Flakpanzer 38 (t) Gepard (Sd.Kfz.140) is a German mobile anti-aircraft gun of the Second World War. The first prototypes were built in 1943, and serial production was carried out in 1943-1944. In the course of this, about 140 machines of this type were produced. The carriage was about 4.6 m long, 2.15 m wide and 2.25 m high. The drive was provided by one Praga AC engine with a capacity of 147 hp. Armament consisted of one 20 mm FlaK38 L/65 gun. The Flakpanzer 38 (t) Cheetah was developed for the needs of the German ground forces, which from 1943 had to cope with the increasingly obvious superiority of Allied and Soviet aircraft on the Eastern Front. The new machine was supposed to provide its own troops with air defense at short and very short distances. The machine was designed as a modernization of the Pz.Kpfw 38 (t) light tank, and the main change was the installation of an anti-aircraft gun on a special platform at the rear of the machine. The lion's share of the Flakpanzer 38 (t) Gepard was used on the Western Front during the 1944 campaign, where, unfortunately, the machine showed limited combat value. The machine was very open to fire - even from small arms - and the weapons used were inadequate for the intended purpose. First of all, it gave too little rate of fire.
