Deleted member 1487
Playing off of this thread:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=384317
What if after encountering the T-34 and KV-1 in Barbarossa the push is to get something into service quickly to replace both the Pz IV and III in service (the latter chassis would still be used for things like the StuG III, but production not expanded) as the sole medium tank with a long 75mm gun? IOTL before adopting the L70 75mm gun that the Panther got they were working on an L60 that didn't have as much recoil and didn't weigh as much, but had less range and penetration than the Panther's gun. Given that the VK3001H didn't have a turret capable of taking the L43 gun of 1942 that the Pz IV ended up using since it would need time to get a new turret ring and turret production wouldn't start until mid-1942 and would phase out the Pz IV chassis entirely, take up all the historical capacity used for the Panther, and even eat into some of the 1942 expansion of Pz III chassis production.
Rather than bothering with a racial new design with sloped armor or wider tracks, it just has 80mm frontal armor, a better gun than any German medium, and production standardized on it, while 'secondary' chassis like the remaining Pz III production, Pz 38t, and Pz II would do their historical types other than turreted tank versions (StuG III/StuH 42, Marder III/Grille/Hetzer, and Wespe/Marder II respectively). Some VK3001H production would go to making Hummel SP artillery and Nashorn TDs instead of making the Pz III/IV chassis.
Thoughts on how that would impact things in terms of Panzer divisions and their combat effectiveness?
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=384317
What if after encountering the T-34 and KV-1 in Barbarossa the push is to get something into service quickly to replace both the Pz IV and III in service (the latter chassis would still be used for things like the StuG III, but production not expanded) as the sole medium tank with a long 75mm gun? IOTL before adopting the L70 75mm gun that the Panther got they were working on an L60 that didn't have as much recoil and didn't weigh as much, but had less range and penetration than the Panther's gun. Given that the VK3001H didn't have a turret capable of taking the L43 gun of 1942 that the Pz IV ended up using since it would need time to get a new turret ring and turret production wouldn't start until mid-1942 and would phase out the Pz IV chassis entirely, take up all the historical capacity used for the Panther, and even eat into some of the 1942 expansion of Pz III chassis production.
Rather than bothering with a racial new design with sloped armor or wider tracks, it just has 80mm frontal armor, a better gun than any German medium, and production standardized on it, while 'secondary' chassis like the remaining Pz III production, Pz 38t, and Pz II would do their historical types other than turreted tank versions (StuG III/StuH 42, Marder III/Grille/Hetzer, and Wespe/Marder II respectively). Some VK3001H production would go to making Hummel SP artillery and Nashorn TDs instead of making the Pz III/IV chassis.
Thoughts on how that would impact things in terms of Panzer divisions and their combat effectiveness?