Forces of Valor 80058 1:32 GERMAN JAGDPANTHER TANK

In the fall of 1942, the German Waffenamt issued an order to develop a heavy assault gun to combat the growing menace posed by Russian armoured forces all along the "ostfrontier" or eastern front. What resulted was the Sd. Kfz. 173 Jagdpanther tank destroyer, arguably the best long-range tank destroyer of the war. The Jagdpanther mounted a powerful 8.8 cm Pak L/71 cannon within a fixed turret, which was situated atop a standard Panther V chassis. Although production of the tank was begun at MIAG in January 1944, it took another ten months before the larger NMH plant could expand the production run in time for the Wacht am Rhein ("Watch on the Rhine") winter counteroffensive. By war's end only 392 vehicles had entered service with the Wehrmacht, but these had a telling effect on the prosecution of the war.

The Forces of Valor® replica is of a Jagdpanther as seen on D-Day, 1944