{"product_id":"german-halftrack-251-20-le","title":"Sd.Kfz. 251\/20 \"UHU\" - Halftrack | 1:28 Scale | Limited Edition","description":"\u003ch3 dir=\"ltr\"\u003eSd.Kfz. 251\/20 \"Uhu\" - Infrarot-Scheinwerfer-Schützenpanzerwagen\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e🔒 BATTALION EXCLUSIVE PRICING\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe half-track built to see beyond the night.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eBy late 1944, the Luftwaffe had lost the sky. Allied fighter-bombers owned the daylight. German armored columns that moved during the day got shredded. The only safe time to move, to reposition, to attack was \u003cstrong\u003eafter dark\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eBut darkness was blind. Tanks couldn't fight what they couldn't see. Conventional headlights turned you into a target. The Wehrmacht needed a way to see in the dark without being seen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe answer was \u003cstrong\u003einfrared\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eSd.Kfz. 251\/20 \"Uhu\"\u003c\/strong\u003e — \"Eagle Owl\" — was one of the most unusual vehicles in the entire Sd.Kfz. 251 family. Instead of carrying an infantry squad, the Uhu's fighting compartment was rebuilt around a massive \u003cstrong\u003e60 cm infrared searchlight\u003c\/strong\u003e mounted on an elevated rotating platform. The projector flooded the battlefield with infrared light — invisible to the naked eye, but visible through image-converter equipment carried by IR-equipped Panther tanks in the same formation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe Uhu didn't fight. \u003cstrong\u003eIt illuminated.\u003c\/strong\u003e It gave the Panthers eyes in the dark. An effective range of roughly \u003cstrong\u003e1.2 to 1.5 kilometers\u003c\/strong\u003e of infrared illumination — enough to identify targets, terrain, and threats that would have been invisible without it. A four-man crew operated the projector, the dedicated 6 kW generator, the FuG 5 radio, and the driver's own infrared equipment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe planned night-fighting formation was lethally elegant: \u003cstrong\u003efive IR-equipped Panthers, one Uhu, and one Falke escort vehicle\u003c\/strong\u003e. The Panthers carried smaller IR devices for close-range targeting. The Uhu provided the long-range illumination that tied the whole formation together. In theory, a Panther column supported by an Uhu could acquire, engage, and destroy enemy armor at night without ever being seen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eIn practice, the war ended before the concept could be deployed at scale. Germany built approximately \u003cstrong\u003e60 Uhus\u003c\/strong\u003e — estimates vary, and the honest answer is \"built in very limited numbers.\" The night-fighting formations never reached the scale their designers intended. But the technology was real, the vehicles were real, and the concept was a generation ahead of its time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe Uhu is the kind of vehicle that separates collectors from \u003cem\u003ecollectors\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003cstrong\u003eIf you know what the 60 cm projector was for, you already understand why this belongs on your shelf.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat you're building:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e1,267 pieces\u003c\/strong\u003e in 1:28 scale\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e4 crew figures included\u003c\/strong\u003e — the specialist Uhu crew\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe unmistakable Uhu silhouette — the towering \u003cstrong\u003e60 cm infrared projector\u003c\/strong\u003e rising from the open fighting compartment of a late-production Sd.Kfz. 251 Ausf. D\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe angular Ausf. D hull — simplified sloping rear, flat rear doors, the late-war production variant that was by far the most numerous 251 built\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGenerator and radio equipment detail\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHalf-track running gear with characteristic interleaved road wheels\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAll pad-printed markings — zero stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe rarest specialist vehicle in the BrixKrieg half-track lineup\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e🎖️ BATTALION EXCLUSIVE PRICING\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRetail:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cdel\u003e$97.99\u003c\/del\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYOUR PRICE: $82.99\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e$15 off\u003c\/strong\u003e before the public ever sees it. Battalion gets first claim.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BrixKrieg","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54135366353195,"sku":"SDKFZ_251_20_D","price":97.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0948\/0155\/9851\/files\/UHUHALFTRACK.jpg?v=1789089258","url":"https:\/\/brixkrieg.com\/products\/german-halftrack-251-20-le","provider":"BrixKrieg","version":"1.0","type":"link"}