The best WW2 anti-tank guns were not only the most lethal tank killers but they also played a decisive role in getting the upperhand in major battles. One of them was an anti-aircraft gun adapted to attack armored vehicles. The other three were designed exclusively as anti-tank guns. Designed and manufactured by the German firms Krupp and Rheinmetall, they were used by the Wehrmacht on every front of the war.
They were the 8.8-cm Flak 18/36/37 anti-aircraft gun, which was also employed to attack and destroy all type of armored vehicles. It would become the most vicious tank killer of World War II; the 8.8-cm Pak 43, which was a powerful anti-tank gun fielded by the German Army infantry; the 8.8-cm KwKs 36 L/56 and 43 L/71, which were an anti-tank guns mounted on the Tiger I and II tanks respectively; The 7.5-cm Pak 40, very powerful, with a very high muzzle velocity, especially designed to kill tanks from a long distance; and the 7.5-cm KwK 42 L/70, which was mounted on the Panther tank.
All 8.8-cm (88mm) anti-tank guns were basically derivatives from the 8.8-cm Flak 18, which had been designed for the anti-aircraft role but it turned out to be a powerful and effective anti-tank and anti-bunker weapon. The 7.5-cm (75mm) KwK 42 L/70 was developed from the KwK L/48, which was mounted on the Panzer IV tank, and could knock out a T-34 from 1500 m. All these guns had one characteristic in common: a high muzzle velocity, which ranged from 1000 m/s (3300 ft/s) to 1130 m/s, which was impressive if we compare with the muzzle velocity of the Russian T-34's 76 mm gun, which was 680 m/s. The term "L/70" refers to the length of the gun barrel.
Below, a photo of the 8.8 cm Flak 36, the anti-aircraft gun being fielded in the anti-tank role by the German infantry in France in 1944.
The 8.8 cm KwK 36 on the Tiger I tank in action. The video is about tank commander Michael Wittmann, who became an ace with the this powerful gun.
Below, the powerful 7.5cm anti tank gun Pak 40
