Panther is a medium tank deployed by Nazi Germany in World War II from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a replacement for the obsolete Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks, to counter the Russian T-34. Regarded as one of the best tanks of World War II, its combination of firepower, mobility, and protection served as a model for other nations' late war and post-war tank designs.