Germany
7.5cm Pak 40/3 L/46 Gw 38(t)r Ausf M (Marder III)

Tweet The 7.5cm Pak 40/3 L/46 Gw 38(t)r Ausf M was a Self Propelled Anti Tank vehicle designed in 1941, manufactured by BMM, it was based on the fully tracked Czech LT Vz 38 chassis and was in use from 1942 to 1945. It was commonly called a Marder III. General Details (SP Anti Tank) Specifications Operational Date(s) 1942 - 1945 Ordnance classification SdKfz 138 Quantity Produced 417 Weight 10.8 tonne Crew 4 M.G's small 1 M.G's large(>10mm) n/a Length 4.95 mtr Width 2.15 mtr Height 2.48 mtr Engine Details/Performance Max Road Speed 25 mph Max Cross Country Speed 13 mph Range Road 150 miles Range Cross Country 60 miles Fuel Type Petrol Fuel Capacity unknown Horse Power 125 hp Power/Weight 11 hp/tonne General Information The 7.5cm Pak 40/3 L/46 Gw 38(t)r Ausf M was a Self Propelled Anti Tank vehicle designed in 1941, manufactured by BMM, it was based on the fully tracked Czech LT Vz 38 chassis and was in use from 1942 to 1945. It was commonly called a Marder III. The vehicle was powered by Praga 'EPA/2' petrol powerplant producing 125 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 25 mph with a range of about 150 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was good providing a max speed of about 13 mph and a range of about 60 miles. It was armed with 1 light machine gun. Its main armament consisted of a 7.5cm KwK 40 L/48 which could penetrate 140 mm of flat plate at 200 metres This version was a successful matching of a PaK 40 75mm Anti-Tank gun with the PzKpfw 38(t) chassis to create a mobile anti-tank platform Armour Details Turret Front 6mm @ 28° (7mm) Side 10mm @ 16° (10mm) Rear 10mm @ 17° (10mm) Top n/a Superstructure Front 10mm @ 30° (12mm) Side 10mm @ 15° (10mm) Rear 10mm @ 0° (10mm) Top 8mm @ 90° (8mm) Hull Front 20mm @ 15° (21mm) Side 15mm @ 0° (15mm) Rear 10mm @ 41° (13mm) Top 10mm @ 90° (10mm) Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°) Effective Armour - Maximum 21 mm - Minimum 10 mm Weapon Details 7.5cm KwK 40 L/48 7.5cm Kampfwagenkanone 40 L/48 (translates as Tank Gun) Calibre 75mm Length L/48 Number of Rounds  27 Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content 7.5cm Pzgr 39 L/48 (AP Armor Piercing) 75mm 6.8Kg 792M/Sec Quoted Penetration 96mm @ 500mtr/30° ( ≈ 110mm/0°) Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.13 0.26 0.53 1.13 1.8 2.57 3.44 4.46 Penetration(mm@30°) 130 121 110 96 84 72 62 51 Penetration(mm@0°) 151 140 128 112 98 84 72 60 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 96 77 44 25 15 7.5cm Pzgr 40 (AP40 Armour Piercing Tungsten Cored) 75mm 4.1Kg 920M/Sec Quoted Penetration 115mm @ 500mtr/30° ( ≈ 132mm/0°) Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.11 0.23 0.47 1.02 1.67 2.45 3.42 4.63 Penetration(mm@30°) 151 138 123 105 88 72 58 45 Penetration(mm@0°) 175 160 143 122 102 84 68 53 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 98 81 48 25 8 7.5cm Sprgr 34 (HE High Explosive) 75mm 5.8Kg 548M/Sec 0.640Kg explosive Maximum Range not shown as gun elevation is limited Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.18 0.38 0.77 1.63 2.61 3.71 4.98 6.44 Direct Fire Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.18 0.38 0.77 1.63 2.61 3.71 4.98 6.44 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 81 41 22 8 3 Blast/Fragmentation Effects Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill 3 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill 6 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill 17 mtr  Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr 1 mm An explosion within 3 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal. An explosion within 6 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's. An explosion within 17 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties. The blast effect of this shell exploding within 1 mtr of an armoured vehicle will penetrate 1 mm of the tank armour including the roof.

Hit probability is based on a static 2 x 2.4 metre panel at 0 degrees(vertical) at the range specified.

The data that has been used to create these records has come from Wikipedia, The Lone Sentry, The Bundes Archive and numerous books and websites that have provided the detailed information that has not been available anywhere else. The information we use to calculate the penetration tables, flight times and the hit probability comes from the Gun Calibre, the Shell Mass(Kg) and the muzzle velocity, plus range reductions to allow for gravity and wind resistance. This calculation originally came from a pre-war Krupp calculation which has been modified, and seems to fit the actual test results.

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Page Last Updated: 2025-01-01 09:12:38