A tank destroyer, tank hunter or tank killer is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, predominantly intended for anti-tank duties. They are typically armed with a direct fire artillery gun, also known as a self-propelled anti-tank gun, or missile launcher, also called an anti-tank missile carrier. The vehicles are designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often with limited operational capacities.
Self-propelled artillery is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mortar, and self-propelled rocket artillery. They are high-mobility vehicles, usually based on continuous tracks carrying either a large field gun, howitzer, mortar, or some form of rocket/missile launcher. They are usually used for long-range indirect bombardment support on the battlefield.
The T-28 was a Soviet multi-turreted medium tank. The prototype was completed in 1931, and production began in late 1932. It was an infantry support tank intended to break through fortified defences. The T-28 was designed to complement the heavier T-35, with which it shared turret designs. The type did not have great success in combat, but it played an important role as a development project for Soviet tank designers. A series of new ideas and solutions that were tried out on the T-28 were later incorporated in future models.
The Jagdpanzer 38, originally the Leichter Panzerjäger 38(t), known mostly post-war as Hetzer, was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis.
The T-38 amphibious scout tank was a Soviet amphibious light tank that saw service in World War II. Developed as a modernized version of the earlier T-37A light tank, the T-38 proved to be only a moderate improvement over its predecessor, and was eventually replaced in 1940 by the T-40.
The T-27 was a tankette produced in the 1930s by the Soviet Union. It was based on the design of the Carden Loyd tankette, bought under license from the United Kingdom in 1930.
The T-40 amphibious scout tank was an amphibious light tank used by the Soviet Union during World War II. It was armed with one 12.7 mm (0.5 in) DShK machine gun. It was one of the few tanks that could cross an unfordable river without a bridge.
The ZiS-30 was a light self-propelled anti-tank gun built for the Soviet Red Army in 1941. It was based on the Komsomolets armoured artillery tractor. They were successful vehicles, but production was limited by the number of Komsomolets tractors still in use.
The NI tank also known as the Odessa tank, was a Soviet improvised fighting vehicle, based on an STZ-5 agricultural tractor, manufactured in Odessa during the Siege of Odessa in World War II.
The Laffly S15 was a family of all-terrain military vehicles from French manufacturer Laffly that shared the same six-wheel drive chassis. They were used by French forces during World War II.
The Carro Veloce 33 (CV 33) or L3/33 was a tankette originally built in 1933 and used by the Italian Army before and during World War II. It was based on the imported British Carden Loyd tankette. Many CV 33s were retrofitted to meet the specifications of the CV 35 in 1935. In 1938, the CV 33 was renamed the "L3/33" while the CV 35 became the "L3/35s."
The Mareșal, also known as the M-tank, was a Romanian-produced light tank destroyer from World War II. Romania was a member of the Axis powers and created the vehicle in response to the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks. It is credited with having inspired the German Hetzer's design, according to multiple German military staff.
The TACAM R-2 was a Romanian tank destroyer used during World War II. It was built by removing the turret of the R-2 light tank and building a pedestal to mount a Soviet 76.2 mm (3.00 in) ZiS-3 field gun in its place. A three-sided fighting compartment was built to protect the gun and its crew. Twenty were built in 1944, but only one is known to exist today. It participated in the Budapest Offensive and the Prague Offensive.
The TACAM T-60 was a Romanian tank destroyer used during World War II. It was built by removing the turret of captured Soviet T-60 light tanks and building a pedestal to mount a captured Soviet 76.2 mm (3.00 in) M-1936 F-22 field gun in its place. A three-sided fighting compartment was built to protect the gun and its crew. Thirty-four were built in 1943, and they served in the Jassy-Kishniev Offensive, and the Budapest Offensive.
The TACAM R-1 was a small tank destroyer used by Romania during World War II. It was designed on 22 November 1943 at the request of the Romanian General Staff. Fourteen R-1 vehicles were to be rearmed with 45 mm 20-K guns. Although this vehicle was designed to be used only for security duties, the project was cancelled because it was eventually regarded as a waste of badly needed industrial capacity, the 45 mm gun having been obsolete against most Soviet tanks by then such as the T-34 and KV-1.
The TACAM T-38 was a tank destroyer design proposed to be built in Romania during World War II. It was supposed to be a successor of the similar TACAM R-2, but never entered production.
The T-1 tractor was a project developed by the Romanian Army during World War II. A total of 1,000 were ordered. It was designed to tow a Romanian 75 mm gun. After five prototypes were produced, the project was canceled due to the lack of priority.
During the Second World War, the Kingdom of Romania produced, converted or significantly improved a variety of armored fighting vehicles, ranging from licence-built unarmed artillery tractors to tank destroyers of an original design which ended up - according to some accounts - as inspiration for some German AFV.
In 1942, a medium tank was proposed to be produced by the Axis-aligned Kingdom of Romania. The reason behind the proposal was the lack of a Romanian-produced armored fighting vehicle capable of challenging enemy Soviet tanks on the Eastern Front, as well as the allied Nazi Germany not being capable of supplying Romania with considerable amounts of tanks. The vehicle never saw production.
The R-1 was a Romanian-used tank that saw action during World War II within the mechanized Romanian cavalry. It was a modified version of the AH-IV, a Czechoslovak-designed export vehicle, which was used exclusively by Romanian forces during the war. A number of 36 were used, 35 of which were built in Czechoslovakia, while one modified example was built in Romania under license. The R-1 is classified as either a light tank or tankette.
