Tank Roll Call: Kugelblitz
Welcome one to another Tank Roll Call,
This time I have another Panzer IV variant known at Kugelblitz. So the Kugelblitz is an anti-air variant of the Panzer IV. It used the famous hull of the Panzer IV, but featured a new turret design. There were a few reasons for this need of a new anti-air design vehicle. One reason is German land based forces had trouble dealing with allied fighter bombers. The brought forth various anti-air vehicle designs like Flakpanzer IV mobelwagen, and progressing into Wirbelwind and Ostwind. However, these designs were tall, open-topped stopgap designs with no protection for the crew. These flaws were to be eliminated in the Kugelblitz, the final development of the Flakpanzer IV.
Next we will cover the armament before moving onto the construction of the Kugelblitz. The first proposal for the Kugelblitz envisioned mounting a modified anti-aircraft turret developed for U-boats on the Panzer IV chassis, which was armed with dual 30 mm MK 303 Brunn guns. They would be mounted in a Doppelflak or dualflak configuration. However, this would later be abandoned for a Zwillingsflak or twin flak configuration. It would use MK103 30mm cannons that would also be found on some of the German aircraft, like the Henschel HS129 and Dornier Do335. The rate of fire would be around 450 rounds per minute.
In general the Kugelblitz would be a Panzer IV with a newly designed turret was mounted. This turret was fully enclosed, with overhead protection and 360° traverse. I'm not going to get into the details about the Panzer IV because I covered the construction of the Panzer IV in my Sturmpanzer article and I'm sure most if not all of us knows a Panzer IV's construction. Mass production was planned, but never happened due to the disruption by Allied bombing efforts.
There was also plans to try to build Kugelblitz on a Jagdpanzer 38t aka Hetzer chassis, but this never happened due to ally bombing. Funny how the thing the Kugelblitz was built to deal with, stopped it from entering service.
Data: Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz
Crew: 5 (driver, commander, gunner, radio operator, and loader)
Combat weight: 27 tons
Length: 5.92m
Width: 2.95m
Height: 2.4m
Engine: 12-cylinder Maybach HL 120 TRM petrol engine
Power/Weight: 13
Top speed: 38 km/h (24 mph)
Main armament: Twin 30mm MK103 cannons
Gun elevation: 80/-7
Ammunition carried: 1200 (AP, APCR, or HE ammo)
Secondary armament: 1 MG34 machinegun
Hull Armor: 80/30/20
Turret Armor: 5
Now if I were to introduce the Kugelblitz into World of Tanks, I would obviously begin with the Panzer IVH. I'd also use the 30mm MK103 gun from the VK16.02 light tank. It's not as good as it use to be, but it still works. Now I'd improve the amount of shot in the belt little bit without changing the reload speed, and improve the dispersion. Currently the dispersion is .46, I adjust it to .42. Now, what I could not find out is, if the twin gun fire in tandem of at the same time. I'd do it as tandem fire, but both gun would use the same clip. I'd also improve the aim time and dispersion on the move a little bit too. Just counting for the heavier weight of the Panzer IV over the VK16.02, Finally, it would be introduced as a tier 5 premium wallet tank. So there you go.
Well I hope you enjoyed the article. Happy Hunting,
Armor Forever