TAG, I maintain my words. Anything with a 88 L/71 just HAD to rack up a score. For that matter, I suppose it would have been much cheaper to build triple that number of Nashorns, but no, the chassis was already extant, those were the 90 abortive Porsche Tiger chassis that Mr. Porsche wanted to get rid of, as he had a lot of money frozen in those chassis.

Also not to be forgotten was that uneconomical (= expensive like heck!) hybrid electric drive-train, which consumed a disproportionate amount of scarce copper.

So for all this the German Army was saddled with a new system completely incompatible with all the rest in the inventory (engine was unique, suspension was unique, even the track was unique, the only thing that wasn't was the gun). This is not a susprise at all, just look at the amount of SPGs designed on the fly to find some use to obsolete or captured chassis. Anything that was in stock, indeed.

And weighing only 5 tons less than the Jagdtiger it would have had all the defects you exposed.

So, Herr Porsche, in order to flog them on the army anyway, had the idea of mounting the baddest gun he could get hold of, so a dinner or two with the appropriate generals, a good word with his friend Hitler and there you are, another legend for the Reich TM.

Well, it could have been worse. Hitler might have decided it should do dive bombing like the He177

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