During the middle phase of the war, the freedom of action the German Army enjoyed on the battlefield became increasingly threatened by the growing impact of Allied air superiority. To protect the combat power of its panzer-grenadier battalions, the Germans developed a series of anti-aircraft (Flak) APCs. The first of these vehicles, the Sd Kfz 251/17, entered front-line service during 1943 and served in the anti-aircraft companies of panzergrenadier battalions for the remainder of the war. The Sd Kfz 251/17 mounted a 2cm (0.8in) Flak 30 or Flak 38 cannon mounted on top of the vehicle’s rear fighting compartment.
The Flak 30 cannon, which first entered service in 1939, could fire its 0.12kg (0.26 lb) rounds at a rate of fire of 280rpm. The weapon delivered a muzzle velocity of 899 m/s (2950 ft/s) which fired its rounds out to a maximum vertical range of 2134m (7004 ft). The Flak 38 weapon, first introduced in 1940, possessed both greater range and a superior rate of fire (460rpm) than its predecessor. The crew of the Sd Kfz 251/17 AFC could fire either of these weapons from inside the APC. Later in the war, a small number of these vehicles featured modified hinged bulging sides that the crew could lower to improve the gun’s restricted field of traverse. Moreover, a handfiil of the last 251/17 vehicles manufactured in late 1944 featured considerable modifications, the most important of which was that they mounted the 2cm (0.8in) cannon in an enclosed remote-controlled turret. The deployment of the Sd Kfz 251/17 within panzergrenadier battalions from 1943 onwards went some way to reduce the negative impact that Allied airpower increasingly inflicted on panzer-grenadier operations. Any sustained German movement would attract the attention of fighter-bombers.
During 1944, in a further attempt to ameliorate the impact that Allied aerial mastery exerted on the battlefield.
The Germans introduced another anti-aircraft variant of the mSPW, the Sd Kfz 251/21 Flakpanzerwagen. This vehicle mounted three surplus German air force 15mm (0.6in) or 20mm (0.8in) MG 151 machine guns. In theory, these cannon ought to have posed a real threat to Allied aircraft, since each MG 151 was capable of delivering a rate of fire as high as 710rpm. However, the main tactical drawback with this cheap and easy conversion was that the Sd Kfz 251/21 could only carry a very modest amount of ammunition for these guns. The Sd Kfz 251/21 served in the flak companies of German panzergrenadier battalions during the last year of the war.
World History
