T 34 85 gun. History of creation

The designation T-34-85 was worn by the last generation of the T-34. It was a tank of the last year of the war and the post-war period. The number 85 denoted a new increased gun caliber. The place of the 76-mm guns of the previous issues was taken by the new 85-mm gun D-5T or ZIS-S-53. We note right away that the ZIS brand meant "Plant named after Stalin", but had nothing to do with the famous Moscow Automobile Plant. A completely different plant with the same name, located in Podlipki near Moscow (now the city of Korolev), produced artillery pieces developed at SKB-38 (later TsAKB), which was led by the famous designer V.A. Grabin. The new gun of the main caliber allowed the crew of the "thirty-four" to hit the target at a distance of up to 1.5-2 kilometers. Within a radius of a kilometer from the tank, a projectile fired from a D-5T or ZIS-S-53 pierced armor up to 100 mm thick. The sub-caliber projectile coped with armor up to 138 mm, but only at a distance of a maximum of half a kilometer. Such parameters were laid down in the terms of reference formulated on the basis of the experience gained during the Battle of Kursk, the Oryol offensive operation, the battles for Prokhorvka - the largest tank battles of the war. Soviet tankers had to endure heavy battles with Tigers, Panthers, Ferdinand self-propelled guns, so they needed a tank with more powerful weapons.

Tanks with the D-5T cannon differed from the vehicles with the ZIS-S-53 cannon, first of all, by the cannon mask: the former had it already. Instead of the TSh-15 sight (telescopic, articulated) on the T-34 with the D-5T gun, there was a TSh-16 sight. Tanks with a ZIS-S-53 cannon had an electric turret traverse that could be controlled by both the tank commander and the gunner.

For a more powerful gun, the tank needed a reinforced turret. The T-34-85 differed from its predecessors with a completely new cast turret. For her, it was necessary to make a new support - a stronger shoulder strap. Thus, the T-34-85 hull differed from the T-34-76 hull in the upper turret plate.

The new large turret made it possible to increase the crew by one person. The driver, the machine gunner-radio operator sitting to his right, and the loader, who was on the right in the turret, remained in their places. But the crew commander was relieved of his duties as a gunner. This role was assigned to the fifth fighter who appeared in the car. Now the commander could fully concentrate on his main duties: to observe the terrain, identify targets, destroy them with cannons and machine guns.

Powerful fans were called to improve conditions for the crew. They were in the characteristic "fungi" visible from the outside on the tower. The guns of that time did not yet have ejectors, and spent cartridges filled the inside of the tank with toxic gases, from which many tankers died. The crews tried to quickly throw the cartridge case out of the tank. Fans, which appeared on the T-34-85, made it possible to effectively deal with the concentration of harmful gases. The tanks, which were produced in Gorky by Krasnoe Sormovo (aka Factory No. 112), had fungi located differently than the machines of the Ural factories. In the post-war T-34-85, instead of the double-leaf hatch of the commander's cupola, a new single-leaf hatch was installed.

The engine, power transmission and chassis of the "thirty-four" remained virtually unchanged. Back in the days of the T-34-76 in 1943, the tank had a five-speed gearbox instead of a four-speed one. Then in 1943, under the leadership of the Chief Designer A.A. Morozov, the units of T-34 tanks produced by different factories were standardized.

The T-34-85 is considered the "Model 1943". The autumn and winter months were spent designing new weapons for the T-34 through the joint efforts of artillery and tank designers. The first car of the new model was assembled at Krasny Sormovo on December 31, 1943. In January and February, new cars were produced only in Gorky, and little by little - only 100 cars in two months. And only in March 1944, their production was mastered by the head enterprise No. 183 - Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil. And in the summer, the T-34-85 went into production at factory No. 174 in Omsk. The most massive were the Nizhny Tagil tanks - in 1944-1945 they were built at about 720-730 per month. In second place were Sormovo - the monthly productivity of the plant was approximately 315 cars. Finally, in Omsk, the production of "thirty-fours" was kept at a modest level of 150-200 cars every month. The mass production and the difference in technologies at different plants determined the different cost of tanks. In 1945, the Nizhny Tagil T-34-85 cost 136,800 rubles, Gorky - 173 thousand rubles, Omsk - 170 thousand rubles.

Officially, T-34-85 tanks were produced until 1946. But the new T-54 tank that replaced them was still practically not ready for production. It took a whole year to modernize the equipment to transfer the factories to its production. All this time, in Nizhny Tagil, Chelyabinsk and Gorky, “thirty-fours” were assembled from the stock of components, so their release was completed only in 1947. Licenses for the production of the T-34-85 were transferred to the fraternal socialist countries - Poland and Czechoslovakia, where their modernized versions were produced in the 50s.

Although the late "thirty-fours" with 85-mm weapons appeared before all of Europe in the last year of the war, and then participated in post-war conflicts, until 1958 the T-34-85 officially remained a secret tank. Only after the neck was removed, the old tanks began to be installed on pedestals as monuments. Most often, T-34-85s were used for this, since much more of them survived than T-34-76s. Also, it was the late "eighty-fifths" that usually starred in feature films about the war.

