STURM FORCE!: We build AFV Club's latest 1/48 armour kit

摘要

The idea for a heavy infantry support vehicle capable of demolishing heavily defended buildings or fortified areas with a single shot, came out of the experiences of heavy urban fighting on the Eastern Front. For years the Wehrmacht saw a need for a howitzer-armed vehicle that was more heavily armed and armoured than its predecessors. The original role of the Sturmtiger was as a heavy infantry support vehicle, used to help attacks on heavily fortified or built-up areas. By the time the first Sturmtigers were available however, the situation for Germany had changed for the worse, being almost exclusively defensive rather than offensive. The Sturmtiger was based on the late model Tiger I, keeping its hull and suspension. The front of the Tiger's superstructure was removed to make room for the new fighting compartment housing a 380 mm rocket launcher, which was adapted from a Kriegsmarine depth charge launcher. This was located directly at the front of the vehicle, giving it a boxy appearance. Compared to the regular Tiger tank, the Sturmtiger was slightly lower and much shorter, due to the fact that it hadn't the protruding main gun barrel of the standard gun tank.