The Panther A & D featured a rounded gun mantlet which had the possibility of deflecting an incoming round downwards, into the thin roof armour. This meant that a cannon incapable of directly perforating the Panther from the front (such as the 75mm of the Sherman), had the potential to do so with a lucky shot.
The simulation shows the M72 AP round of the Sherman impacting the lower mantlet at 600m/s, or around 100m away. This projectile would be incapable of penetrating the Panther's 100mm turret armour at any range but the trap shot weakness allows it to easily perforate the roof armour. This trap shot weakness was resolved in later Panther models, as a 'chin' was added to the mantlet.
The amazing Panther artwork in the thumbnail is credited to: @TanksEncyclopediaYT
Panther armour thicknesses: [ Ссылка ]
This model was made on Ansys
