The Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz was a German anti-aircraft (AA) tank from World War II, which was still at the prototype stage at the end of the war. Unlike earlier AA-tanks, it had a fully enclosed, rotating turret.

Development

The need for a specialised AA-tank, capable of keeping up with the armoured divisions had become increasingly urgent for the Wehrmacht, as from 1943 on the Luftwaffe was less and less able to protect against enemy fighter bombers.

Therefore a multitude of improvised and specially designed AA-tanks were built, many on the Panzer IV chassis, starting with the Flakpanzer IV Möbelwagen and progressing through the Wirbelwind and Ostwind. The Kugelblitz was the ultimate development of the Flakpanzer IV.

The first proposal for the Kugelblitz envisioned mounting a modified U-boat anti-aircraft turret on the Panzer IV chassis, which was armed with 30mm MK 303 "Doppelflak" / "Brunn" guns. This was however abandoned as unpractical, as fthe performance of the MK 303 was less than desired and in any case the entire production run of this gun was reserved for the Kriegsmarine.

Instead, the twin gun 3 cm zwillingsflak 103/38 was used, which had also been fitted to such planes as the Henschel Hs 129 and Dornier Do 335.

The Kugelblitz had the chassis and basic superstructure of the Panzer IV tank, on which a newly designed turret was mounted. This turret was fully enclosed, with overhead protection and could turn 360 degrees.

The armament consisted of the twin gun 3 cm zwillingsflak 103/38, which could fire 450 rounds a minute.

In service

The Kugelblitz was not yet out of development when the war ended. Several evaluation vehicles had been built, but it is unclear how many. It is also unclear what happened to the few Kugelblitz which were built; some sources say that they ended up being used in the battle for Berlin.

Sources

• Information about the Kugelblitz at Panzerworld
• Achtung Panzer: Kugelblitz
• German Tanks of World War II: The Complete Illustrated history of German Armoured Fighting Vehicles 1926-1945, F. M. von Senger und Etterlin, translated by J. Lucas, Galahad Books, New York, 1969, ISBN 0-88365-051-7