Germany
StuG IV (7.5cm StuK 40 L/48)

Tweet The StuG IV was a Self Propelled Artillery vehicle designed in 1942, manufactured by Krupp, it was based on the fully tracked PzKpfw IV chassis and was in use from 1943 to 1945. It was commonly called a 7.5cm StuK 40 L/48. General Details (SP Artillery) Specifications Operational Date(s) 1943 - 1945 Ordnance classification SdKfz 167 Quantity Produced 1139 Weight 23 tonne Crew 4 M.G's small 1 M.G's large(>10mm) n/a Length 5.95 mtr Width 2.97 mtr Height 2.20 mtr Engine Details/Performance Max Road Speed 24 mph Max Cross Country Speed 12 mph Range Road 131 miles Range Cross Country 52 miles Fuel Type Petrol Fuel Capacity unknown Horse Power 300 hp Power/Weight 13 hp/tonne General Information The StuG IV was a Self Propelled Artillery vehicle designed in 1942, manufactured by Krupp, it was based on the fully tracked PzKpfw IV chassis and was in use from 1943 to 1945. It was commonly called a 7.5cm StuK 40 L/48. The vehicle was powered by Maybach 'HL120' petrol powerplant producing 300 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 24 mph with a range of about 131 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was good providing a max speed of about 12 mph and a range of about 52 miles. It was armed with 1 light machine gun. Its main armament consisted of a 7.5cm StuK 39/40 L/48 which could penetrate 140 mm of flat plate at 200 metres This was an equivalent of the StuG III based on the Panzer IV chassis. Armour Details Turret Front n/a Side n/a Rear n/a Top n/a Superstructure Front 80mm @ 10° (81mm) Side 30mm @ 11° (31mm) Rear 30mm @ 0° (30mm) Top 11mm @ 83° (11mm) Hull Front 80mm @ 14° (82mm) Side 30mm @ 0° (30mm) Rear 20mm @ 10° (20mm) Top 10mm @ 90° (10mm) Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°) Effective Armour - Maximum 82 mm - Minimum 10 mm Weapon Details 7.5cm StuK 39/40 L/48 Calibre 75mm Length L/48 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 7.5 cm Sprgr.34 (HE High Explosive) 75mm 4.42Kg 550M/Sec 0.454Kg explosive Range(Mtr) 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 Flight Time(Secs) 2.1 4.96 9.09 15.59 27.28 54.57 190.99 Direct Fire Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.18 0.37 0.77 1.63 2.6 3.7 4.96 6.42 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 81 44 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 16 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 16 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