E-5 “Rutscher” mit 7,5cm KwK 40 Instructions

The Panzerkleinzerstörer “Rutscher” was a German project launched in late 1943 for the development of a small, fast, and lightweight tank destroyer, although this was later dropped in early 1944 in favor of the more well-known Jagdpanzer 38(t). However, early 1945 the project was revived with the intent of grafting the Rutscher into the Entwicklung series of “standardpanzers” as the E-5, a vehicle in the 5-10-tonne weight class.

A wooden mockup of the E-5 was made by BMW in spring 1945. While it was originally intended to be fitted with a pair of 8cm PAW 600 lightweight smoothbore anti-tank guns (at least 250 of which were produced by summer 1945), it was ordered that the trial vehicles developed by Daimler-Benz and Weserhütte have the option of fitting the standard 7,5cm KwK 40 L/48 in place of the twin 8cm PAW 600’s.

In March 1945, the Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen recorded comments stating that between 1 and 1/2 to 2 years would be required to develop the specialized parts necessary to produce the E-5. As such, the earliest that any Rutschers could be seen on the battlefield would have been 4th quarter 1946. It would be reasonable to assume that the 7,5cm KwK 40 L/48 would have been a favorable weapon for fitting to these vehicles, as the KwK 40 was a proven design that had been in production for years by that time. As such, the concept for the “E-5 ‘Rutscher’ mit 7,5cm KwK 40 L/48” was born.