Infrared-ready Panther Ausf A tank bearing the designation „179”

This particular Panther belonged to the Panzer Abteilung Putlos, which was a part of the Kampfgruppe von Benningsen under the larger Panzer-Division Clausewitz. During the events of April 21, 1945, in the northern region of Germany around Fallersleben, the US 407th Infantry Regiment, part of the 102d Infantry Division, managed to capture it.

Did you know?

As far back as 1939, the German Army introduced night-vision equipment during World War II. The development of these devices by AEG had already begun in 1935. Around the middle of 1943, the German Army initiated the first trials involving infrared night-vision gear and telescopic rangefinders installed on Panther Tanks. They devised two distinct setups for Panther tanks. One of them was the Sperber FG 1250, affectionately known as the „Sparrow Hawk,” which had an impressive range of up to 600 meters. This device featured a 30-centimeter infrared searchlight and an image converter operated by the tank’s commander.

Meanwhile, in 1942, the Soviet Union conducted field tests on an experimental night-vision device known as the PAU-2.

Read more about Panther tanks: https://tracks-of-steel.com/panther-tank-panzer-v-german-medium-tank/

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