German and Soviet assault guns introduced during World War II usually carried their main armament in a fully enclosed casemate rather than a gun turret. Nevertheless, as the conflict progressed, the increasing proliferation of tanks on the battlefield forced many assault gun units to engage armor in defense of the infantry, and led to armies becoming more dependent on multipurpose designs which combined the traditionally separate roles of an assault gun and a tank destroyer. They were not intended to be deployed as tank substitutes or dedicated tank destroyers. Although they could approximate the firepower of a tank, assault guns mostly fired high explosive shells at relatively low velocities, which were well suited for their role of knocking out hard points such as fortified positions and buildings. However, during World War II assault guns were more mobile than tanks and could be utilized as both direct and indirect fire artillery. Historically, the concept of assault guns was very similar to that of the infantry tank, as both were combat vehicles intended to accompany infantry formations into battle. Assault guns were pioneered by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany during the 1930s, initially being self-propelled guns with direct fire in mind (such as the Soviet SU-5-1), with Germany introducing the first purpose-built (and purpose-named) assault gun, the Sturmgeschütz III, in 1940. 'storm gun', meaning "assault gun") is a type of self-propelled artillery which uses an infantry support gun mounted on a motorized chassis, normally an armored fighting vehicle, which are designed to provide direct fire support for infantry attacks, especially against other infantry or fortified positions. Lower right: Japanese Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle ( Japanese: 16式機動戦闘車) modern assault gun.Īn assault gun (from German: Sturmgeschütz, lit.
Lower left: Swedish Cold War Ikv 91 assault gun.
Top right: US WWII M4A3 (105) assault gun. Top left: German WWII Stug III assault guns in Finnish service.
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