Variant: Production Period: Number Produced:
Ausf A January - May 1940 30
Ausf B June 1940 - May 1941 320
Ausf C May - September 1941 50
Ausf D May - September 1941 150
Ausf E September 1941 - March 1942 272
Ausf F March - September 1942 359 + 1 prototype
Ausf F/8 September - December 1942 334
Ausf G December 1942 - March 1945 7720 + 173 converted
The Sturmgeschütz III, or StuG III for short, was an assault gun used by the Wehrmacht "German Army" during WWII. Built on the chassis of the Panzer III tank was, it was initially designed for infantry support. However, the StuG III, with it's relatively low silhouette and eventually a more powerful main gun, it became a formidable tank destroyer. Unlike the M4 Sherman tank, the Panzer IV, and other comtempory tanks, tank destroyers did not have turrets that could be rotated. This meant that the Stug III had to face it's target directly and if the gun could not be aimed directly at the target, than the entire vehicle had to rotate. However, when properly deployed, the Stug III was one of the best antitank weapons in the German arsenal. In addition, the Stug III was considerable cheaper and easier to produce, making the vehicle even more appealing to the German High Command. The Stug II was typically armed with a 75 mm main gun and (at least in the early years of the war) not armed with any machineguns.
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