[IronDuke99]

Question for Tank experts (me I was an Infantry soldier):

There is a sort of link from WWII British Tanks, that spent much of the war out gunned and out Armoured by German Tanks, to the Centurion -just too late for WWII- Chieftain and even, to some degree, Challenger tanks of the British Army.

What I mean is that a tank is a trade off between fire power, armour and mobility and British post war tanks, at least until Challenger, always went for fire power and armour at the expense of mobility. To me that makes sense as a result of British WWII experience, especially US Shermans and Cromwells v Tigers and Panthers in 1944-45. (Incidentally the British gave the US a fair number of Sherman Fireflys with the excellent British 17 pd gun, in a sort or reverse lend lease, but the US Army never used them largely due, it seems, to a US bias against non US kit).

So my question is if there is any such link between the German Panther of WWII and the post war Leopard and Leopard II? Or was the gap in German tank production too long?