Panzerkampfwagen VII Löwe (Lion)

[Triton]

Panzerkampfwagen VII Löwe ("Lion") was a design for a Super Heavy Tank created by Krupp for the Nazi German government during World War II. The project never left the drawing board, and was dropped in late 1942 in favor of the Panzer VIII Maus.

Leichter ("Light") Löwe – crew of five, 1000-hp engine, weight of 76 tons, 100-mm frontal armor, rear-mounted turret, 105 mm L/70 high velocity gun and a coaxial machine gun, top speed 27 km/h.

First image is of a model of the Leichter Löwe.

Schwerer ("Heavy") Löwe – crew of five, 1000-hp engine, weight of 90 tons, 120-mm frontal armor, center-mounted turret, 105 mm L/70 high velocity gun and a coaxial machine gun, top speed 23 km/h.

When shown the designs, German Führer Adolf Hitler ordered the Leichter Löwe dropped and the Schwerer Löwe re-designed with a 150-mm main gun, 140-mm frontal armor, and a top speed of 30 km/h.

No prototype of either design was ever built. Some elements of the Schwerer Löwe design were used in the Königstiger ("King" or Royal" Tiger), however, and that model proved to be expensive to produce and too large to fit across small bridges.

Second image is profile of Schwerer Löwe.

See also:
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/panzerkampfwagen-vii-lowe.htm
http://strangevehicles.greyfalcon.us/PANZERKAMPFWAGEN%20VII%20LOWE.htm
http://gunpoint-3d.com/model-lowe.html

 

[ysi_maniac]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_VII_L%C3%B6we
See this article. The pics linked at its end are pure fantasy, or they are based in any kind of research or actual project?

 

[avenger6x6]

The pictures are real. There were at least 10 different "Löwe" projects, or rather variants, ranging from 70 to 90 tons. So it's a huge topic.

 

[Antonio]

So it's a huge topic

I'll love to read about it

 

[stefy]

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.​

Variants​

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 rear-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 .

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 center-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 140 mm (5.5 in) frontal armor, 8.8 cm (3.5 in) L/71 gun, and a top speed increased to 35 km/h (22 mph).



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 and Armament	Frontal: 140 mm (5.5 in) (specified) 100–140 mm (3.9–5.5 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 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/70 gun or, 15 cm (5.9 in) L/38 gun or, 8.8 cm (3.5 in) L/71 gun

Engine	Daimler-Benz DB 602 (proposed) Maybach HL230 (as designed) * 1,000 hp (750 kW) (DB engine) 800 hp (600 kW) (Maybach engine)
Maximum speed	27–35 km/h (17–22 mph)

 

[DiePanzerKanone]

The Wikipedia page is pretty outdated, unfortunately.

There was no Schwerer/Leichter Löwe. The "Leichter" design was just one of the at least 11 designs made for the VK 70 program, just like that "Schwerer" design. These 2 get the most attention because they're the only ones there are visual representations of (so far), a photo of a scale model and drawing W1661 (well there's also a turret with 15 cm from June 1942 which was reused on the VK 100.01, but that's lesser known), but they were not the only ones nor were they final designs. A lot of the details like dates are also wrong in the article.

(Publicly) Known named designs: W1647, W1648, W1658, W1661, W1662, W1663, W1668, W1669, W1670