The Panther was the best all-around German tank of the war and although conceived as a medium tank, at 45 tons and with frontal armour over 100mm thick, it could easily be rated more highly. The Panther's thick, sloping front armour was copied from the Russian T-34 but the main gun was a weapon that far excelled anything the Russians possessed, the high-velocity KwK 42 L70, which was capable of penetrating any Allied tank in service when it was first introduced. This is the second version of the tank, built from mid-1943 onwards, it saw action on both Eastern and Western fronts. Bizarrely the marques did not follow alphabetical order. Changes on the original Panther include a redesigned hull machine gun and a commanders cupola.