The most legendary Soviet tank of World War II is the T-34, overwhelming in numbers, they built 84,000 T-34s which proved ti be ahead of its time when Operation Barbarossa begun in 1941, this medium tank playing a vital role in both defensive and offensive operations and served over 40 countries, some still in service today!
Development of the T-34 started in 1936 and the first sample was assembled in 1939, during trials many improvements were made until the first mass-produced model (T-34 Mod. 1940) leaves the factory. Designed with a 45 mm sloped armor with an effective thickness of 70 mm, the T-34 proved to be very hard to penetrate, the combination of relative lightweight of 26.8 tons, wide tracks and the 500 hp Model V-2 V12 engine provided a very good mobility in a ll terrains and a top speed of 54 kmh.
The crew of 4 men (driver, aux.driver, gunner and commander) could use a 76.2 mm L11 cannon and a pair of 7.62 mm DT machine gun, later models changed the main gun to the 76.2 mm F-34 due to problems with the previous gun.
After the battle of Kursk the Red Army issued the need for a more powerful weapon in the T-34 which lead to the T-34-85 armed with an 85 mm D-5T cannon and thicker armor up to 60 mm and weight of 30.2 tons, the new gun proved to be effective against the German Tiger I heavy tank. The T-34 series served as a basis for the late T-44 and T-54 Soviet tanks.
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