But the T-34-85 in the post-war decades was often used for its intended purpose during various armed conflicts, because it was in service with the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact, as well as Albania, Angola, Congo, Cuba, Vietnam, China, North Korea, Mongolia , Egypt, Guinea, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Mali, Syria, Finland, Yugoslavia. For example, during the Middle East wars that began in 1967, Arab troops fought against Israel in Czech T-34s. "Thirty-fours" in the early 50s participated in the Korean War, and in the 60-70s - in the Vietnam War. The last cases of mass use of the T-34-85 were noted during the civil war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Interestingly, in their homeland, the T-34-85 was finally withdrawn from service not in the Soviet, but in the Russian army. The corresponding decree was issued in September 1997, that is, after the first war in Chechnya.

Technical specifications

The Soviet "thirty-four", recognized as one of the best combat vehicles of the Second World War, is rightfully considered a classic of world tank building. At the same time, the tank that met the war in 1941 looked noticeably different by the time it was victoriously completed. Having retained all his main external features, he significantly added in fighting qualities. According to the results of the work of Soviet developers, done by them during the most difficult war, in the modification of the T-34-85 tank they created, all the previously laid down design solutions were, without exaggeration, brought to perfection.

Reasons for the modernization of the T-34

From the very first days of the attack on the USSR, German troops, faced with the latest Soviet T-34 and KV tanks, recognized them as an extremely dangerous enemy for themselves. Moreover, Germany, with all its industrial power and reliance on the resources of Europe conquered by it, turned out to be unable to oppose anything comparable in response for quite a long time. The first attempt of this kind in the form of modernization of its most powerful Pz-IV tank in 1942 turned out to be ineffective, despite the fact that these tanks began to weigh much more and their cross-country ability dropped sharply.

Nevertheless, due to the development of new models of tanks, primarily the Pz-V "Panther", the Third Reich was able to count on significant successes in the tank confrontation with the Soviet Army by the middle of 1943. With the advent of the "Panthers", the German tactics that had developed by that time of using their tank forces with predominantly "anti-tank" tasks (tank ambushes, local counterattacks) got the opportunity for more active offensive actions.

Such an attempt on the German side was the grandiose Battle of Kursk, after the defeat in which Germany finally lost the chance to win the war. At the same time, the victory at Kursk cost the Soviet side too. The new German tanks showed in this battle their ability to almost certainly hit the armor of the T-34 from a distance of 1.5 kilometers. At the same time, the 76-mm T-34 cannon, which was so effective earlier, could penetrate the frontal armor of the Panther from a distance of no more than 100 meters.

Of course, the newest German tanks Pz-V and Pz-VI were an order of magnitude more massive and clearly "older in class" than the T-34 tanks. But to create an opportunity for a successful confrontation with such an enemy at the distances of a real tank battle has become one of the most important tasks set by the top Soviet leadership for the designers of domestic tanks. This was a key condition in the course of the current fundamental change in the war in order to achieve its victorious end sooner and with fewer losses.

Main goals and tasks

After the death of the main creator of the T-34, Mikhail Koshkin, the design bureau, headed by Alexander Morozov, continued to improve the T-34 from the first years of the war. On the basis of this tank, in the summer of 1942, the development of a new model began, in which a number of significant design changes were supposed to be made. First of all, this concerned the replacement of the type of suspension with a torsion bar and the strengthening of armor protection. The new version of the Soviet medium tank was originally planned to be called the T-43.

Despite the very attractive prospects of the new vehicle, the finalization of its design without loss for performance characteristics required time, which, as it became obvious from the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, seriously multiplied the losses of Soviet tanks in the confrontation with the German "tigers" and "panthers". In addition, the launch of the T-43 series would inevitably lead to the failure of the barely established mass production of the T-34, and such a solution was assessed as unacceptable.

A more rational leadership of the USSR seemed to be a deep modernization of the T-34, during which it was supposed to introduce innovations intended for the T-43 into its design as organically as possible. Ultimately, this approach was embodied in the tank, called the T-34-85, which became the glorified and victorious version of the most massive tank of the Second World War.

A tough and decisive choice in favor of the updated T-34 instead of the T-43 was made at the personal request of I.V. Stalin. According to the memoirs of the chief designer of the tank A.A. Morozov, the Soviet leader on this occasion gave the following comparison: “During a fire, pumps are not designed, but water is carried in everything that can be used for this.”

Design

The modernization of the T-34 tank on the basis of Stalin's personal instructions was limited to strengthening artillery weapons and improving visibility, that is, eliminating the main shortcomings of the original version. The overall layout of the medium tank has not undergone any significant changes. The main priority for the developers was simplicity and manufacturability, which helps to reduce labor costs for tank production.

