Editing Jagdpanzer IV (section)

==Variants==
[[File:SdKfz162.jpg|thumb|The ''0-Serie'' preproduction vehicle at [[Deutsches Panzermuseum]]]]
[[File:0623 - Moskau 2015 - Panzermuseum Kubinka (26374499726).jpg|thumb|Panzer IV/70 (V) at [[Kubinka Tank Museum]]]]

*''Jagdpanzer'' IV ''0-Serie''
:with 7.5&nbsp;cm Pak 39 L/43: a small number of these were built as the preproduction (''0-Serie'') probably in December 1943.<ref name=ap/>
*''Jagdpanzer'' IV (''Sd.Kfz.162''<ref name=ap/>)
:with 7.5&nbsp;cm Pak 39 L/48, developed under the name ''Sturmgeschütz neuer Art mit 7.5&nbsp;cm Pak L/48 auf Fahrgestell PzKpfw IV'', with 769–784 produced in January 1944 - November 1944.<ref name=ap/>
*''Panzer'' IV/70 (V) (''Sd.Kfz.162/1''<ref name=ap/>)
:was one of two variants armed with the same Pak 42 L/70 gun. The (V) stands for the designer, [[Vomag]]. The most produced version, with 930–940 built in August 1944 - April 1945.<ref name=ap/> Equipped with a long, powerful L/70 7.5cm anti-tank gun that could outrange opposing Allied tank weapons, the Panzer IV/70(V) Lang proved a formidable foe. The "Lang" (German for "long") in its name was added to distinguish it from its predecessor with a shorter L/48 7.5cm gun.
*''Panzer'' IV/70 (A) (''Sd.Kfz.162/1''<ref name=ap/>)
:the other Pak 42 L/70 armed ''Jagdpanzer'' IV. In order to send Pak 42 L/70 armed vehicles to the front as soon as possible, in July 1944 Hitler ordered an interim solution to speed up Nibelungenwerke's transition from Panzer IV production to Panzer IV/70 production. "A" stands for [[Alkett]], a manufacturer of the StuG III, that was ordered to redesign the ''Jagdpanzer'' IV superstructure to be mounted onto a standard Panzer IV chassis. The Vomag design used a modified chassis permitting a very low silhouette. Mounting the superstructure onto the original Panzer IV chassis required additional vertical steel plates mounted onto the chassis to counter height differences. The resulting vehicle was about 40 cm taller and lacked the sharp edged nose of the Vomag variant. Only 278 were built by Nibelungenwerke from August 1944 to March 1945.

Minor modifications and improvements were made throughout the production runs of all variants, as well as several field improvements, the most common being the addition of armour sideskirts (or in German, [[Spaced armour|Schürzen]]).

Originally the ''Jagdpanzer'' IV's gun had a muzzle brake installed, but because the gun was so close to the ground, each time it was fired, huge dust clouds would betray the vehicle's position, leading many crews to remove the muzzle brake in the field.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} Later variants dispensed with the muzzle brake.

Early vehicles had ''[[zimmerit]]'' applied to the hull to protect against magnetic mines, but this was discontinued after about September 1944. Later vehicles had three return rollers rather than the original four, and adopted the twin vertical exhausts typical of the late Panzer IV series.