German tanks in World War II of Kursk, the largest tank battle in history. It had sloped armor which increased the effective thickness of the armor from to roughly , effectively making the front of the tank virtually impervious to enemy fire. However the sides of this tank were very vulnerable, ranging from only to of either barely sloped or completely flat armor plating. The tank carried a high-velocity 75 mm gun, which possessed more penetration than the Tiger's 88 mm gun at short range. Series production began in 1943. The tank was plagued with mechanical problems throughout its service life, several of which were never
Tanks in World War II with a 75 mm main gun, was designed, but saw no service with Italian forces as it became ready at the time of the Armistice of Cassibile with the Allies, after which the Germans took over production, and used roughly one hundred of them. Another tank design, the Fiat M16/43, was developed to match the British cruiser tanks but work on it was stopped when the Axis was pushed out of North Africa in May 1943. The Fiat-Ansaldo M11/39 medium tank was used from 1940 through the early period of World War II. The M11/39 was developed as a "breakthrough