of the front glacis plate. The machine gunner was also the radio operator. The driver sat on the left. The gunner had a rangefinder and a periscope telescopic sight. The periscope – linked to the gun mount – was under an armoured housing on the roof. The Jagdpanther had a good power-to-weight ratio and a powerful main gun, enabling crews to destroy any type of Allied tank. Based on the established Panther Ausf G chassis, the vehicle encountered few mechanical problems. It was crewed by five: driver, radio operator/machine gunner, commander, gunner, and a loader. Variants There were two main variants. The earlier G1 1944 model has a small welded main gun mantlet, one-piece Pak 43/3 gun, a modified Panther A engine deck, and had two vision openings for the driver. The G2 Jagdpanther used a Panther Ausf. G engine deck, a larger gun mantlet bolted externally, and a two-piece KwK 43/4 L/71 gun. Some later G1 models had 'hybrid' G2 features such as the larger G2 mantlet as changes to the design were implemented. Zimmerit was applied to G1s up to September 1944, then was withdrawn to decrease production time. Early Jagdpanthers had two vision openings for the driver, whereas late versions had only one. The main gun originally had a monobloc gun barrel, but, May 1944-on, it was gradually replaced by an economical two-part barrel after crews determined barrel wear was uneven. Reliability Notes for the meeting with the Führer on 10.28.1944: Production and service A total of 413 Jagdpanthers were produced from January 1944 by three manufacturers: MIAG in Braunschweig produced 268 from January 1944 until the end of the war, Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hannover (MNH) produced 112 from November 1944, Maschinenbau und Bahnbedarf (MBA) in Potsdam produced 33 vehicles from December 1944. Planned production was between 100 and 200 a month, but the disruption to German manufacturing made this goal unachievable. The last 'production' Jagdpanthers were produced at the factory by German staff just after the end of World War II under the supervision of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) during the American and British occupation of Germany. Nine Panthers and a dozen Jagdpanthers were produced, then shipped to England for evaluation. A complete Panther and a complete Jagdpanther produced this way are displayed at the Bovington Tank Museum, Dorset, with brass plates on them explaining their history. Jagdpanther equipped heavy antitank battalions (schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilungen)