Nahverteidigungswaffe

Nahverteidigungswaffe at Panzermuseum Munster

The Nahverteidigungswaffe was a smoke bomb discharger for German panzers which could also be used as a close defense weapon to combat close assaulting infantry. It was a 92mm rotating launcher for smoke bombs, mounted in the roof of the turret or superstructure, which also allowed the occupants to fire a flare pistol through it. The flare pistol could fire flares, smoke rounds or small calibre fragmentation grenades.

Other methods of close defense involved attaching electrically fired s-mine launchers at the four corners of the tank, or pistol ports, as well as adapting the late-war Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle to firing around corners with the unique Krummlauf curved gun barrel attachment.

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