Hitler's 'Baby Tiger' - The Rare Panzer Lynx

TL;DR

The Panzer Lynx was a rare WWII German reconnaissance tank that resembled a miniature Tiger but only 100 were ever built.

Key Points

• 1.The Luchs (Lynx) was designed to replace wheeled armored cars for reconnaissance. Wheeled vehicles like the Puma eight-wheeled armored car struggled off-road in mud, prompting Germany to develop a dedicated light tank for scouting missions in 1939.
• 2.The Luchs weighed 11.8 tons and could reach 60 km/h with improved armor over the Panzer 2. Front armor was 30mm sloped at 10–25°, sides 20mm, and it was armed with a 20mm KwK38 autocannon with 320 rounds plus an MG34 machine gun.
• 3.Only 100 Luchs tanks were built out of 700 ordered, because MAN prioritized Panther tank production. Four additional conversions from Panzer 2s were made, forcing Germany to rely on Puma armored cars for most late-war reconnaissance.
• 4.The Luchs first served with the 4th Panzer Division on the Eastern Front, later fighting in France after D-Day. Grouped in armored reconnaissance detachments of four platoons of seven vehicles, they served through the Battle of Germany until final surrender.
• 5.Only two original Luchs tanks survive today — one at Bovington Tank Museum (UK) and one at the French Armored Museum at Saumur in running condition. A planned upgrade with a 50mm gun would have created a 21-ton vehicle called the Leopard, a name later reused for West Germany's Leopard 1 MBT in 1965.