The main innovation in the design of the T-34-85 was a three-man turret, which was quickly finalized on the basis of the existing backlog for the promising T-43 tank. Under this turret, changes were made to the hull design: the diameter of the turret ring was increased from 1420 to 1600 mm. The turret itself was equipped with an effective commander's cupola, which significantly improved visibility, as well as more convenient crew evacuation hatches. At the same time, the weight of the tank increased very slightly.

In general, the design of the T-34-85 fit so effectively into the established mass production that the transition to their production from the T-34-76 model had almost no effect on production volumes. Moreover, the quality of components and assemblies of Soviet medium tanks has seriously improved since 1944, thereby increasing their reliability in combat conditions.

Specifications

The T-34-85 was distinguished by the highest maneuverability and very effective cross-country characteristics for a medium tank of that time. He could overcome ups and downs with slopes up to 40 degrees, water obstacles up to 1.3 meters deep and ditches up to 2.5 meters deep.

By that time, the tank’s equipment included all devices that were quite modern for this period, including a powder gas ventilation system, a radio station, and an internal intercom.

Dimensions and weight

Armament

Initially, the T-34-85 tank was supposed to be equipped with an 85-mm D-5 cannon, which had already been successfully used on relatively small-scale KV-85, IS-85 (aka IS-1) and SU-85 tanks. But pretty soon, a simpler and cheaper to manufacture design of the ZIS-S-53 tank gun was born in the Central Artillery Design Bureau, which was based on a fairly effective anti-aircraft gun of the same 85 mm caliber, developed back in 1939. The final cost of such an artillery system turned out to be much lower than even that of the 76 mm F-34 gun.

Tank ammunition ranged from 56 to 60 shells, depending on their types. Auxiliary armament of the T-34 included two 7.62 mm DT-29 machine guns. One of them acted in a pair with a gun, the second was located in a ball mount in the upper frontal plate of the hull

Armor

The preservation of the basis of the hull design of the T-34-85 did not allow improving its armor, the parameters of which remained at the level of the previous tank model.

Strengthening the armor protection of the T-34-85 was provided by the new design of the tower. Her frontal armor has doubled, from 45 to 90 mm. The sides of the turret had 75 mm of armor and were also tilted at an angle of 20 degrees.

Engine and transmission

The power unit of the T-34-85 tank was a V-2 diesel engine with a volume of 38.88 liters, assembled mainly from lightweight aluminum-based materials, which was more typical for aviation. The unit was capable of developing a rated power of 450 horsepower. In mass-produced tanks, this indicator was far from being fully achieved, but the engine performance was more than enough not only to set the equipment in motion, but also to make rapid breakthroughs and maneuvering. An economical power plant gave the tank a cruising range of an average of 400 kilometers.

The transmission of the tank, as is typical of tracked vehicles, was based on friction clutches. The T-34-85 manual transmission had five steps. She transmitted torque through gearboxes to the onboard clutches. The drive sprockets of the caterpillars were located on the rear wheels.

Chassis

The undercarriage of the T-34 tank was based on large dual road wheels, of which there were five on each side. The driving wheels were located at the back, the steering wheels (the so-called sloths) were at the front. The rollers on each side were equipped with an individual spring suspension, the elements of which on the front rollers were protected by steel casings.

Even for the previous version of the tank, by the summer of 1942, a new cast corrugated caterpillar track 50 cm wide was developed. It turned out to be lighter and stronger than the previous smooth 55 cm track and served as the basis for the tracks of the Soviet "thirty-fours" until the end of the war.

Travel speed

The maximum speed developed by the tank was 55 km/h. The average cross-country speed was 25 km/h.

Crew

The crew of a standard T-34-85 tank consisted of five people:

• tank commander;
• driver mechanic;
• gunner-radio operator;
• gunner;
• charging.

In the fighting compartment, a driver-mechanic (on the left) and a gunner-radio operator, who controlled the course machine gun, were located in front. The remaining three crew members operated in the tank turret. Unlike the T-34-76 version, a more spacious turret allowed the tank commander to concentrate on monitoring the external situation and directing the actions of the crew, which in general significantly increased the combat effectiveness of the tank.

The total number of produced tanks

The updated T-34 appeared in December 1943, and in the shortest possible time was put into mass production. The Sormovsky plant in Gorky was the first to start producing serial tanks (in Soviet times, Nizhny Novgorod was called that), two months later, the T-34-85 began to be produced by the main assembly plant in Nizhny Tagil, and in June from the T-34-76 model to a new moved the plant in Omsk.

In general, about 23 thousand updated T-34 tanks were produced before the end of the war. Depending on the calculation methodology and the covered release dates, the data in different sources differ, but not very significantly. Wikipedia estimates the number of produced tanks in the T-34-85 modification during the war years at 22.9 thousand, and their production in the post-war period amounted to about 3.7 thousand. In addition, under the Soviet license in the 1950s, 3185 tanks of this type were manufactured in Czechoslovakia and 1980 in Poland.

It is not known exactly how many T-34 tanks were sent to other countries after they were withdrawn from service in the USSR, most often in the form of gratuitous "military assistance".

