PzKpfw III (Panzerkampfwagen III) is a German medium tank of the Second World War. The first prototypes of the car were produced in 1936, and serial production continued in the period 1937-1943, ending with the release of about 5,800 cars. The tank in the E version was equipped with one Maybach HL 120 TRM engine with a capacity of 300 horsepower. It was armed with one 37 mm KwK 35/36 cannon and two 7.92 mm MG 34 machine guns located in the turret. The PzKpfw III was the "workhorse" of the German armored forces during World War II and one of the most intensively developed and modernized tanks of the Wehrmacht. Its serial production began in 1936, during which many variants of this tank were created. Chronologically, the first version was version A, armed with a 37-mm cannon and a 230-horsepower engine. However, already in December 1938, the E version was created, which became the first version produced in a large series. It had a new, much more powerful engine, a completely new suspension and stronger armor in the front of the turret and hull. Later (from December 1940) it was also armed with a more powerful 50-mm gun. In March 1940, version G began to be produced, in which the armor of the aft part of the hull and tower was reinforced. Soon, in October 1940, the production of the H version began, which from the very beginning was armed with a 50 mm KwK 38 L / 42 gun and had reinforced frontal armor. One of the most produced was the J version, which had armor up to 50 mm thick (later reinforced with applications), and after the experience of encounters with T-34 and KW-1 machines, it was intensively rearmed for the KwK 39 L / 60. cal gun. 50 mm. The final development was the N version, which was intended to be an armored grenadier support tank and was armed with the 75 mm short-barreled KwK 37 L / 24 gun. Many other vehicles were built on the PzKpfw III chassis, such as the StuG III assault gun. PzKpfw III tanks were used on almost all fronts of the Second World War - from the September campaign of 1939 to the campaign in France in 1940.
