated reasons, coupled with the butterfly effect of Comrade Lao Ma, the Corian anti-aircraft tank that should not have been on the battlefield was born by accident.