The Flammpanzer III (Sd.Kfz. 141/3), officially designated Panzerkampfwagen III (Fl), was a German medium flamethrower tank built on the chassis of the Panzer III Ausf. M to support urban combat and infantry assault operations during World War II. Developed following the successful testing of the Koebe pump system on earlier flame vehicles, it replaced the tank’s main gun with a 14 cm Flammenwerfer tube protected by a dummy barrel shroud, retaining a hull MG 34 and a coaxial MG 34 in the turret for close defense. Powered by an auxiliary Auto-Union motor, the internal pump projected flammable liquid drawn from two internal tanks holding a total of 1,020 liters, ignited via an electric spark system to achieve ranges up to 60 meters. A total of 100 units were produced between late 1942 and early 1943 by Wegmann in Kassel using MIAG chassis, and were organized into specialized flame-tank platoons seeing action in heavy fighting across the Eastern Front, including Kursk, as well as the Italian campaign.
