Radio Equipment

Radio Equipment in Command Tiger E
Following, transcript is from Tiger Tank 181 Turret Handbook D 656/22 for Tiger Tank Ausf.E (Sd Kfz 181)

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In 1943 Tiger "A" was standard Tiger E except for internal modifications and the 88gun ,a Kw K L 56. About 84 command Tigers rolled off production line. Both Command Tigers I A Sdkfz 267and Sdkfz 268, had following parts removed :

01) 1 Mantlet Mg.34 with all relevant fittings and mountings.
02) 1 Mg. toolbox and cradle.
03) 1 MG. accessory box and cradle.
04) 10 pouches of ammo for MG 34, containing 1500 rounds plus mounting brackets.
05) 26 rounds of 8.8 cm rounds for main gun.
06) 1 Loader's prismatic reflector/mirror.
07) 1 stowage bin to the right and in front of the gun loader. (Reference D656/22)

Cleared space was replaced with following radio equipment :

01) Command Observation tank Intercom System .
02) 1 set of radio equipment Fug 5 ( 10 Watt Ultra Short Wave Transmitter and receiver) fitted in turret.
03) 1 set of radio equipment Fug 7 ( 20 Watt Ultra Short Wave Transmitter and receiver), respectively.
04) 1 set of radio equipment Fug 8 ( 30 Watt Medium Wave Transmitter and receiver) fitted in hull .
05) 1 auxiliary generator GG 400.
06) 1 Radio accessory/spares kit.
07) 1 Aerial connecting lead with Rear Aerial "Star" D for 30 Watt System Fug 8.
08) 1 Rod aerial 1.4 m long for 20 Watt System Fug 7.
09) 1 Rod aerial 2.0 m long for 10 Watt System Fug 5.
10) 1 Stowage for aerial rods. Container is fitted outside at the rear hull plate.

Command Tiger E 267 had Fu.5 & Fu 8 (10 Watt transmitter ‘C’& UKW receiver ‘E’) fitted in turret. (Fug.8 a 30 Watt transmitter and MW receiver ‘C’) located in hull.

Command Tiger E 268 had Fu.5 & Fu.7 (10 Watt transmitter ‘C’ & Fu.7 20 Watt transmitter ‘D’ and UKW receiver ‘D1’ Fug or Fu is German abbreviation of Funk Gerät which means Radio Equipment.

“UKW”, MW” and “LW” mean Ultra Kurtz Welle, Mittel Welle und Lange Welle. Translated into English they mean: Ultra short wave, Medium wave & Long wave. Letters “E” stand for Empfänger (Receiver) &“S” for Sender (Transmitter).

Fug 5     10 Watt. S ‘c’ operated on 27.2-33.3 MHz
Fug 7,    20 Watt. S. ’d’ used as Ground to Air transmitter. Frequency 42-47 MHz
Fug 8,    30 Watt. S. ’a’ operated on 1,110-3010 Kc/s

Matching receivers to all three transmitters were UKW.E early model, and UKW.E ‘a’ later model

Aerials for the above transmitters;

Star” aerial ‘D’ for the 30 Watt (Fu8). Location: Right rear end of tank.
Rod aerial 1,4 m for the 20 Watt (Fu7). Location: Left rear end of tank.
Rod aerial 2 m for the 10 Watt (Fu5). Location: Right side close to the cupola.

Seating Positions

Radio Operator 2, whose normal position was in hull, had two radio systems fitted on rubber mountings. Added to his standard Fu5 transmitter and UKW receiver 'E', a second set was fitted - either Fu7 or Fu8 and located to the left of standard equipment. This change made Tiger E either Sd Kfz 267 or Sd Kfz 268. The 267 had Fu 5 and Fu 8 and the 268 had Fu5 and Fu 7 radios.

The second Fu5 and UKW E receiver, was attached to the turret's roof right side, where loader sat. MG34's space was replaced by another Fu.5 which was suspended on straps and rubber insulating mountings. Loader now had a secondary role as a radio operator 1.

Removal of afore mentioned equipment, slightly downgraded the Tiger , but it was insignificant when compared to what command Tiger did. Such Tigers were either in Battalion or Company category. These tanks were in contact with either headquarters or Air support units. Such units would pass information to Command Tank ,who in turn, issued respective orders to lower formations, on UKW ( Ultra High Frequency) whose transmitters had an approximate range of 4 miles. In this way, commander was in constant in communication with other tank commanders. Command Tiger had radio equipment Fug 8 with a 40 miles range, allowing communication with HQ.

Main objective of the command Tiger was to keep steady flow of communication between command post, Luftwaffe and platoons. In most cases Luftwaffe coordinated air attacks and then advised Command Tank of the scenario. At that time tanks would advance towards enemy position.

As an example, I will briefly describe typical role of Command Tiger in air/ ground coordinated attack. ( see illustration below). The Luftwaffe's ground control armoured vehicle communicates with Stukas and coordinates their attack, on enemy target. Once enemy position had been weakened (usually heavy anti tank gun positions), tanks moved in for mopping up, or engaging secondary targets.

A : Stukas send information to Command Tigers.
B : Command Tigers pass information and orders to individual Panzer Platoons C
A


Fu 5 10 Watt transmitter	UKW e Receiver	Fu7 20W Transmitter	UKWd1 Receiver


Fu8 30 Watt transmitter	MW c Receiver	Fu5 Transmitter & Receiver were standard equipment