The SdKfz 251 half-track was a German armored vehicle that was manufactured by Hanomag from 1939 to 1945 during World War II, with 15,252 being built for service in the German Wehrmacht. The vehicle was designed to carry panzergrenadier mechanized infantry into battle, and it usually had an MG34 or MG42 machine gun mounted on two sides. The vehicle was good horizontal cover, but it was an easy victim of plunging fire such as mortar and artillery fire, small arms fire from higher positions, grenades, Molotov cocktail, and strafing runs by enemy planes.