The German Army's experiences of urban combat in Russia, particularly the fighting for the cities of Leningrad and Stalingrad, led to a request for an armoured vehicle with a gun large enough to destroy enemy strongpoints. Russian soldiers could turn office blocks and factories into solid fortresses at which the available artillery weapons could only chip away bit by bit. Infantry weapons could make no impression at all. Several projects were proposed, one being the Rammtiger which, as its name suggests, would simply demolish buildings by driving into them. This idea was dropped almost immediately. The Infantry's initial request had been for a vehicle mounting a 12 cm gun capable of high angled fire. But as no suitable gun of that calibre was available a 38 cm rocket projector, which had been developed as an anti-submarine weapon, was adopted. Manufactured by Rheinmetall Bohrsig at their Dusseldorf works, the Raketenwerfer 61 could hurl a 761 pound rocket to a maximum range of 6,179 yards - although much shorter combat ranges were envisaged. The projectile or Raketen Sprenggranate 4581 was merely an enlarged version of the rockets already in service with the Army's Nebelwerfer units.
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