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of the T-34-85 include all those qualities that together cover the full list of advantages of a medium tank. Among them:

• highest maneuverability;
• large power reserve;
• economical engine;
• decent armor protection;
• powerful gun.

Fully reflecting these qualities, the updated T-34 showed a significantly higher reliability compared to the initial model. Given its ease of manufacture and excellent maintainability, it can be considered one of the most advanced medium tank designs in the world.

Separate shortcomings, largely due to the tension of the war period, in general, did not particularly affect the high overall level of combat capabilities of the T-34-85. Among them, experts note a weak suspension and insufficiently improved visibility, as well as the absence of a rotating place for the support of the loader, which made it difficult for him to act in battle.

Combat use

The first T-34-85 tanks appeared at the front in the spring of 1944, which fell on the final period of the Great Patriotic War, in which the USSR had a noticeable superiority over Germany and its allies. Soviet tanks became the main strike force in all major offensive operations in 1944-1945.

Possessing 85 mm cannons, the T-34s had a complete advantage in confrontation with opponents of equal class and could offer decent resistance to any of the latest German armored vehicles, especially with effective support from self-propelled guns and their own heavy tanks.

In the final stages of the Second World War, the mobility of the Soviet T-34s began to be used to the fullest. In the course of deep breakthroughs in the enemy's defenses, it was these tanks that crushed his rear and communications. Due to a sufficient power reserve and high mobility, they could, evading enemy counterattacks, preempt the enemy from occupying reserve lines of defense.

The T-34-85 tanks were also successfully used in battles against the powerful Japanese grouping that occupied northeast China and Korea. The most impressive example of the actions of the tankers was the 5-day raid of the 6th Guards Tank Army, which advanced 450 kilometers, overcoming the Greater Khingan ridge on the move, and went into the rear of the Kwantung Army.

After World War II, the T-34-85 tank was noted in several major local conflicts, including the wars of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam against France (1946-1954) and the USA (1965-1974), the Korean War of 1950-1953 , Arab-Israeli "Six-Day War" of 1967. In these battles, the Soviet-made tank very successfully opposed the best Western medium tanks of the time: American Shermans, French AMX-13s and British Centurions.

T-34-85 tanks were repeatedly used in the armed conflicts of the 1990s in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and by almost all the warring parties. In addition, the decommissioned T-34s were supplied by the Soviet Union to more than 40 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, many of which became the scene of violent internal conflicts. The facts of the participation of T-34-85 tanks in them are recorded up to the present: the last such case was noted in 2018 in the Yemeni conflict.

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History of creation

T-34-85 with D-5T gun. 38th separate tank regiment. The tank column "Dimitri Donskoy" was built at the expense of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Ironically, one of the greatest victories of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War, near Kursk, was won at a time when Soviet armored and mechanized troops were inferior in quality to German ones (see "Armored Collection" No. 3, 1999). By the summer of 1943, when the most painful design flaws of the T-34 had been eliminated, the Germans had new tanks "Tiger" and "Panther", which were noticeably superior to ours in terms of armament and armor thickness. Therefore, during the Battle of Kursk, Soviet tank units, as before, had to rely on their numerical superiority over the enemy. Only in some cases, when the "thirty-fours" managed to get close to the German tanks, did the fire of their guns become effective. The question of a radical modernization of the T-34 tank was on the agenda.

It cannot be said that by this time attempts were not made to develop more advanced tanks. This work, suspended with the outbreak of war, resumed in 1942, as the current modernization was completed and the shortcomings of the T-34 were eliminated. Here, first of all, we should mention the project of the medium tank T-43.

This combat vehicle was created taking into account the requirements for the T-34 - strengthening its armor protection, improving the suspension and increasing the volume of the fighting compartment. Moreover, the design groundwork for the pre-war T-34M tank was actively used.

The new combat vehicle was 78.5% unified with the serial "thirty-four". The hull shape of the T-43 basically remained the same, as did the engine, transmission, undercarriage elements, and gun. The main difference was the strengthening of the armor of the frontal, side and rear hull sheets up to 75 mm, the turret up to 90 mm. In addition, the place of the driver and his hatch were moved to the right side of the hull, and the place of the gunner-radio operator and the installation of the DT course machine gun were eliminated. In the forward part of the hull, on the left, a fuel tank was placed in an armored enclosure; side tanks were seized. The tank received a torsion bar suspension. The most significant innovation, which sharply distinguished the T-43 from the T-34 in appearance, was a three-seat cast turret with an extended shoulder strap and a low-profile commander's cupola.

Since March 1943, two prototypes of the T-43 tank (they were preceded by the T-43-1, built at the end of 1942, which had a driver’s hatch plug and a commander’s cupola shifted to the rear of the tower) were tested, including front-line , as part of a separate tank company named after the NKSM. They found that the T-43, due to the mass increased to 34.1 tons, is somewhat inferior to the T-34 in terms of dynamic characteristics (maximum speed decreased to 48 km / h), although it significantly surpasses the latter in terms of smoothness. After the replacement of eight on-board fuel tanks (in the T-34) with one bow of a smaller capacity, the T-43's cruising range decreased by almost 100 km, respectively. Tankers noted the spaciousness of the fighting compartment and greater ease of maintenance of weapons.

