"We must do everything we can to promote anti-tank defense, and work just as hard to guarantee successful counter-attacks through the instrument of powerful tank forces of our own."
- Major-General Heinz Guderian, "Achtung Panzer!"

The Jagdpanzer 38 (Sd.Kfz. 138/2), originally the leichter Panzerjager 38(t), known mostly post-war as Hetzer, was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis.

German armored forces in World War II created a variety of vehicles by mounting anti-tank guns on the chassis of obsolete tanks. These machines performed even better than expected, yet were still vulnerable due to high vehicle profiles and open-topped turrets. Allied bombings took a heavy toll on German production facilities, and further increased the need for an easily produced yet effective light tank destroyer to replace vehicles like the StuG III and Marder series (Marder I, II and III). Prototypes of the Jagdpanzer 38 were ready by 1944 and mass production began in April of that year. The Jagdpanzer 38 was covered entirely with sloped armor, and possessed a compact form and low silhouette, giving it much improved defensive ability over other self-propelled guns. Armament consisted of a 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/48 gun and a remote-controlled MG 34. It featured a wide body to accommodate the four-man crew, as well as strengthened lower hull with enlarged wheels, guide rollers and tracks.

Jagdpanzer 38s first entered service in July 1944, and would eventually be assigned to a number of units, including infantry, Panzerjager and Volksgrenadier divisions. BMM and Skoda continually modified and improved the Jagdpanzer 38 during production of the more than 2,800 vehicles built. Owing to the ease of production and high operating rates, the Jagdpanzer 38 came to serve as Germany's main tank destroyer in the latter period of the war, making an important contribution on both the Eastern and Western Fronts.

This particular 1:72 scale replica of a German Hetzer light tank destroyer that was attached to Kampfgruppe Milowitz, then deployed to Prague, Czechoslovakia, during April 1945. Pre-order! Ship Date: December 2024.

Dimensions:
Length: 5-inches
Width: 2-inches

Release Date: ?

Historical Account: "Fit for Duty" - The Jagdpanzer 38 fit into the lighter category of German tank destroyers that began with the Panzerjager I, continued with the Marder series and ended with the Jagdpanzer 38. The 75 mm Pak 39 L/48 gun of the Jagdpanzer 38 was a modified version of the 75 mm StuK 40 L/48 used in the StuG III and StuG IV assault guns. With this gun the Jagdpanzer 38 was able to destroy nearly all Allied or Soviet tank types in service at long ranges (except heavy tanks) and its fully enclosed armor protection made it a safer vehicle to crew than the open-topped Marder II or Marder III series.

The vehicle could carry two different armor piercing shells for the Pak 39 gun: the Pzgr. 40 high-velocity tungsten cored round, which fired a 4.1 kg (9.0 lb) projectile at 930 m/s that could penetrate 120 mm of armor at 500 meters and 97 mm at 1,000 meters striking at a 30-degree angle, but was often in scarce supply; and the Pzgr. 39 armor-piercing, capped, ballistic capped shell (APCBC) with explosive filler and tracer element, launching a heavier 6.8 kg (15 lb) projectile at 750 m/s that could pierce 106 mm (4.2 in) of armor at 500 meters and 95 mm at 1,000 meters. Based on tests using Pzgr. 39 ammunition, with correct range estimation and competent gunnery a 99% chance of a first-shot hit at 500 m and a 71% chance at 1,000 m was estimated. The vehicle also carried standard high-explosive rounds and the Gr. 38 HL/C high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) round designed with a shaped charge, but this was less effective and accurate against armored targets than AP rounds.

The Jagdpanzer 38 was one of the most common late-war German tank destroyers. It was available in relatively large numbers and was generally mechanically reliable. Like some other late-war German SPGs, the Jagdpanzer 38 mounted a remote-control machine gun mount, which could be fired from within the vehicle. This proved popular with crews, though to reload the gun a crew member needed to expose himself to enemy.