Panzerkampfwagen III Ausführung J Panzer III Ausf.J Sd.Kfz. 141 Australian Armour & Artillery Museum

The Panzerkampfwagen III Ausführung J (Panzer III J) (Sd.Kfz. Index: Sd.Kfz. 141) is the ninth variant of the Panzerkampfwagen III medium tank family (the "I" variant was skipped). The Panzer III J looked much like the Panzer III G. It was designed with a turret housing a 50 mm Kampfwagenkanone (KwK) 38 L/42 tank gun. It used the same Maybach HL 120 TRM petrol/gasoline 285 horsepower engine and had identical armour thickness. The hull frontal armour's basic armour thickness had increased to 50 mm. An additional armour plate was installed internally to the front of the turret in the spring of 1941, increasing it to a maximum thickness of 57 mm in places. To improve engine compartment ventilation, the structure of the chassis was extended. The armoured front brake vents were redesigned. On the roof of the turret was an armoured extractor fan. The 50 mm KwK38 L/42 tank gun was capable of firing up to 20 rounds per minute, through the use of a semi-automatic breech that opened before the end of the recoil, ejected the used casing, and allowed for fast loading of the next shell.