After testing, at the end of the summer of 1943, the T-43 tank was adopted by the Red Army. Preparations for its serial production began. However, the results of the Battle of Kursk made significant adjustments to these plans.

Experienced tank T-43-1. Attention is drawn to the high commander's cupola with observation slots along the perimeter, located in the aft part of the tower.

Experienced tank T-43. Its characteristic details are the driver's hatch, borrowed from the T-34, and a low-profile commander's cupola.

At the end of August, a meeting was held at plant No. 112, which was attended by the People's Commissar for the Tank Industry V.A. Malyshev, the commander of the armored and mechanized troops of the Red Army, Ya.N. In his speech, V.A. Malyshev noted that the victory in the Battle of Kursk went to the Red Army at a high price. Enemy tanks fired at ours from a distance of 1,500 m, while our 76-mm tank guns could hit "tigers" and "panthers" only from a distance of 500 - 600 m. "and we're only half a kilometer away. We need to immediately install a more powerful gun in the T-34."

In fact, the situation was much worse than V.A. Malyshev described it. But attempts to rectify the situation have been made since the beginning of 1943.

As early as April 15, the State Defense Committee, in response to the appearance of new German tanks on the Soviet-German front, issued Decree No. - One day to submit your opinion. In accordance with this document, the deputy commander of the BT and MV, Lieutenant General of the Tank Forces V.M. The test results were disappointing. So, the 76-mm armor-piercing tracer of the F-34 cannon did not penetrate the side armor of a German tank even from a distance of 200 m! The most effective means of combating the enemy’s new heavy vehicle turned out to be the 85-mm anti-aircraft gun 52K of the 1939 model, which pierced its 100-mm frontal armor from a distance of up to 1000 m.

On May 5, 1943, the State Defense Committee adopted Decree No. 3289ss "On strengthening the artillery armament of tanks and self-propelled guns." In it, the NKTP and the NKV were given specific tasks to create tank guns with anti-aircraft ballistics.

Back in January 1943, the design bureau of plant No. 9, led by F.F. Petrov, began to develop such a gun. By May 27, 1943, working drawings of the D-5T-85 cannon were issued, designed according to the type of German tank-propelled guns and distinguished by its low weight and short recoil length. In June, the first D-5Ts were made in metal. Around the same time, prototypes of other 85-mm tank guns were ready: TsAKB (chief designer V.G. Grabin) presented the S-53 guns (leading designers T.I. Sergeev and G.I. Shabarov) and S-50 (leading designers V.D. Meshchaninov, A.M. Volgevsky and V.A. Tyurin), and artillery plant No. 92 - gun LB-85 A.I. Savin. Thus, by the middle of 1943, four versions of the 85-mm gun, intended for arming a medium tank, were ready for testing. But what is it?

The T-43 disappeared quite quickly - this machine weighed 34.1 tons even with a 76-mm gun. Installing a more powerful, and therefore heavier, gun would entail a further increase in mass, with all the ensuing negative consequences. In addition, the transition of factories to the production of a new tank, although it had much in common with the T-34, would inevitably cause a decrease in production volumes. And it was holy! As a result, the serial production of the T-43 did not begin. In 1944, an 85-mm cannon was nevertheless installed on it on an experimental basis, and that was it.

In the meantime, the D-5T gun was quite successfully assembled in a promising heavy tank IS. To install the D-5T in the T-34 medium tank, it was necessary to increase the diameter of the turret ring and install a new turret. The design bureau of the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, headed by V.V. Krylov, and the tower group of plant No. 183, led by A.A. Moloshtanov and M.A. Nabutovsky, worked on this problem. As a result, two very similar cast towers appeared with a clear diameter of 1600 mm. Both of them resembled (but did not copy!) the turret of the experimental T-43 tank, which was taken as the basis for the design.

The progress of work was negatively affected by the promise of the TsAKB management to install the 85-mm S-53 cannon in the regular turret of the T-34 tank with a shoulder strap diameter of 1420 mm. V.G. Grabin ensured that the plant N ° 112 gave him a serial tank, on which the front part of the turret was redone in the TsAKB, in particular, the trunnions of the gun were moved forward by 200 mm. Grabin tried to approve this project from V.A. Malyshev. However, the latter had serious doubts about the expediency of such a decision, especially since the tests of the new gun in the old tower, carried out at the Gorokhovetsky training ground, ended in failure. Two people, who were in the turret, which had become even tighter, could not properly service the gun. Ammunition was also drastically reduced. Malyshev ordered M.A. Nabutovsky to fly to plant N9 112 and sort everything out. At a special meeting, in the presence of D.F. Ustinov and Ya.N. Fedorenko, Nabutovsky completely criticized the Grabinsk project. It became obvious that there was no alternative to a tower with an extended shoulder strap.

