This time though the Soviets counter-attacked. The German plan was to break through and surround a Red Army group, as they had successfully done earlier in the war. The T-34 was the backbone of the Red Army during the epic Battle of Kursk in 1943, the largest tank battle ever fought. Finally, there were too many of them to count.' 'In front of me appeared fifteen, then thirty, then forty tanks. Later T-34s had pistol ports on either side of the turret if the fighting got really close-up. In addition to the main armament, the T-34 also packed two machine guns, one in the hull and one coaxial with the big gun, for tackling infantry at shorter range. When the Germans introduced new tanks like the Tiger with ever-heavier protection, the Soviets fitted the T-34 with an upsized turret mounting and an even bigger gun, the 85mm ZiS-S-53, which remained effective throughout the war and long after. The T-34 also fired the F-354 high explosive round to knock out buildings or bunkers. This fired a 14-pound armor-piercing projectile able to punch through two inches of steel armor at 1,000 yards. While other tanks were armed with 50mm (2-inch) caliber guns firing six-pound shells, the T-34 packed a new 76mm (3-inch) gun, the F-34. “One determined 37mm gun crew reported firing 23 times against a single T-34 tank, only managing to jam the tank’s turret ring,” stated a German officer. Stalin signed the order to begin production in April 1940, and by June the first T-34s were rolling off the production line.Īn illustration of the Soviet T-34 tank from the November 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics. Previously tanks had been lumbering battleships or fast but fragile tankettes, so combining speed, protection, and firepower into one package was a huge challenge and would require an innovative design. It would also carry a bigger cannon than the T-26, giving it the ability to take on fortifications as well as enemy tanks. In response, Red Army planners drew up specifications for a new 26-ton medium tank, one which would be fast and mobile but also much better protected. “These tanks take heavy losses without fail,” wrote defense minister Voroshilov in 1937. The big problem was that the T-26 was too easily destroyed by light anti-tank weapons and even improvised weapons, liked Molotov cocktails. But they had some unacceptable weaknesses. Years before Operation Barbarossa, Soviet T-26 tanks had easily outmatched German and Italian tanks during the Spanish Civil War. A formation of Soviet T-26 model light tanks, 1936.

Ww2 battle tanks t 34 vs tiger reddit