Although it was not the most powerful German tank destroyer of World War II, the Jagdpanther was easily the best of those built in anything resembling decent numbers. It's development was prompted by the difficulties encountered in fitting the powerful 8.8cm gun on the Elephant and the Nashorn tank destroyers, whose performance was less than expected. The Panther chassis was therefore seen as an ideal fit. The Jagdpanther featured a superstructure that extended from the front and sides of the hull. This took advantage of the Panther's sloped armor as well as saving on production costs. The superstructure was large enough to fit the KwK 43, the long-barreled version of the 8.8cm gun that was also used on the Tiger II. This continued the German tradition of having the tank destroyer variant use the next most powerful gun than the tank it was based on. The suspension was identical to that of the Panther Ausf G, thereby avoiding some of the issues on early Panthers, and the transmission was of the heavy-duty type planned for the Panther II. This made it mechanically reliable for a vehicle of its size and weight. Jagdpanthers were deployed mostly on the Eastern Front although the largest concentration was seen during the 1944 Ardennes Offensive. It was also the last German tank destroyer of the war to be fielded in battalion-sized units.

Orders for using the 8.8cm KwK 43 on the Panther chassis (then under development) were issued in October 1942, with a prototype shown to Hitler in December 1943. It entered production with MIAG the following month and MNH in November as the Jagdpanther (SdKfz 173).