How many tanks is Hans-Ulrich Rudel credited with?

Short answer

Hans-Ulrich Rudel is credited with 519 tanks destroyed, severe damage to the battleship Marat and the sinking of a cruiser, although no primary source confirms his claims. He flew 2,530 ground-attack missions, exclusively on the Eastern Front.

Published: November 4, 2026 · Updated: November 4, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

How many tanks is Hans-Ulrich Rudel credited with?

Junkers Ju 87, Pilsen 1945 (NARA 204917861)

The credited tally

Rudel is credited with destroying 519 tanks, with severely damaging the battleship Marat and with sinking a cruiser. His tally also includes 70 landing craft and 150 artillery positions. He himself claimed nine aerial victories and the destruction of more than 800 vehicles. No primary source confirms his claims.

A pilot of the Eastern Front

Rudel flew 2,530 ground-attack missions, exclusively on the Eastern Front. During the conflict he became the most successful Stuka pilot and the most decorated German pilot of the war. He was also the one who proposed mounting two 37 mm Flak 18 cannons, each in its own self-contained underwing gondola, as the Bordkanone BK 3.7.

Wounded in 1945

On 8 February 1945 he was seriously wounded in the right foot and landed within German lines while his radio operator shouted him flying directions. His leg was amputated below the knee. He flew again on 25 March 1945. He claimed a further 26 tanks destroyed before the end of the war.