Panzer VII Löwe

Panzerkampfwagen VII Löwe
Type	Super-heavy tank
Place of origin	Germany
Specifications
Mass	76 t (84 short tons) (Leichter Löwe) 90 t (99 short tons) (Schwerer Löwe)
Crew	5
Armor	100 mm (3.9 in) (Leichter Löwe) 120 mm (4.7 in) (Schwerer Löwe before redesign) 140 mm (5.5 in) (Schwerer Löwe after redesign)
Main armament	105 mm (4.1 in) L/70 gun (Leichter Löwe and Schwerer Löwe before redesign) 88 mm (3.5 in) L/71 gun (Schwerer Löwe after redesign)
Secondary armament	1 × coaxial machine gun
Maximum speed	27 km/h (17 mph) (Leichter Löwe) 23 km/h (14 mph) (Schwerer Löwe before redesign) 35 km/h (22 mph) (Schwerer Löwe after redesign)

The Panzerkampfwagen VII Löwe (Lion) was a design for a super-heavy tank created by Krupp for the German government during World War II. The project, initially code-named VK 70.01 (K), never left the drawing board, and was dropped in 5–6 March 1942 in favor of Porsche's heavier Panzer VIII Maus.

Variants

The Löwe was designed in two variants (both had crew of five):

• Leichter Löwe: It was to weigh 76 tonnes, had 100 millimeters of frontal armor, a rear-mounted turret, a 105 mm L/70 high velocity gun, and a coaxial machine gun, while still managing a top speed 27 km/h. It was later cancelled by Adolf Hitler.
• Schwerer Löwe: It was to weigh 90 tonnes, had 120 mm frontal armor, a center-mounted turret, a 105 mm L/70 high velocity gun, and a coaxial machine gun, while still managing a top speed 23 km/h. After redesign it had 140 mm frontal armor, 88 mm KwK L/71 gun, top speed 35 km/h.

See also

• Tiger I, a vehicle that it was designed to replace
• Tiger II, another vehicle it would have replaced
• P. 1000 Ratte, a similar German super-heavy tank
• P. 1500 Monster, another similar German super-heavy tank

References

Web sources

• "Panzerkampfwagen VII Löwe (Lion)". Achtung Panzer. 1996.