The Waffenamt was slightly more realistic and issued a production quota of 2020 vehicles (both the L/48 and L/70 versions) to be completed by the end of April 1945, closer to 160 vehicles per month. Hitler was impressed and insisted on a monthly production order of 800 such vehicles. The new vehicle was presented to Hitler on 20th April 1944.
Of course, some internal structural changes had to be made in order to fit the larger gun. It was, in essence, just a modified Jagdpanzer IV (chassis number 320162) armed with the long gun. The prototype of this new vehicle was completed in early April 1944. For this reason, one prototype was to be built and tested to establish the feasibility of the concept once enough guns were available. While the short-barrelled Jagdpanzer IV was slowly entering production in January 1944, a meeting was held to discuss the use of the larger gun. However, the initial plans to use the 7.5 cm L/70 gun could not be fulfilled, as its production was limited and reserved for the Panther tank program. It is somewhat ironic that this vehicle, initially intended as a replacement for the StuG III, ended up being hijacked by the Panzer branch. It was intended to have the lowest possible height, a top speed of 25 km/h, 500 mm ground clearance, and a weight of up to 26 tonnes. New Type Assault Gun), the new vehicle was to be armed with the 7.5 cm KwK L/70 gun and protected with 100 mm frontal and 40 to 50 mm of side armor. Initially designated Sturmgeschütze Neue Art (Eng. Work on such a vehicle was initiated by Waffenamt (Eng. The introduction of the Jagdpanzer IV into service provided the German Army with an effective anti-tank vehicle that had a small silhouette, was well-protected, and had a good gun. Source: Digital Collection of Armin Freitag The Development Production started in August 1944 and, by March 1945, some 930 to 940 vehicles were built. This would lead to the introduction of a slightly modified Jagdpanzer IV which was renamed Panzer IV/70(V). In early 1944, the production of the long gun was finally increased and it could be used for this purpose.
As this gun was not available in sufficient numbers, as a temporary solution, the vehicle was armed with the shorter L/48 gun instead. The Jagdpanzer IV was initially meant to be armed with the long 7.5 cm L/70 gun. The further development of the StuG series led to the introduction of the Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer.
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