The first prototype of the Jagdpanzer Rakete was completed by Hanomag under the designation RU 234. This was followed by a further six prototypes which were completed from 1963, three of which were built by Hanomag (the RU 341, RU 342 and RU 343) and three by Henschel (which is today Rheinmetall Landsysteme) (the RU 344, RU 345 and RU 346). The Jagdpanzer Rakete succeeded the Jagdpanzer Kanone in production in 1967 and 370 were built by the following year, 185 by Hanomag and 185 by the then Henschel.

These were fitted with two launchers for the Aerospatiale SS-11 wire-guided ATGW with a maximum range of 3,000 m. Following successful trials with prototype vehicles, 316 of the 370 SS-11 armed vehicles were rebuilt with the Euromissile K3S HOT ATGW system. The first vehicles were handed over by Thyssen Henschel (which subsequently became Henschel Wehrtechnik) in 1978 with final deliveries in 1983.

As previously stated, the German Army took delivery of 316 vehicles fitted with the Euromissile K3S HOT installation under the name of Jaguar 1.

With the reduction in size of the German Army following the end of the Cold War significant quantities of Jaguar self-propelled ATGW vehicles have become surplus to requirements.

The all-welded steel hull of the Jagdpanzer Jaguar 1 has the fighting compartment at the front and the power pack compartment at the rear. The power pack compartment is separated from the crew compartment by a bulkhead. The driver sits at the front of the hull on the left side and has a single-piece hatch cover that opens to his left, in front of which are three day periscopes, the centre one can be replaced by a passive night vision periscope. The 7.62 mm MG3 bow machine gunner sits on the right side of the hull and has a single-piece hatch cover that opens to the right, forward of which are three day periscopes.

The power pack compartment is at the rear of the hull with the MTU MB 837 diesel engine on the left side, cooling system on the right side and the Renk HSWL 123 transmission at the rear. The engine compartment is equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing system, which is activated automatically in the event of fire.

The torsion bar suspension system either side consists of five dual rubber-tyred road wheels with the idler at the front, drive sprocket at the rear and three track-return rollers. The first, second, fourth and fifth road wheel stations have a hydraulic shock-absorber. The Jagdpanzer Jaguar 1 is equipped with passive night vision equipment and an NBC system. The basic vehicle can ford to a depth of 1.2 m and with a kit to 1.8 m.

The missile fire-control system operates as follows. The missile operator tracks the target through his periscopic day sight which is mounted in the forward part of the roof and has a two-stage magnification, the first stage being ×4 (with a 13° field of view) and the second ×12 (with a 4.3° field of view). Traverse is 140° and elevation from -20 to +20°. The HOT missile is launched and when it has travelled between 30 and 50 m is armed. The booster stage accelerates the missile to 240 m/s in one second and this speed is then kept constant throughout the flight by the sustainer stage. Once the missile hits the target the launcher arm is depressed vertically into the magazine, which holds eight HOT missiles, and a new missile is loaded. This takes several seconds and once accomplished the launch cycle can begin again. Average firing rate is 3 rds/min. Hit probability against a fixed target (2.3 × 2.3 m) or moving target (2.3 × 4.6 m) is 80 per cent at ranges of up to 500 m and almost 100 per cent at ranges between 500 and 4,000 m. A thermal night sight was developed to enable the vehicle to engage enemy armour at night and in bad weather.

The RZ 1201 thermal imaging sight cost about DM10 million to develop and uses Raytheon Systems Company thermal imaging modules. First company trials of the HOT with this sight, also called the NZBG (Night Target and Observation Equipment), took place in November 1984 at the Meldorf range in Germany. During these trials stationary and moving targets were engaged and hit at ranges of over 2,000 m by both day and night.

The HOT missile is carried in its launch tube and is treated like a normal round of ammunition. The total weight of missile and launch tube is 32 kg; it is 1.3 m long and 175 mm in diameter. The missile itself weighs 23 kg at launch with the single first-generation HEAT warhead weighing 6 kg including fuze. The warhead is of the HEAT type, contains 3 kg of explosive and its diameter is 136 mm. Flight times are 9 seconds to 2,000 m, 13 seconds to 3,000 m and 17.3 seconds to 4,000 m.

In 1985, the HOT 2 entered production with delivery of first production missiles in 1986 after which time production of the HOT 1 ceased. HOT 2 has its warhead diameter increased from 136 mm to 150 mm and the explosive charge increased from 3 kg to 4.1 kg with no actual increase in missile weight. The HOT 2 warhead will penetrate 1,300 mm of conventional steel armour.

Other modifications to the vehicle have included the addition of spaced armour to the front and sides of the hull, consisting of a layer of steel bolted to the vehicle with rubber mountings providing the space and acting as a buffer between the armour and the hull. The commander sits behind the 7.62 mm bow machine gunner and has a single-piece lift-and-swing hatch cover. He is provided with day periscopes for all-round observation and mounted to the rear of his hatch is a periscope, which can be traversed through a full 360°. A 7.62 mm MG3 machine gun is mounted externally at the commander's position.

Mounted in the bow of the vehicle on the right side is a 7.62 mm MG3 machine gun with an elevation of +15°, a depression of -8° and a traverse of 15° left and right. Some vehicles have had their 7.62 mm bow machine guns removed. A second 7.62 mm MG3 machine gun can be mounted on the roof of the vehicle at the bow gunner's position for anti-aircraft use. There are eight 76 mm electrically operated smoke grenade dischargers mounted on the rear decking firing forwards over the front of the vehicle.

Austria took delivery of 90 vehicles from the German Army which were designated the PAL 4000. These use HOT 3 missiles and 76 of the 90 will be upgraded in the near future with a thermal imager.

The Austrian Army has taken delivery of 10 Jaguar 2 without the TOW ATGW and these are being used as command post vehicles under the designation of the FuePz Jaguar 2.

In 1978, Thyssen Henschel completed two prototypes of the Jagdpanzer Rakete armed with the Raytheon Systems Company TOW system, known as the Jaguar 2.

These have now been removed from front line service.

A total of 750 Jagdpanzer Kanone (JPZ 4-5) self-propelled anti-tank guns were built for the German Army between 1965 and 1967. In addition, 80 of an improved model were built for the Belgian Army. None of these remain in front-line service. Some of these German vehicles were converted into observation vehicles with the 90 mm guns removed.