T-34 85 - WalkAround

When the T-43 was cancelled, the Soviet command made the difficult decision to retool the factories to produce a new model of T-34 with a turret ring enlarged from 1,425 mm (56 in) to 1,600 mm (63 in), allowing a larger turret to be fitted. The T-43’s turret design was hurriedly adapted by V. Kerichev at the Krasnoye Sormovo Factory to fit the T-34. The resulting new T-34-85 tank had a much better gun and finally, a three-man turret with radio (which had previously been in the hull). Now the commander needed only to command the tank, leaving the operation of the gun to the gunner and the loader. Although a T-34-85 var stadig ikke en kamp for en Panther, den forbedrede ildkraft gjorde det meget mere effektivt end før. Beslutningen om at forbedre det eksisterende design i stedet for at gøre det muligt for sovjetterne at fremstille kampvogne i et sådant antal, at forskellen i kapaciteter kunne betragtes som ubetydelig. I maj 1944 havde wehrmacht kun 304 Panthers på Østfronten, mens de sovjetiske styrker havde øget T-34-85 produktionen til 1.200 kampvogne om måneden.

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