GERMAN ELEFANT TANK

The Elefant tank destroyer was a World War II German tank hunter. Its construction was improvised, based on the Tiger I Chassis. The model number was Sd.Kfz.184.

The Elefant tank destroyer, or Panzerjäger, was designed by Ferdinand Porsche and manufactured by Porsche AG in 1943. It was 8.14m long, 3.38 m wide, 3 m tall, weighed 65 tonnes, and had a crew of 6. It had 200mm-thick armor on the front and 150mm on the sides. The Elefant Panzerjäger was powered by two Maybach HL120, 300 hp petrol engines and was armed with an 88mm PaK 43/2 L/71 gun, and two 7.92mm MG34 machine guns.

The Elefant tank destroyer saw action for the first time at the Battle of Kursk, in July 1943, destroying many Soviet T-34 tanks. By the end of 1943, only 50 tanks of the 91 built had survived. Most of those that got out of action was due to mechanical problems rather than being destroyed by the enemy.