The Hetzer, originally known as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), was one of the most powerful German tank destroyers in World War II.

Following a severe shortage of Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) tank destroyers due to joint American and British air raids on the Alkett factory, Germany was forced to accelerate weapons production to address the shortage. One of the methods used was converting existing tank chassis into tank destroyers. In December 1943, Germany decided to use a confiscated BMM factory in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to build tank destroyers.

By May 1945, they had produced approximately 2,800 vehicles. The entire series was based on the existing chassis of the Skoda/Praga Lt vz.38 or Panzer 38(t), from which the Hetzer was derived.

Production of the Hetzer ran from March 4, 1944, to May 11, 1945. Its height of 2.15 m, length of 6.35 m, and width of 2.60 m enabled rapid ambush attacks. For protection, the Hetzer was equipped with 6.8 cm thick, sloped frontal armor.

This armor was sloped rearward by 30 degrees from the vertical, effectively providing about 4.7 inches of effective protection. Armed with the 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/48 cannon, the Hetzer could destroy almost all Allied or Soviet tank types in service, with the exception of heavy tanks.

The Hetzer was a maneuverable vehicle with a top speed of 42 km/h, powered by a Praga inline six-cylinder gasoline engine. In terms of overall performance, the Hetzer surpassed other German tanks, with the exception of the Panzer IV, which had a 75 mm short-barreled gun and was only available in limited quantities.

The Hetzer’s performance was so good that the Germans produced thousands of them, immediately replacing the Panzerjäger I models. The Hetzer also replaced the Marder III series, which was based on the same chassis, making the Hetzer the most widely used German tank destroyer before the end of World War II.

However, the performance of the first Hetzers was limited by the limited interior space created by the hull’s width and the sloping casemate. It only had room for three crew members crammed together in a row, and the escape hatch was not easily accessible to all crew members. Its speed also needed improvement.

Following these findings, modifications followed, and further variants of the Hetzer were produced with adjustments and improvements. The exhaust pipes were replaced with a vertically oriented pipe, the silencer was replaced with a flame arrester, a wider but lighter mantlet was added to the main gun, and better sighting aids and ammunition racks were installed, among other things.

The variants of the Hetzer include: Hetzer “Starr”, Jadpanzer 38(D), Flammpanzer 38(t), Bergepanzer 38(t) and Befehlspanzer 38(t).

The Hetzer is currently the most widely available World War II tank destroyer, presumably because such a large number of Hetzers were produced during World War II.

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