Sturmgeschütz

Sturmgeschütz (abbreviated StuG) meaning "assault gun" was a series of armored fighting vehicles used by both the German Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS formations during the Second World War (1939–1945).

A more powerful gun, the 7.5 cm Pak 40, then in development, did not fit in the turret of the Panzer III, Germany's primary medium tank at the time.

The StuG III became Nazi Germany's most-produced armored fighting-vehicle during World War II, with some 10,000 examples manufactured.

[2] Its mission was to destroy prepared defensive works, pill boxes, machine gun emplacements and tanks.

This created the lowest possible profile in order to reduce the vehicle's height, making the StuG more difficult to hit and easier to protect in hull defilade.

[4] The omission of a regular tank turret made for simpler and more cost-effective production, enabling greater numbers to be built.

However, the lack of a traverse movement in the gun meant the entire vehicle had to be turned left or right to acquire targets, which proved to be a significant weakness at times.

The lack of an internal light machine gun in early models left the StuG vulnerable to close-range infantry attack.

Because of the decreased costs and ease of production, the Germans began to use the StuGs to replace standard tank losses.

A number of captured StuGs were refurbished in the Soviet Union and given to Syria, along with some Panzer IVs, where they were used briefly against Israel.