At the same time, it turned out that the S-53 cannon, which won the competitive tests, could not be installed in a tower designed by the Sormovichi. When installed in this tower, the gun had a limited vertical aiming angle. It was required either to change the design of the tower, or to install another gun, for example, the D-5T, which would be freely assembled into a Sormovo tower.

According to the plan, the Krasnoye Sormovo plant was supposed to produce 100 T-34 tanks with the D-5T gun by the end of 1943, however, the first combat vehicles of this type left its workshops only at the beginning of January 1944, that is, in fact, before the official adoption of the new tank into armament. GKO Decree No. 5020ss, according to which the T-34-85 was adopted by the Red Army, saw the light only on January 23, 1944.

One of the first T-34-85 tanks with a D-5T gun at the Kubinka training ground. The cannon mask, antenna input on the right side of the hull, handrails on the frontal armor, etc., typical only for this modification, are clearly visible.

The same car, view from the left side. Pay attention to the location of the commander's turret and the additional fuel tank, which are strongly displaced forward, as well as the eyelets made of bars for dismantling the turret. The observation slot in the left side of the tower is typical only for Sormovo vehicles with a D-5T gun.

Tanks armed with the D-5T cannon differed markedly from the vehicles of a later release in appearance and internal structure. The tank turret was double, and the crew consisted of four people. On the roof of the tower there was a commander's turret with a double-leaf lid, which rotated on a ball bearing, strongly shifted forward. An MK-4 viewing periscope device was fixed in the lid, which made it possible to conduct a circular view. For firing from a cannon and a coaxial machine gun, a TSh-15 telescopic articulated sight and a PTK-5 panorama were installed. Both sides of the tower had observation slots with triplex glass blocks. The radio station was located in the hull, and the input of its antenna was on the starboard side, just like the T-34 tank. Ammunition consisted of 56 rounds and 1953 rounds. The power plant, transmission and chassis have not changed much. These tanks differed somewhat among themselves depending on the time of release. For example, early production machines had one tower fan, and most subsequent ones had two.

It should be noted that the modification discussed above in the statistical reporting as T-34-85, apparently, does not appear. In any case, today there are significant discrepancies in the estimates of the number of cars produced, given in the literature. Basically, the numbers fluctuate in the range of 500 - 700 tanks. In fact, much less! The fact is that in 1943 283 D-5T guns were produced, in 1944 - 260, and in total - 543. Of this number, 107 guns were installed on IS-1 tanks, 130 (according to other sources, no more than 100) -on KV-85 tanks, several guns were used on prototypes of combat vehicles. Thus, the number of T-34 tanks fired with the D-5T gun is close to 300 units.

As for the S-53 gun, its installation in the Nizhny Tagil tower did not cause any difficulties. By a GKO decree of January 1, 1944, the S-53 was adopted by the Red Army. In March, the production of these guns began in the commissioning mode, and in May - in the stream. Accordingly, in March, the first T-34-85 tanks armed with S-53 left the workshops of plant No. 183 in Nizhny Tagil. Following the lead one, factories No. 174 in Omsk and No. 112 "Krasnoye Sormovo" started the production of such machines. At the same time, the Sormovichi still installed D-5T guns on parts of the tanks.

Tower of the plant "Krasnoe Sormovo" with a gun D-5T. The first machines produced had only one tower fan.

T-34-85 plant "Krasnoye Sormovo". An intermediate model, which retained the characteristic details of the early Sormovo machines, is an external fuel tank shifted forward and rod eyes.

Field tests, which continued despite the start of production, revealed significant defects in the C-53 recoil devices. Artillery Plant No. 92 in Gorky was instructed to carry out its revision on its own. In November - December 1944, the production of this gun began under the index ZIS-S-53 ("ZIS" - the index of the artillery plant No. 92 named after Stalin, "C" - the TsAKB index). In total, 11,518 S-53 guns and 14,265 ZIS-S-53 guns were manufactured in 1944-1945. The latter were installed both on the T-34-85 and T-44 tanks.

For "thirty-fours" with S-53 or ZIS-S-53 guns, the tower became three local, and the commander's cupola was moved closer to its stern. The radio station was moved from the building to the tower. Viewing devices were installed only a new type - MK-4. The commander's panorama PTK-5 was seized. They also took care of the engine: the Cyclone air cleaners were replaced with more efficient Multicyclone ones. The rest of the units and systems of the tank remained practically unchanged.

As was the case with the T-34, the T-34-85 tanks had some differences from each other related to the manufacturing technology at different factories. The towers differed in the number and location of the casting seams, the shape of the commander's cupola.

In the chassis, both stamped road wheels and cast ones with developed fins were used.

In January 1945, the two-leaf hatch cover of the commander's cupola was replaced with a single-leaf. On post-war tanks (Krasnoye Sormovo plant), one of the two fans installed in the aft part of the turret was moved to its central part, which contributed to better ventilation of the fighting compartment.

