The KonigTiger a Panther II? No. Based on same components where possible? Yes. Based on the same lessons and design principles? Yes. As has already been said, ones a heavy and the other a medium, and mediums don't pack as much punch in infantry support or breakthrough roles as the heavies, they are more specifically for destroying other medium AFVs. The Panther was a MAN design and the King Tiger a later Henschel design intended to share as many components with the former design as possible, including engine and suspension components. Some Panther components were redesigned to facilitate this too. The King Tiger as the name suggests is an evolution of the Tiger I Heavy tank, with thicker sloped armour and a higher velocity 88mm, the revised 'breakthrough' tank, even if not the one best used to further exploit that breakthrough and actually, fast becoming the tank more usefull to stop a breakthrough than start one. It was also, very importantly, easier to manufacture than the original Tiger. The Panther was a response to the T-34 which redefined what a medium tank was, as is clearly evidenced by the up-armouring and gunning of the PzIV at that time. But it also attempted to address some of the suddenly obvious shortfalls inherent in the PzIV's design like vertical armour and ground pressure weights that were generally too high for the russian campaign. The Panther was at it's conception a medium that was supposed to be even lighter than it finally ended up, perhaps this up armouring can be seen as a response to a war fast becoming defensive and therefore requiring less mobility and more armour. If you look at the Panther II design it's turret even with the higher velocity or caliber guns have thinner armour and a smaller size than the King tiger's and the hull armour is thinner too, a medium for sure.
|