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 fortsatt ikke en kamp for en Panther, den forbedrede ildkraften gjorde den mye mer effektiv enn før. Beslutningen om å forbedre den eksisterende designen i stedet for å verktøye opp for en ny tillot Sovjet å produsere tanker i slike tall at forskjellen i evner kunne betraktes som ubetydelig. I mai 1944 hadde Wehrmacht bare 304 Panthers som opererte på Østfronten, mens Sovjet hadde økt T-34-85 produksjonen til 1200 tanker per måned.
Kilde: T-34 85 på Wikipedia