T-34

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This article is about the Soviet medium tank. For other uses, see T34 (disambiguation).
T-34

A T-34-85 tank on display at Musée des Blindés in April 2007.

Type Medium tank
Place of origin Soviet Union
Service history
1940–1960s (Soviet Union)
In service
1950s–present (by other states)
Used by Soviet Union and 39 others
Wars World War II, and many others
Production history
Designer KhMDB
Designed 1937–1940
1940–45 (USSR),
Produced 1951–55 (Poland),
1951–58 (Czechoslovakia)
84,070[1]
No. built 35,120 T-34[1]
48,950 T-34-85[1]
Specifications (T-34 Model 1941[4])
Mass 26.5 tonnes (29.2 short tons; 26.1 long tons)
Length 6.68 m (21 ft 11 in)
Width 3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)
Height 2.45 m (8 ft 0 in)
Crew 4 (T-34)
 5 (T-34-85)

Hull front 47 mm /60° (upper part)[2]

45 mm (1.8")/60° (lower part),
Hull side 40 mm[3]/41°(upper part),
Hull rear 45 mm,
Hull top 20 mm,
Armour
Hull bottom 15 mm;
Turret front 60 mm (2.4"),
Turret side 52 mm/30°,
Turret rear 30 mm,
Turret top 16 mm[verification needed]
Main 76.2 mm (3.00 in) F-34 tank gun
armament (T-34-85: 85 mm ZiS-S-53 or D-5T gun)

Secondary
2 × 7.62 mm (0.3 in) DT machine guns
armament
Model V-2-34 38.8 L V12 Diesel engine
Engine
500 hp (370 kW)
Power/weight 18.9 hp (14 kW) / tonne
Suspension Christie
Ground clearance 0.4 m (16 in)
 250–330 km (T-34) (250 mi)
Operational  250–300 km (T-34-85) (150 mi)
range
Speed 53 km/h (33 mph)

 v
 t
 e

T-34 tank
 v
 t
 e

World War II tanks

 v
 t
 e

Cold War tanks

 v
 t
 e

Post–Cold War tanks

The T-34, a Soviet medium tank, had a profound and lasting effect on the field of tank design. At its
introduction in 1940, the T-34 possessed an unprecedented combination of firepower, mobility, protection
and ruggedness. Its 76.2 mm (3 in) high-velocity tank gun provided a substantial increase in firepower over
any of its contemporaries[5] while its well-sloped armour was difficult to penetrate by most contemporary
anti-tank weapons. The 60 degree sloped armor and Christie suspension were inherited from the design of
American 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. [6] When it was first encountered in
1941, German general Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist called it "the finest tank in the world" [7] and Heinz
Guderian affirmed the T-34's "vast superiority" over existing German armour of the period. [8][9] “As early
as July 1941 OKW chief Alfred Jodl noted in his war diary the surprise at this new and thus unknown
wunder-armament being unleashed against the German assault divisions.” [10]. Although its armour and
armament were surpassed later in the war, it has been often credited to have been the most influential tank
design of the Second World War.[11]

The T-34 was the mainstay of Soviet armoured forces throughout the Second World War. Its general
specifications remained nearly unchanged until late 1944, when it received a major upgrade to firepower
and ergonomics with the introduction of the greatly improved T-34/85 variant. Despite this, its production
method had been continuously refined to meet the constantly increasing needs of the Eastern Front, making
the T-34 quicker and cheaper to produce. Soviet industry would eventually produce over 80,000 T-34s of
all variants, allowing steadily greater numbers to be fielded while the war progressed despite the loss of
tens of thousands of them in combat against the German Wehrmacht.[12] Replacing many light and medium
tanks in Red Army service, it was the most-produced tank of the war, as well as the second most produced
tank of all time (after its successor, the T-54/55 series).[13] At 44,900 losses during the war, it also suffered
the most tank losses of all time.[14] Its development led directly to the T-54 and T-55 series of tanks, which
in turn evolved into the later T-62, T-72, and T-90 that form the armoured core of many modern armies. T-
34 variants were widely exported after World War II, and even as recently as 2010, the tank has seen
limited front-line service with several developing countries.[15]

