Anti-Tank Infantry (PTRS-41)

Troops armed with PTRS-41 rifles, although they specialized in fighting medium and light tanks from a distance of up to 500 m, demonstrated stunning versatility and could easily hit both pillboxes and low-flying aircraft within a range of about half a kilometre.

These troops’ primary attack weapon was only put into service on August 29 and was designed to equalize the difference in anti-tank capabilities between infantry and artillery. It was only in 1943 that the need for anti-tank riflemen was completely satisfied. By the middle of 1944, when their importance in combat declined, most of them were retrained as tankers (due to the new T-34 variant requiring an extra fifth crew member) or grenade launching troops armed with British and American hand-held grenade launchers.