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 še vedno ni bil ujemanje za Panther, izboljšana ognjena moč je naredila veliko bolj učinkovito kot prej. Odločitev o izboljšanju obstoječe zasnove namesto orodja za novo je Sovjetom omogočila izdelavo tankov v takem številu, da je razlika v zmogljivostih lahko veljala za nepomembno. Maja 1944 je imel Wehrmacht le 304 panterjev, ki so delovali na vzhodni fronti, Sovjeti pa so proizvodnjo T-34-85 povečali na 1.200 tankov na mesec.
Vir: T-34 85 na Wikipediji
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