The Panzerkampfwagen VII or lowe was a project drafted in early 1941. This was another “mobile super-fortress” tank to be deployed along the Porsche Maus and Entwicklung E-100 , also with the intention of replacing the now aged tiger II and panther tanks.
Panzerkampfwagen VII Lowe (lion) Concept
The original design was created to have 150mm frontal, sloped armor, 100mm of side armor and about 88 mm of sloped rear armor, weigh 92 tonnes, and go 45 km/h(using a 1000 hp U-boat engine).
This rear mounted turret design was dropped in favor of two other lowe (lion) designs. These were as follows:
Panzerkampfwagen VII Lowe Schwere:
This was a redesigned version of the lowe. The turret would now be forward mounted, and the augmented armor would be reduced to 140mm, 10mm less than the original. This armor would be “super-sloped” providing about 300 mm of protection in certain “vital” areas. The speed was reduced to 35km/h (with an 800 hp engine) and the weight was reduced to 90 tonnes. The tank would mount either a 150mm KwK 44 L/38 or a 105mm L/70, both which packed a huge amount of power.
Panzerkampfwagen VII Schwere Lowe
Panzerkampfwagen VII Lowe Leichte:
This variant would have 120mm frontal armor,80mm side, 80 rear, a forward mounted gun, and could go 45 km/h(using the same 800 hp engine as the heavier lion). It would weigh only 76 tonnes due to heavily compromised armor. Nevertheless, it would be about as fast as a panther, and would mount a 105mm KwK L/70 , meaning it would have a larger impact in battle, and have a higher crew survivability since the armour was a full 40mm more than the panther(in most areas).
Panzerkampfwagen VII Lowe Leicht
The fate of the Lowe (lion) would be much the same as the Maus and E-100, the concept was fully developed on the drawing board, but no prototypes were ever built. although the turret mantle design was used in newer tiger II models later in 1943.
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