Tiger tank

One of the few surviving Tiger tanks, in 2013.

The Tiger tank was a German tank made during World War II. It was considered particularly fierce in its day, being heavier than most American and Russian tanks.

It was built around the excellent German 88 antiaircraft gun and had heavy armor, making it able to destroy enemy tanks far away and survive direct hits. Its drawbacks were that it was relatively slow, complicated, expensive to produce, and that it did not have sloping armor, which was an innovation that the Russians came up with around the same time. It was never deployed in enough numbers to turn the tide of war, as Hitler had hoped.

It also had terrible fuel economy and reliability. It was very difficult to repair in the field, requiring specialized vehicles that were seldom available late in the war.