Editing Tank destroyer (section)

=== Romania ===
[[File:Mareșal tank destroyer M-05 prototype.jpg|thumb|The Romanian [[Mareșal tank destroyer]], developed starting in late 1942, is proposed to have inspired the German [[Hetzer]]'s design.]]

Until 1942, the Romanian tank force was equipped exclusively with obsolete [[R-1 tank|R-1]], [[Panzer 35(t)#Variants|R-2]] and [[Renault R35#Romania|R35]] tanks. Having faced big problems against Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks on the Eastern Front, the Romanian Army leadership sought for ways to improve its anti-tank capabilities. The initial plan was the creation of [[1942 medium tank (Romania)|a tank comparable in characteristics to the T-34]];{{sfn| Axworthy |Scafeș |Crăciunoiu|1995 |p=221 }} instead, Romania went for a number of tank destroyers, since they were more adequate for its industry.

The [[Mareșal tank destroyer|Mareșal]] is probably the best known Romanian AFV from the war; historians [[Steven Zaloga]] and Mark Axworthy state that it inspired the design of the later German [[Hetzer]].{{sfn| Axworthy |Scafeș |Crăciunoiu|1995 |p=233 }}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zaloga |first1=Steven J. |title=Tanks of Hitler's Eastern Allies 1941-45 |date=2013 |page=31| publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-1-78096-020-3}}</ref> Standing at only around 1.5 m tall, which would have made it very difficult to hit for its enemies, the Mareșal was a lightly armored, but highly mobile vehicle. It was armed with the Romanian [[75 mm Reșița Model 1943|75 mm Reșița M1943]] anti-tank gun, which proved to be among the best of its class during World War II, according to Mark Axworthy. During tests, the Mareșal proved to be superior in many aspects to the [[Sturmgeschütz III|StuG III G]], against which it competed. Those facts suggest that the Mareșal would have been an effective tank destroyer, had it been deployed into combat. There were, however, also critics of the vehicle, especially among high-ranking Romanian officials. It never saw action because the invading Soviet army had stopped its production.{{sfn| Axworthy |Scafeș |Crăciunoiu|1995  |p=228-235, 237}}

Other Romanian tank destroyers include the [[TACAM R-2]] and [[TACAM T-60]], which were converted from [[Panzer 35(t)#Variants|R-2]] and [[T-60]] light tanks respectively. Both of them saw action. One TACAM R-2 survives today and is displayed at the [[National Military Museum, Romania|National Military Museum]] in [[Bucharest]].{{sfn| Axworthy |Scafeș |Crăciunoiu|1995 |p=221-225 }} Another conversion was the [[Renault R35#Romania|VDC R-35]], Romania's only turreted tank destroyer. Two other proposed tank destroyers existed: the [[TACAM R-1]] and [[TACAM T-38]].{{sfn| Axworthy |Scafeș |Crăciunoiu|1995 |p=225-228 }}