The following intelligence report on the German Panzer III Ausf. N armed with the short 75-mm gun was published in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 21, March 25, 1943. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

PZ. KW. 3 WITH 75-MM GUN Among enemy tanks recently examined in the Middle East was a Pz. Kw. 3 mounting a short-barreled 75-mm gun (7.5-cm KwK 38), identical with the short-barreled gun mounted on the Pz. Kw. 4.* The tank had been demolished, but it appeared that the only alteration, apart from the substitution of the 75-mm gun for the normal 50-mm gun, was the fitting of the armored barrel-sleeve into the front plate of the recoil mechanism belonging to the 75-mm. (Compare accompanying sketch with sketch of Pz. Kw. 3 armed with the long-barreled 50-mm gun, appearing in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 20, p. 11.) The German nomenclature for this tank is not known, but recently the Germans have referred to an Einheitspanzer. This is said to be a new standard tank combining the best features of both Pz. Kw. 3 and 4, and to consist of a Pz. Kw. 3 chassis with a short-barreled 75-mm gun mounted in the turret. If this is true, the tank examined may be an Einheitspanzer. Another Pz. Kw. 3 with the short-barreled 75-mm gun has been captured in Tunisia. Presumably this is the same model tank as that examined in the Middle East. *Recently Pz. Kw. 4's with a long-barreled 75-mm gun have been encountered by Allied forces (see Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 20, p. 10).

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