The story of one of the most famous combat vehicles of the 20th century, the German Panzerkampfwagen V "Panther" medium tank, would not have started without the confrontation of the Wehrmacht with the Soviet T-34. Following the alarming reports that began to be sent to Berlin from the fighting on the Eastern Front by Panzerwaffe units, the decision was made to build a completely new tank. It had to be capable of destroying almost any type of enemy armored vehicle. The Pz.Kpfw. V prototype, built by MAN, was ready at the end of 1942. Serial production started before the beginning of the following year, and it's quite unsuccessful combat debut took place in the summer of 1943 during the battle of Kursk.