The German Secret Tank Project is a common topic of Internet controversy, fact-reshuffling, or outright forgery. Some are jokes, some are out of ignorance, and some are deliberate. Today, let's seriously try to discover which of these ghostly German creations are true and which are not.
Weapon carrier on E-100
The most frequently discussed and unusual vehicle in the German Tank World tech tree. The car is made up entirely of Wargaming. Initially, it was supposed to have a double 128 mm gun, but due to the lack of multi-gun support, it received an anti-aircraft gun with an autoloader. Soon it will be replaced by a more realistic project in the archives. The main reason for this replacement is that it is too different from other vehicles in the tank destroyer branch.
GW Tiger (P)
This is the second SPG developed by Wargaming without a historical prototype. It appeared due to the extension of the Artillery Branch to level 10. Conceptually, the GW Tiger (P) is the logical precursor to the GW Tiger or Grille 17/21. Unlike the Waffentrager auf E-100, there are no plans to remove the car from the game because it is a great fit for tech trees. Moreover, no real project was found to replace it.
E-50 Australia. rice
The vehicle was developed by Wargaming and even patented. However, this is not a complete fabrication. E-50 Ausf。 The M is a conceptual vision for further development of the E-50 medium tank. The turret's hull and components were developed from the ide of the original E-50 project. Based on the file, a rear transfer is planned. Later, the idea was proposed by the French when they were building their own medium tank, the AMX M4. The E-50 engine was also migrated to the project.
Tank Destroyer E-100
Unlike the Waffentrager auf E-100, the car was not built by Wargaming. The car was originally called the Sturmgeschuetz E-100, but don't be fooled by the name: it was designed as a tank destroyer. Blueprint BZ 3364 and other sources of scattered information laid the foundation for this design. Although a proper vehicle blueprint did not exist, its design was consistent with Krupp's design in the summer of 1944.
Cheetah II
Some eager "experts" have given wargaming credit for the car. In fact, the car was designed by Krupp engineers. In November 1944, a project called panzerjäger Panther mit 12,8 cm L/55 (Pak 80), a Leopard tank destroyer with a rear combat compartment, was underway. This design allowed the installation of the more powerful 128 mm Pak 80 gun, the same as used in the Jagdtigers. Since there are no changes to the chassis mentioned in the document, the model in the game uses the unaltered chassis of the Panther II.
RC 72.01 (C)
VK 72.01 was also designed by Krupp. The VK 72.01 index appeared in early 1942. Initially a mass of 72 tons was required, but it quickly grew to 90 tons, and by the end of 1941 it had the same weight as VK 70.01. Choose a 105 mm or 149 mm gun as the weapon for this tank. In the spring of 1942, Krupp engineers began working on a tank with a rear combat compartment. The VK 72.01 project changed so frequently over the course of several months that it was a very bold move to claim that the implementation in the game never existed.
E-90 (Pz.Kpfw. Tiger III S)
This tank is the product of the crazy imagination of Internet historians that emerged in the late 2000s. According to the creators, Pz. Kpfw. The E-90 or Tiger III S is a lightweight variant of the E-100. This sentence runs into a logical problem: the E-75 should replace the Tiger II, and the E-100 should share many components with the Tiger II. Why the Germans needed another heavy tank is something that human logic cannot explain. Nevertheless, the creation managed to stand out from the internet and enter the print edition.
E-79 Schwarzwolf VK 66.01
10 years before World of Tanks, ASCII released a game called Panzer Front for the Sony Playstation. In addition to real tanks, it also made up tanks like the E-79. World of Tanks developers are often asked when the E-79 will appear in their games. This is an interesting question, but there are enough man-made tanks in the game that it doesn't make sense to add another tank. In addition, copyright issues still had to be considered.
E-100 Henschelturm/Adlerturm
The tank was designed by a Chinese plastic modeling company. Based on their design, Henschel developed a turret for the E-100 as a replacement for a regular turret. Internet historians went a step further, claiming that Adlerwerke designed another turret. Both "engineers" were bad experts on German armor history. Henschel never designed a tank turret, that was Krupp's job. Adler also had nothing to do with the turret, as they were working on the E-100's suspension. In other words, the E-100 Henschelturm and the E-100 Adlerturm were fantasies of people who knew nothing about German tank design.
Assault Gun 40 T-34
This strange device (above) appeared decades ago in magazines and books dedicated to StuG III. Allegedly, the StuG 40 Ausf's turret. The F/8 is mounted on the captured T-34 chassis. Particularly enthusiastic publishers even offered color projections of tanks. In fact, it's nothing more than a Photoshop (the original photo at the bottom).
T-34 anti-aircraft gun
According to unverified sources, Kampfgruppe Kienast used a captured T-34 modified to use an 88 mm Flak 18 anti-aircraft gun. Photos of the car show as evidence. The photo appeared on the forum with amazing regularity and asked to add the car to World of Tanks. A simple search quickly reveals that this is a Captured T-34-85-based Photoshop. The Americans found a real Flak 18 carrier tank PzIV in a German vehicle dump in the Czech Republic.
Tank Destroyer E-50
This unusual design is the work of French artist Hubert Cans. According to the author, this is what a tank destroyer on the E-50 should look like. In fact, there were no SPG designed on the E-50 chassis, and even the E-50 itself did not exceed the concept stage. Consider the fact that Hubert Cance pushed all the crew into the turret. He managed to do the same with Jagdpanther II. On the factory blueprint of the Panzerjäger Panther mit 12,8 cm L/55 (Pak 80), there are clearly seats for the driver and gunner in the hull. The place where Hubert Cance placed them was actually occupied by a cooling system.
15 cm assault rifle E-75
Not long ago, Trucks and Tanks magazine published Hubert Cance's huge design. It is based on rumors of an SPG with a 149 mm L/52 gun allegedly developed on the E-75 chassis. There is some information about this SPG in the literature, but this is a mistake. The gun was indeed planned, at least on paper, but was designed for VK 70.01 in early 1942. From the documents, the plan was for tanks, not SPG. As for this reconstruction, its authenticity is rather dubious. The load on the front wheels is absolutely terrifying.
Assault rats
The project had a realistic basis, but once again Hubert Kans let us down. It is completely unclear where the engine is in this design, or the generator, or any other component. The rear combat module would be more logical.
Kampfwagenvernichter Ausf.F (E-100) Crocodile
Another of Hubert Cance's work was published in Battailes & Blindes magazine in 2007. Based on the tank destroyer concept on the E-100 chassis. The author used his creativity to propose a design inspired by Jagdpanther. He apparently didn't think about the load on the front wheels. In practice, this design is not possible because the front wheel and suspension elements are constantly damaged. Still, crocodiles are popular and often appear in World of Tanks.
Kampfwagenvernichter E-90
Internet "historians" on the evolution of the E-100 Krokodil. This is the crocodile on the chassis of the fictional E-90 tank. The design and the original have the same flaws, only this time, even its suspension has nothing in common with reality.
Gerschutzhuagen E-100
Finally, let's talk about the completely fictional SPG in World of Tanks, not Wargaming fiction. In the late 2000s, scale model manufacturers built the Geschuetzwagen E-100. Although the car is completely fictional, the design is very convincing. It is very similar to the Grille 17/21 and logically ranks among the top SPG subsidiaries in Germany. There are no plans to dismantle or replace.