Pakfront

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The Pakfront was a military tactic developed by the Germans on the eastern front during World War II. The Soviets quickly copied the tactic, and used it to great effect at the Battle of Kursk in July 1943.

During the large Soviet armour attacks on the Eastern front in late 1941-1942, the Germans quickly realised that their Anti-Tank guns, operating individually or in small groups, and with no central commander, were quickly overwhelmed by the numerical superiority of the Soviets.

The Pakfront was developed to counter this superiority. A group of up to ten guns were placed under the command of one officer. He was responsible to designate targets and order his guns where to concentrate their fire. This allowed the guns to spring effective anti-tank ambushes, with all guns being designated separate targets and then firing at once, rather than engaging the enemy piece-meal.

The tactic was found to be extremely effective, and soon the Soviets had copied it, often using multiple pakfronts in cooperation with minefields and anti tank ditches, to 'channel' the enemy tanks into their fields of fire. At the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, the Soviet Pakfronts slowed the German attack in the south and completely halted the northern German force.

To counter the effectiveness of the Soviet Pakfront, the Germans developed the Panzerkeil, but this was found to be of only limited effectiveness, and shown to be an inadequate countermeasure at the battle of Kursk.

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