Description

A detailed comparative study of the KV-1 Soviet heavy tank and the Panzerjager that had aided the German blitzkrieg, but met its match on the Eastern Front.

On the Soviet side, based upon lessons from the Spanish Civil War, the Red Army decided to develop a heavy “breakthrough” tank to smash enemy infantry defenses. This resulted in the KV-1 and KV-2 tanks, introduced in 1939. At the start of Operation Barbarossa, both these tanks were virtually invulnerable to the weapons of the Panzerjäger and demonstrated their ability to overrun German infantry on several occasions.

This detailed, illustrated account shows how this advantage gave the Red Army a window of opportunity between the fall of 1941 and the spring of 1942 to use their heavy tanks to repel the German invasion in a series of desperate counteroffensives. Yet the window of Soviet advantage was a narrow one and the duel between the Soviet KV heavy tanks and German Panzerjäger had a major impact upon the struggle for the strategic initiative in 1941-42.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chronology
Design and development
The strategic situation
Technical specifications
The combatants
Combat
Statistics and analysis
Aftermath
Bibliography
Glossary

Product details

Published Oct 20 2012
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 80
ISBN 9781782003021
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations 50 b/w; 9 col
Series Duel
Short code DUE 46
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Robert Forczyk

Robert Forczyk has a PhD in International Relation…

Illustrator

Ian Palmer

Ian Palmer is a highly experienced digital artist…

Illustrator

Peter Dennis

Peter Dennis was inspired by contemporary magazine…

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