Quote:
Originally Posted by Panther Al
Back on point on the Tiger II. There was a lot of work done looking into that tank at the end of the war. Even the Swede's grabbed one to play with. It was pointed out, once we also got hold of the plans, that had the Tiger II been built to proper standards - no shortcuts - the only downside was the engine. It was all that it was said to be: a monster. Up until the late 60's, early 70's, it was the view of the US armour community that the Tiger II was a threat even to the M60, both because its armour was thick and well shaped enough to handle then current AP rounds, but also because of just how good the 8,8KwK/L71 was firing AP.
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If by "then-current" you mean 90mm, maybe. If you mean 105mm, no way. Tiger II sported 150mm armor; the M456A1 could burn through 450mm of RHA. The M431 (HEAT-T, 60's development for the 90mm M2 that the earlier tanks of the Patton line - M47, M48, M60A1 - carried) could go through 400mm. However, the earlier M341 could
just get through about 180mm, and so the Tiger might have gotten off with the first round, depending on where it got hit.