The Panzerkampfwagen IV (PzKpfw IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161.Designed as an infantry support tank, the Panzer IV was not intended to engage enemy armor—that role being allocated to the Panzer III.