At the end of the war, an attempt was made to strengthen the armament of the tank. AT

T-34-85 with D-5T gun. The main production version.

In 1945, field tests of prototypes of medium tanks T-34-100 with a turret shoulder strap widened to 1700 mm, armed with 100-mk< пушками Л Б-1 и Д-10Т. На этих танках, масса которых достигла 33 т, был изъят курсовой пулемет и на одного человека сокращен экипаж; снижена высота башни; уменьшена толщина днища, крыши над двигателем и крыши башни; перенесены в отделение управления топливные баки; опущено сиденье механика-водителя; подвеска 2-го и 3-го опорных катков выполнена так же, как и подвеска первых катков; поставлены пятироликовые ведущие колеса. Танк Т-34-100 на вооружение принят не был - 100-мм пушка оказалась "неподъемной" для "тридцатьчетверки". Работа эта вообще имела мало смысла, поскольку на вооружение уже был принят новый средний танк Т-54 со 100-мм~ пушкой Д-10Т.

Another attempt to strengthen the armament of the T-34-85 was made in 1945, when the TsAKB developed a modification, the ZIS-S-53, equipped with a single-plane gyroscopic stabilizer, the ZIS-S-54. However, this artillery system did not go into the series.

But another version of the T-34-85 with weapons different from the base tank was mass-produced. We are talking about the flamethrower tank OT-34-85. Like its predecessor, the OT-34, this machine was equipped with an ATO-42 automatic piston tank flamethrower from plant No. 222 instead of a course machine gun.

Slippers T-34-85 before the parade. Leningrad, November 7, 1945. On the left of the car, the characteristic armor mask of the S-53 cannon is clearly visible.

Form of armored masks

Left: S-53 cannon

Right: ZIS-S-53 cannon

Flamethrower tanks OT-34-85 on the street. Gorky in Moscow before the May Day parade in 1946.

In the spring of 1944, at the former plant No. 183, restored after the liberation of Kharkov, which was assigned No. 75, prototypes of the AT-45 heavy tractor, intended for towing guns weighing up to 22 tons, were manufactured. The AT-45 was designed on the basis of the units of the T-34-85 tank . It was equipped with the same V-2 diesel engine, but with a power reduced to 350 hp. at 1400 rpm. In 1944, the plant manufactured 6 AT-45 tractors, two of which were sent to the troops for testing in combat conditions. The production of tractors was stopped in August 1944 in connection with the preparation at plant No. 75 of the production of a new model of the T-44 medium tank. It will not be superfluous to recall that this tractor was not the first built on the basis of the thirty-four units. So, back in August 1940, they approved the project of the AT-42 artillery tractor weighing 17 tons, with a platform with a carrying capacity of 3 tons. With a V-2 engine with a power of 500 hp. it was supposed to reach speeds of up to 33 km / h with a hook pull of 15 tons. The prototypes of the AT-42 tractor were manufactured in 1941, but further work on their testing and production had to be curtailed due to the evacuation of the plant from Kharkov.

Serial production of the T-34-85 in the Soviet Union was stopped in 1946 (according to some sources, it continued in small batches at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant until 1950). As for the number of T-34-85 tanks produced by one or another plant, then, as in the case of the T-34, there are noticeable discrepancies in the figures given in different sources.

Experienced tank T-34-100.

This table shows data for 1944 and 1945 only. Tanks T-34-85 commander and OT-34-85 were not produced in 1946.

Modernized in the post-war years, the T-34-85 tank. On the right side of the hull, the IR illuminator FG-100 of the night vision device is clearly visible.

Comparing the data of the two tables shows a discrepancy in the number of tanks produced in 1944. And this is despite the fact that the tables are compiled according to the most common and most reliable data. In a number of sources, you can find other figures for 1945: 6208, 2655 and 1540 tanks, respectively. However, these numbers reflect the production of tanks for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters of 1945, that is, approximately at the end of World War II. Differences in figures do not make it possible to absolutely accurately indicate the number of T-34 and T-34-85 tanks produced from 1940 to 1946. This number ranges from 61,293 to 61,382 units.

Foreign sources give the following figures for the production of T-34-85 in the USSR in the post-war years: 1946 - 5500, 1947 - 4600, 1948 - 3700, 1949-900, 1950 - 300 units. Judging by the number of zeros, these figures are likely to be very approximate. If we take as a basis the number of vehicles produced in 1946, which is doubled in these sources, and assume that all other figures are inflated in the same way, it turns out that 4750 T-34-85 tanks were produced in 1947-1950. This indeed seems to be true. Indeed, one cannot seriously assume that our tank industry has been idle for almost five years? The production of the T-44 medium tank ceased in 1947, and the factories began mass production of the new T-54 tank almost only in 1951. As a result, the number of T-34 and T-34-85 tanks manufactured in the USSR exceeds 65,000.