Contents
 1 Development and production
o 1.1 Origins
o 1.2 Initial production
o 1.3 Mass production
 2 Design
o 2.1 Overview
o 2.2 Armour
o 2.3 Firepower
o 2.4 Mobility
o 2.5 Ergonomics
o 2.6 General reliability
 3 Operational history
o 3.1 Operation Barbarossa (1941)
o 3.2 Further action (1942–1943)
o 3.3 T-34-85
o 3.4 German use of T-34s
o 3.5 Manchurian campaign (August 1945)
o 3.6 Korean War (1950–1953)
o 3.7 Angolan Civil War (1975–1988)
o 3.8 Other regions and countries
 3.8.1 The Balkans
 3.8.2 The Middle East
  3.8.3 The Warsaw Pact
 3.8.4 Afghanistan
 3.8.5 China
 3.8.6 Cuba
 3.8.7 Cyprus
 3.8.8 Namibia
 3.8.9 Finland
 3.8.10 Vietnam
 3.8.11 Yemen
o 3.9 Current active service
o 3.10 Successors
 4 Operators
o 4.1 Current operators
o 4.2 Former operators
 5 Symbolism
 6 Variants
o 6.1 Other armoured fighting vehicles
 7 Surviving vehicles
 8 See also
o 8.1 Tanks of comparable role, performance, and era
 9 Notes
 10 References
 11 External links

Development and production

Origins
In 1939, the most numerous Soviet tank models were the T-26 infantry tank and the BT series of fast tanks.
The T-26 was slow-moving, designed to keep pace with infantry on the ground. The BT tanks were cavalry
tanks: fast-moving and light, designed for maneuver warfare. Both were Soviet developments of foreign
designs from the early 1930s; the T-26 was based on the British Vickers 6-Ton, and the BT tanks were
based on a design from American engineer J. Walter Christie.[16]

BT-7, A-20, T-34 (model 1940), and T-34 (model 1941)

In 1937, the Red Army had assigned engineer Mikhail Koshkin to lead a new team to design a replacement
for the BT tanks at the Kharkov Komintern Locomotive Plant (KhPZ). The prototype tank, designated A-
20, was specified with 20 mm (0.8 in) of armour, a 45 mm (1.77 in) gun, and the new Model V-2-34
engine, using less-flammable diesel fuel in a V12 configuration designed by Konstantin Chelpan. It also
had an 8×6-wheel convertible drive similar to the BT tank's 8×2, which allowed it to run on wheels without
caterpillar tracks.[17] This feature had greatly saved on maintenance and repair of the unreliable tank tracks
of the early 1930s, and allowed tanks to exceed 85 kilometres per hour (53 mph) on roads, but gave no
advantage in combat and its complexity made it difficult to maintain. By 1937–38, track design had
improved and the designers considered it a waste of space, weight, and maintenance resources, despite the
road speed advantage.[18] The A-20 also incorporated previous research (BT-IS and BT-SW-2 projects) into
sloped armour: its all-round sloped armour plates were more likely to deflect rounds than perpendicular
armour.[19]

During the Battle of Lake Khasan in July 1938 and the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939, an undeclared
border war with Japan on the frontier with occupied Manchuria, the Soviets deployed numerous tanks
against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Although the IJA Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks had diesel
engines,[20] the Red Army's T-26 and BT tanks used petrol engines which, while common in tank designs of
the time, often burst into flames when hit by IJA tank-killer teams[21] using Molotov cocktails. Poor quality
welds in the Soviet armour plates left small gaps between them, and flaming petrol from the Molotov
cocktails easily seeped into the fighting and engine compartment; portions of the armour plating that had
been assembled with rivets also proved to be vulnerable.[22] The Soviet tanks were also easily destroyed by
the Japanese Type 95 tank's 37 mm gunfire, despite the low velocity of that gun,[23] or "at any other
slightest provocation".[24] The use of riveted armour led to a problem whereby the impact of enemy shells,
even if they failed to disable the tank or kill the crew on their own, would cause the rivets to break off and
become projectiles inside the tank.

Medium tank A-32

After these battles, Koshkin convinced Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to let him develop a second prototype, a
more heavily armed and armoured "universal tank" that reflected the lessons learned and could replace both
the T-26 and the BT tanks. Koshkin named the second prototype A-32, after its 32 mm (1.3 in) of frontal
armour. It had an L-10 76.2 mm (3 in) gun, and the same Model V-2-34 diesel.[3] Both were tested in field
trials at Kubinka in 1939, with the heavier A-32 proving to be as mobile as the A-20. A still heavier version
of the A-32, with 45 mm (1.77 in) of front armour, wider tracks, and a newer L-11 76.2 mm gun, was
approved for production as the T-34. Koshkin chose the name after the year 1934, when he began to
formulate his ideas about the new tank, and to commemorate that year's decree expanding the armoured
force and appointing Sergo Ordzhonikidze to head tank production.[25]

