The Panther tank has often been referred to as the best tank of World War II. This claim has been made based on the tank's combination of mobility, firepower and armour. Development of this vehicle came as a direct result of requests from the troops for a tank that could deal with the heavy Soviet armour being encountered on the Eastern Front. Initially Daimler-Benz was awarded the contract for the manufacture of the Panther in March 1942. This decision was later overturned and the contract was awarded to MAN in May 1942. This was based partly on the fact that the Daimler-Benz tank required the design of a new turret that would delay its introduction. The MAN chassis, however, utilized a turret design that had already been developed by Rheinmetall, allowing it to enter production quicker. The Rheinmetall turret housed the 7.5cm KwK L/70 that would be with the Panther for its entire production run.
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