PaK42 (75 mm)

Description

Differences between the KwK 42 and the PaK 42

While The KwK 42 and the PaK 42 share the same ammunition and other physical features, they should not be confused as the same cannon. Some differences include the following:

• PaK 42 does not have the muzzle break that the KwK 42 has
• PaK 42 does not have the KwK 42's thicker walls at the base of the breech block
• PaK 42 has a thinner breech block due to the recoil buffers being mounted on top of the breech block instead of the sides
• Pak 42 has a noticeably longer breech block

However, none of these physical features translate to any functional difference in their performance in-game and are simply cosmetic.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Panzer IV/70(V)
• Panzer IV/70(A)

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available shells

Describe the shells that are available for the cannon and their features and purpose. If it concerns autocannons or machine guns, write about different ammo belts and what is inside (which types of shells).

Comparison with analogues

KwK 42 (75 mm)

Usage in battles

Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against the main opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fairly high velocity
• Accurate up to long distances
• Good penetration

Cons:

• Low rate of fire
• Low explosive filler in the shells utilised

History

With the development of the new Panther tanks, a new gun (the KwK 42) also had to be designed, as the KwK 40 was seen as insufficient to deal with the new generation of Soviet tanks. Shells between these guns were near-identical allowing for easier manufacturing with the only difference being the larger driving band.

Of note should be that the PaK 42 is also a near identical tank gun rather than a towed gun as the name would designate it as; towed version may have been manufactured, though no evidence of such has been found.

Media

An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on weapon;
• other literature.