Valuable lessons from Lake Khasan and Khalkhin Gol regarding armour protection, mobility, quality
welding, and main guns were incorporated into the new T-34 tank, which represented a substantial
improvement over the BT and T-26 tanks in all four areas.[26] Koshkin's team completed two prototype T-
34s in January 1940. In April and May, they underwent a grueling 2,000-kilometre (1,200 mi) drive from
Kharkov to Moscow for a demonstration for the Kremlin leaders, to the Mannerheim Line in Finland, and
back to Kharkov via Minsk and Kiev.[25] Some drivetrain shortcomings were identified and corrected.[27]

Initial production
Pre-production prototype A-34 with a complex single-piece hull front.

Political pressure came from conservative elements in the army to redirect resources into building the older
T-26 and BT tanks, or to cancel T-34 production pending completion of the more advanced T-34M design.
This pressure was brought to bear by the developer of the KV-1 tank which was in competition with the T-
34.[citation needed]

Resistance from the military command and concerns about high production cost were finally overcome by
anxieties about the poor performance of Soviet tanks in the Winter War in Finland, and the effectiveness of
German tanks during the Battle of France. The first production T-34s were completed in September 1940,
completely replacing the production of the T-26, the BT series and the multi-turreted T-28 medium tank at
the KhPZ plant.[28] Koshkin died of pneumonia (exacerbated by the drive from Kharkov to Moscow) at the
end of that month, and the T-34's drivetrain developer, Alexander Morozov, was appointed Chief
Designer.[29]

The T-34 posed new challenges for the Soviet industry. It had heavier armour than any medium tank
produced to date, and there were problems with defective armour plates. [30] Only company commanders'
tanks could be fitted with radios (originally the 71-TK-3 radio set), due to their expense and short supply –
the rest of the tank crews in each company signalled with flags. [31] The L-11 gun did not live up to
expectations, so the Grabin Design Bureau at Gorky Factory N.92 designed the superior F-34 76.2 mm gun
(see Designations of Soviet artillery). No bureaucrat would approve production of the new gun, but Gorky
and KhPZ started producing it anyway; official permission came from the State Defense Committee only
after troops praised the weapon's performance in combat against the Germans. [29]

Production of this first T-34 series – the Model 1940 – totalled only about 400,[32] before production was
switched to the Model 1941, with the F-34 gun, 9-RS radio set (also installed on the SU-100), and even
thicker armour.[33]

Mass production
T-34 tanks headed to the front.

Subassemblies for the T-34 originated at several plants: Kharkov Diesel Factory N.75 supplied the model
V-2-34 engine, Leningrad Kirovsky Factory (formerly the Putilov works) made the original L-11 gun, and
the Dinamo Factory in Moscow produced electrical components. Tanks were initially built at KhPZ N.183,
in early 1941 at the Stalingrad Tractor Factory (STZ), and starting in July at Krasnoye Sormovo Factory
N.112 in Gorky.[30][notes 1]

Production
Type (June 1941 –
May 1945)[34]

Light tanks 14,508

T-34 35,119

T-34-85 29,430

KV and KV-85 4,581

IS 3,854

SU-76 12,671

SU-85 2,050

SU-100 1,675
 Production
Type (June 1941 –
May 1945)[34]

SU-122 1,148

SU-152 4,779

After Germany's surprise invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 (Operation Barbarossa), the
Wehrmacht's rapid advances forced the evacuation and relocation of Soviet tank factories eastwards of the
Ural Mountains, an undertaking of immense scale and haste that presented enormous logistic difficulties
and was extremely punishing to the workers involved. Alexander Morozov personally supervised the
evacuation of all skilled engineers and laborers, machinery and stock from KhPZ to re-establish the factory
at the site of the Dzerzhinsky Ural Railcar Factory in Nizhny Tagil, renamed Stalin Ural Tank Factory
N.183.[35] The Kirovsky Factory, evacuated just weeks before the Germans surrounded Leningrad, moved
with the Kharkov Diesel Factory to the Stalin Tractor Factory in Chelyabinsk, soon to be nicknamed
Tankograd ("Tank City"). The workers and machinery from Leningrad's Voroshilov Tank Factory N.174
were incorporated into the Ural Factory and the new Omsk Factory N.174. The Ordzhonikidze Ural Heavy
Machine Tool Works (UZTM) in Sverdlovsk absorbed workers and machines from several small machine
shops in the path of German forces.