Despite the introduction of new T-44 and T-54 tanks into the troops, "thirty-fours" made up a significant part of the tank fleet of the Soviet Army in the post-war years. Therefore, these combat vehicles were modernized in the course of major repairs in the 50s. First of all, the changes affected the engine, which as a result received the name V-34-M11. Two VTI-3 air cleaners with ejection dust extraction were installed; a nozzle heater was built into the cooling and lubrication systems; the GT-4563A generator with a power of 1000 W was replaced by a G-731 generator with a power of 1500 W.

To drive a car at night, the driver received a BVN night vision device. At the same time, an FG-100 IR illuminator appeared on the right side of the hull. The observation device MK-4 in the commander's cupola was replaced by the commander's observation device TPK-1 or TPKU-2B.

Instead of the DT machine gun, a modernized DTM machine gun was installed, equipped with a PPU-8T telescopic sight. Instead of the PPSh submachine gun, the AK-47 assault rifle was introduced into the laying of the personal weapons of the crew members.

Since 1952, the 9-R radio station was replaced by the 10-RT-26E radio station, and the TPU-Zbis-F intercom was replaced by TPU-47.

Other systems and units of the tank have not changed.

The vehicles upgraded in this way became known as T-34-85 of the 1960 model.

In the 60s, tanks were equipped with more advanced TVN-2 night vision devices and R-123 radios. In the chassis, road wheels were installed, borrowed from the T-55 tank.

Some of the tanks in the late 50s were converted into T-34T evacuation tractors, which differed from each other in the presence or absence of a winch or rigging equipment. The tower was dismantled in all cases. Instead, in the version of the maximum configuration, a loading platform was installed. Tool boxes were mounted on the fender liner. Platforms for pushing tanks were welded to the nose sheets of the hull using a log. On the right, in front of the hull, a boom crane with a lifting capacity of 3 tons was installed; in the middle part of the hull - a winch driven by an engine. Of the armament, only the course machine gun was preserved.

Part of the T-34T tractors, as well as linear tanks, were equipped with BTU bulldozers and STU snowplows.

To ensure the repair of tanks in the field, a self-propelled crane SPK-5, then SPK-5 / 10M, was developed and mass-produced (or rather, converted from linear tanks). Crane equipment with a lifting capacity of up to 10 tons made it possible to remove and install tank turrets. The car was equipped with a V-2-34Kr engine, which differed from the standard one by the presence of a power take-off mechanism.

In the 1960s and 1970s, a significant number of tanks, after the dismantling of weapons, were converted into chemical reconnaissance vehicles.

T-34-85, which passed the final stage of modernization in the 60s. Noteworthy are the new road wheels, the form of the antenna input of the R-123 radio station, as well as the second external fuel tank and a box for an individual refueling pump on the left side of the hull. Moscow, May 9, 1985.

Tractor T-34T with a set of rigging equipment, a loading platform, a boom crane and a set of accessories for repair work.

Self-propelled crane SPK-5. Kyiv, Museum of the Great Patriotic War, 1985.

T-34-85 issued in 1944.

In 1949, Czechoslovakia acquired a license for the production of the T-34-85 medium tank. She was given design and technological documentation, provided technical assistance by Soviet specialists. In the winter of 1952, the first T-34-85 of Czechoslovak production left the workshops of the CKD Praha Sokolovo plant (according to other sources, the Stalin plant in the city of Rudy Martin). Thirty-fours were produced in Czechoslovakia until 1958. A total of 3185 units were manufactured, a significant part of which was exported. On the basis of these tanks, Czechoslovak designers developed the MT-34 bridge layer, the CW-34 evacuation tractor and a number of other vehicles.

A similar license was acquired by the Polish People's Republic in 1951. The production of T-34-85 tanks was launched at the Bumar Labedy plant. The first four cars were assembled by May 1, 1951, while some of the components and assemblies were brought from the USSR. In 1953 - 1955, the Polish Army received 1185 tanks of its own production, and in total 1380 T-34-85 were produced in Poland.

Polish T-34s were upgraded twice under the T-34-85M1 and T-34-85M2 programs. During these upgrades, they received a pre-heater, the engine was adapted to operate on various types of fuel, mechanisms were introduced to facilitate tank control, otherwise the ammunition was placed. Thanks to the introduction of a remote control system for the course machine gun, the tank crew was reduced to 4 people. Finally, the Polish "thirty-fours" were equipped with underwater driving equipment.

On the basis of the T-34-85 tanks in Poland, several samples of engineering and repair and recovery vehicles were developed and produced.

In total, T-34-85 tanks (including those produced in Czechoslovakia and Poland) were manufactured over 35 thousand units, and if you add T-34 tanks here - 70 thousand, which makes the "thirty-four" the most massive combat vehicle in the world.

Polish-made T-34-85M2 tank with a sealed mask installation. An OPVT pipe is fixed on the left side of the hull in the stowed position.

Characteristic differences between Polish-made tanks: flanging around the mask-installation of a course machine gun for attaching a sealing cover - at the top; figured casting of armor protection of the exhaust pipe and the pipe itself with a flare - at the bottom.