Book: PT-SAU cannons and rockets of the modern German a

In 1956, for a potential opposition to the forces of the Eastern Bloc, Germany created its own army - the Bundeswehr. Creating your own army led to the appearance of a decisive striking force - tanks and, as a result, anti-tank installations. Considering the experience of the Second World War, when Soviet and allied tanks were successfully opposed by anti-tank self-propelled guns, the Bundeswehr needed a more powerful, more reliable and more technological weapon for the post-military army. The German defense industry of the mid-1950s received an order to concentrate maximum efforts . Only by 1961, the tank destroyer with missile weapons was assembled at German enterprises and began to enter the army. This circumstance was caused by the presence of US light and medium tanks. The development of anti-tank missiles took place at that time under the influence of the so-called. X7 technology - which originated during the Second World War and was further developed only after it ended, like the French SS-20 and SS-11.
The development of the much awaited tank destroyer with cannon armament based on the light tank family took even longer. Only in 1966, the first such machine entered the army. At the same time, another rocket technology appeared - Raketenjaggdpanzer, which underwent significant changes in the following years.
The anti-tank self-propelled unit was equipped with a powerful 90-mm cannon and was the backbone of the German anti-tank forces until the 1980th year. Upgraded versions of the self-propelled rocket launcher served in the army until the beginning of 2005.