The ''Flakpanzer IV "Ostwind"'' (East Wind in English) was a German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun based on the

Panzer IV The IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, is a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. The Panzer IV was the most numer ...

tank. It was developed in 1944 as a successor to the earlier ''Flakpanzer IV/2 cm Vierling'' ''

Wirbelwind The ''Flakpanzer'' IV "''Wirbelwind''" (Whirlwind in English) was a German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun based on the Panzer IV tank. It was developed in 1944 as a successor to the earlier '' Möbelwagen'' self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. H ...

'' and produced at the Ostbau Works plant. The Panzer IV's turret was removed and replaced with an open-top, hexagonal turret that housed a 3.7 cm Flak 43. In addition to its intended role as an anti-aircraft weapon, the fast-firing gun was highly effective against light vehicles. While a closed-top design was preferred, this was precluded by the amount of smoke generated by the gun. The ''Ostwind's'' main improvement over the ''Wirbelwind'' was its armament. While the Wirbelwind was armed with the 2 cm Flak 38, the Ostwind was armed with the more powerful and longer range FlaK 43's. It also featured slightly better armor on its turret. The Flak 43 had a lower rate of fire than the 2 cm Flak 38. To solve this problem a project was undertaken to arm the Ostwind with two 37 mm cannons, known as the Ostwind II. A single prototype was built but the war ended before anything truly became of it. Although an order for 100 vehicles was placed in August 1944, only 44 vehicles were completed (22 converted from existing Panzer IVs and 22 new production vehicles) from December 1944 to March 1945.Doyle & Jentz, p. 12-1-48

Comparable vehicles

* Möbelwagen *

40M Nimród The 40M Nimród was a World War II Hungarian self-propelled anti-aircraft gun based on a license-built copy of the Swedish Landsverk L-62 Anti I SPAAG but with a new turret, and developed independently. Originally, it was intended to be used ...

* M19 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage * Crusader Mk. III Anti-Aircraft Tank Mk. I *

ZSU-37 ZSU-37 was a Soviet-made, light, self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG), developed by the end of 1943 and produced at Works No. 40 in Mytishchi. It was the first Soviet series-produced tracked SPAAG. ZSU stands for Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Usta ...

* 40 mm cannon armed

AMX-13 The AMX-13 is a French light tank produced from 1952 to 1987. It served with the French Army, as the Char 13t-75 Modèle 51, and was exported to more than 26 other nations. Named after its initial weight of 13 tonnes, and featuring a tough and re ...

Citations

Bibliography

* {{WWIIGermanAFVs World War II self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons of Germany Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944 37 mm artillery de:Flakpanzer IV#Ostwind