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T-34 Variants
The T-34 medium tank is one of the most-produced and longest-lived tanks of all time. Identification of T-34 variants can be complicated. Turret castings, superficial details, and equipment differed between factories; new features were added in the middle of production runs, or retrofitted to older tanks; damaged tanks were rebuilt, sometimes with the addition of newer-model equipment and even new turrets. Some tanks had appliqué armor made of scrap steel of varying thickness welded onto the hull and turret; these tanks are called ''s ekranami'' ("with screens"), although this was never an official designation for any T-34 variant. Model naming Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, newly declassified sources have demonstrated that all T-34s with the original turret and F-34 gun (conventionally known as Models 1941 and 1942) were officially called "Model 1941", and hexagonal-turret T-34 (Model 1943) was officially called "Model 1942". German intelligence in World War II ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T-34
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The Christie suspension was inherited from the design of American J. Walter Christie's M1928 tank, versions of which were sold turret-less to the Red Army and documented as "farm tractors", after being rejected by the U.S. Army. The T-34 had a profound effect on the conflict on the Eastern Front in the Second World War, and had a short lasting impact on tank design. After the Germans encountered the tank in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, German general Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist called it "the finest tank in the world" and Heinz Guderian affirmed the T-34's "vast superiority" over German tanks. Alfred Jodl, chief of operations staff of the German armed forces noted in his war diary "the surprise at this new and thus unknown ''wunder''-a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
