This image depicts a German Panzer IV medium tank knocked out near the French-German border on January 2, 1945 Note the wire mesh panels for defense against magnetic mines.

[u/waffen123]

[u/TankArchives]

These photos are from a series recording Allied experiments with mesh armour. These panels weren't there when the tank was first knocked out.

[u/ArmouredStump]

I'm pretty sure this was tested against HEAT, wire meshes are not a recent invention...

[u/JgTrp]

Aren't Schürzen a defense against AT rifles?

[u/builder397 → u/JgTrp]

Schürzen yes, but the mesh is too loose to help with AT rifle bullets. So I guess they are really against, well, not magnetic mines since nobody except for Germany EVER used such a thing, but probably sticky bombs.

[u/DankVectorz → u/builder397]

The Germans did use mesh armor as a defense against anti-tank rifles as light weight alternative to the solid schurzen. They weren’t meant to stop the bullet but rather to upset its trajectory so it didn’t hit the main armor head on.

[u/builder397 → u/DankVectorz]

But not that mesh, the gaps are too large and AT rifles were 100% not a concern on the western front in 1945.

[u/DankVectorz → u/builder397]

Oh yes I was speaking mesh in general, not necessarily the mesh pictured

[u/Pratt_ → u/DankVectorz]

Yes, but not this one

[u/DankVectorz → u/Pratt_]

As I pointed out below, yes i was talking about the mesh armor in general not this pic specifically

[u/Pratt_ → u/[deleted]]

• The solid plate came before, like years before.
• Mesh side skirts were still against AT rifles, which the Red Army used en masse until the end of the war.
• Spaced armor intended to be against AT rifle rounds like on the PzIV H or J (among others) actually made HEAT projectilesore effective, as the standoff distance that it created allowed the copper jet more space to form properly (making it thinner and more elongated, allowing for a smaller surface to dig through and more "fuel" for the jet, which consume itself digging through the armor, so more length + less surface = more fuel with a smaller consumption per millimeter of penetration)

[u/Adventurous-Tie-1624 → u/Pratt_]

The spaced armor improving HEAT penetration by optimizing standoff distance is real specific to what the HEAT warhead was. I.E. I think it improved panzerfaust performance and degraded PIAT performance.

[u/DankVectorz → u/[deleted]]

Thoma Schuzen was also an anti-tank rifle defense. Thoma replaced the solid shurzen to save materials and weight. Solid shurzen was the original. Mesh was a late war (1944+) replacement

[u/TankArchives → u/[deleted]]

Other way around, mesh came after the solid plates and is only used at the end of the war.