Panzer VII Löwe

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 on 5–6 March 1942, in favor of Porsche's heavier Panzer VIII Maus.

Panzerkampfwagen VII Löwe (VK 70.01/72.01(K))
Drawing of the VK 70.01 (K) proposal
Type	Super-heavy tank
Place of origin	Nazi Germany
Service history
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Krupp
Designed	1 November 1941–20 July 1942
Specifications
Mass	70 t (69 long tons; 77 short tons) (specified) 76–90 t (75–89 long tons; 84–99 short tons) (as designed)
Crew	5 (driver, commander, gunner, loader, radio operator)
Armor	Frontal: 150 mm (5.9 in) (specified) 100–150 mm (3.9–5.9 in) (as designed) Side: 100 mm (3.9 in) (specified) 80 or 100 mm (3.1 or 3.9 in) (as designed) Turret front: 100 or 140 mm (3.9 or 5.5 in) Turret top: 40 mm (1.6 in) Hull deck: 40 mm
Main armament	10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/70 gun, *15 cm (5.9 in) L/38 gun or, 8.8 cm (3.5 in) L/71 gun 12.8 cm (5 in) KwK 44 gun L/55
Secondary armament	1 MG-34 or MG-42
Engine	Daimler-Benz DB 602 (proposed) Maybach HL230 (as designed) * 1,000 hp (750 kW) (DB engine) 800 hp (600 kW) (Maybach engine)
Suspension	Torsion bar
Maximum speed	27–35 km/h (17–22 mph)

Variants

The Löwe was designed in two variants, unofficially designated Leichter Löwe (light lion) and Schwerer Löwe (heavy lion), both with a crew of five:

Leichter Löwe/VK 70.01 (K)

It was to weigh 76 t (75 long tons; 84 short tons), with 100 mm (3.9 in) of frontal armor, a front-mounted turret, a 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/70 high velocity gun, and a coaxial machine gun, with a top speed of 27 km/h (17 mph). It was later cancelled by Adolf Hitler.

Schwerer Löwe/VK 72.01(K)

It was to weigh 90 t (89 long tons; 99 short tons), with 120 mm (4.7 in) frontal armor, a rear-mounted turret, a 10.5 cm L/70 high velocity gun, and a coaxial machine gun, but only managing a top speed of 23 km/h (14 mph). After redesign it had 150 mm (5.9 in) frontal armor, 8.8 cm (3.5 in) L/71 gun, and a top speed increased to 35 km/h (22 mph).

See also

• Panther tank, medium tank
• Tiger I, a vehicle that it was designed to replace
• Tiger II, comparable vehicle, actual successor of Tiger I
• Maus, a further continuation of the super heavy program
• P. 1000 Ratte, a design for a German super-heavy tank
• P. 1500 Monster, proposed, likely fictional, German super-heavy self-propelled gun

Tanks of comparable role, performance and era

• Soviet IS-3
• American M103
• British Conqueror
• French AMX-50
• German Panzer VIII Maus

Sources

• "Panzerkampfwagen VII Löwe (Lion)". Achtung Panzer. 1996. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
• B., David (11 February 2015). "Panzerkampfwagen VII Löwe (VK 70.01) Heavy tank – Paper project (1942)". Retrieved 23 July 2017.
• Jentz, Tom; Doyle, Hilary (2001). Panzer Tracts No.20-1: Paper Panzers – Panzerkampfwagen, Sturmgeschuetz and Jagdpanzer. Boyds. ISBN 978-1-915969-04-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)