Officially designated Panzerkampfwagen VI Sd.Kfz 181, Tiger Ausf. E, the Tiger tank was the first tank to use animal names by the German army (such as Panther, Tiger, Elephant) as a propaganda tool to draw attention. Production started in July 1942 with the first Tigers delivered in August 1942. There is only one official production version for the Tiger 1, although several modifications had been made as suggested by battle experienced crews. These modifications began to be known as the early, mid and late production Tigers.

The mid production models saw the replacement of the commander's cupola which was shorter and used seven periscopes instead of vision ports. The commander's hatch now swivels to the side, an MG34 ring mount was added to the turret top for anti-aircraft defense, a gun travel lock at the rear was added and the dual headlights were replaced with a single centrally mounted headlight. The rubber rimmed road wheels were retained but the first outer wheels were often removed due to the muddy and snowy terrain on the Eastern front. Zimmerit was applied from August 1943 onwards. The smoke dischargers, pistol ports on the turret sides and Feifel air cleaners were discontinued. About 470 units of mid production series were produced between July 1943 and January 1944.