The Hetzer 38(t) was built on Czechoslovakia's LT-38 chassis. The LT-38 was approved for mass production in 1938 at the Skoda factory when, in March 1939, Czechoslovakia fell into German hands. Recognizing the brilliant design features the tank remained in production for the Third Reich as the Panzer 38(t). The tank its self becoming obsolete by 1942 the chassis lived on in many different AVF versions.
One of these versions came late in the war, the "Hetzer". Completely redesigned as a tank hunter, the chassis of the original LT-38 was virtually unchanged with the exceptions of being made a little wider to allow for the larger gun and the tracks were strengthened and slightly widened for improved mobility.

Outside the Hetzer was well designed with nicely slopped armour all around . With excellent mobility, this little machine was quite deceiving while weighing just under 16 tons and standing almost 7-ft tall, it packed a punch that was capable of destroying most enemy tanks it encountered while it's small size made it a hard target to hit. It's small size was also an asset when it came to concealment. With only one year of service the Hetzer proved its self on the battlefield.

Despite its success, this vehicle though liked by the German military, its crews were not as enthusiastic. The occupants were cramped and the layout for the crew was poor. For example, placing the gunner and loader on the left side of a right handed operation. The commander also had to deal with limited visibility.

Another drawback was the main gun's limited traverse, in fact of all the German tank hunting AFVs, the Hetzer had the least. 11-degrees right and a mere 5-degrees left. Tactically this put the crew in danger when it became necessary to move the entire vehicle to catch a target while exposing it's thinner 20mm thick side to any other enemy fire compared to its 60mm frontal armour.

The great success of the Hetzer prompted the Germans to draw plans for a series of light armoured vehicles with an up-gunned weapon but these plans never materialized due to the war's end.

A total of 1,577 were built between April 1944 to may 1945. A flame-trower version called the Flammpanzer 38(t) also saw service. In September 1944, Skoda joined BMM in producing the Hetzer which they continued to do so even after the war. Switzerland purchased 158 for her army designating it the Pz Jg G13. This was between the years 1947 and 1952. These vehicles remained in service till 1970.