While these factories were being rapidly moved, the industrial complex surrounding the Dzerzhinsky
Tractor Factory in Stalingrad continued to work double shifts throughout the period of withdrawal
(September 1941 to September 1942) to make up for production lost, and produced 40% of all T-34s during
the period.[36] As the factory became surrounded by heavy fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942, the
situation there grew desperate: manufacturing innovations were necessitated by material shortages, and
stories persist of unpainted T-34 tanks driven out of the factory directly to the battlefields around it. [37]
Stalingrad kept up production until September 1942.

Soviet designers were aware of design deficiencies in the tank, but most of the desired remedies would
have slowed tank production and so were not implemented: the only changes allowed on the production
lines through to 1944 were those to make production simpler and cheaper. New methods were developed
for automated welding and hardening the armour plate, including innovations by Prof. Evgeny Paton.[38]
The design of the 76.2 mm F-34 gun Model 1941 was reduced from an initial 861 parts to 614. [39] The
initial narrow, cramped turrets, both the cast one and the one welded of rolled armour plates bent to shape,
were since 1942 gradually replaced with the somewhat less cramped hexagonal one; as it was mostly cast
with only a few, simple flat armour plates welded in (roof etc.), this turret was actually faster to produce.
Limited rubber supplies led to the adoption of all-steel, internally sprung road wheels, and a new clutch was
added to an improved five-speed transmission and engine, improving reliability.[40]
Polish T-34 Model 1943 in Poznań, Poland. The model 1943's hexagonal turret distinguishes it from earlier
models.

Over two years, the unit production cost of the T-34 was reduced from 269,500 rubles in 1941, to 193,000,
and then to 135,000.[39]

In 1943, T-34 production had reached an average of 1,300 per month; this was the equivalent of three full-
strength Panzer divisions.[41] By the end of 1945, over 57,300 T-34s had been built: 34,780 T-34 tanks in
multiple variants with 76.2 mm guns in 1940–44,[citation needed] and another 22,609 of the revised T-34-85
model in 1944–45.[42] The single largest producer was Factory N.183 (UTZ), building 28,952 T-34s and T-
34-85s from 1941 to 1945. The second-largest was Krasnoye Sormovo Factory N.112 in Gorky, with
12,604 in the same period.[43]

At the start of the German-Soviet war, T-34s comprised about four percent of the Soviet tank arsenal, but
by the end it made up at least 55% of tank production (based on figures from; [44] Zheltov 2001 lists even
larger numbers).

Following the end of the war, a further 2,701 T-34s were built prior to the end of Soviet production. Under
licence, production was restarted in Poland (1951–55) and Czechoslovakia (1951–58), where 1,380 and
3,185 T-34-85s were made, respectively, by 1956.[45] Altogether, as many as 84,070 T-34s are thought to
have been built, plus 13,170 self-propelled guns built on T-34 chassis.[46] It was the most-produced tank of
the Second World War, and the second most-produced tank of all time, after its successor, the T-54/55
series.[13]

Design
Overview

Interior view of T-34-85.

The T-34 had well-sloped armour, a relatively powerful engine and wide tracks. [31] The initial T-34 version
had a powerful 76.2 mm gun, and is often called the T-34/76 (originally a World War II German
designation, never used by the Red Army). In 1944, a second major version began production, the T-34-85,
with a larger 85 mm gun intended to deal with newer German tanks.[31]

Comparisons can be drawn between the T-34 and the U.S. M4 Sherman tank. Both tanks were the
backbone of the armoured units in their respective armies, both nations distributed these tanks to their
allies, who also used them as the mainstay of their own armoured formations, and both were upgraded
extensively and fitted with more powerful guns. Both were designed for mobility and ease of manufacture
and maintenance, sacrificing some performance for these goals. Both chassis were used as the foundation
for a variety of support vehicles, such as armour recovery vehicles, tank destroyers, and self-propelled
artillery. Both were an approximately even match for the standard German medium tank, the Panzer IV,
though each of these three tanks had particular advantages and weaknesses compared with the other two.
Neither the T-34 nor the M4 was a match for Germany's heavier tanks, the Panther (technically a medium
tank) or the Tiger I; the Soviets used the IS-2 heavy tank and the U.S. used the M26 Pershing as the heavy
tanks of their forces instead.[47]

Soviet medium tank models of World War II[48]

T-43
T-34 Model T-34 Model T-34 Model T-34 Model
Model prototyp T-34-85 T-44
1940 1941 1942 1943
e
26 t (29 26.5 t (29.2 28.5 t (31.4 30.9 t (34.1 34 t (37 32 t (35 31.9 t (35.2
Weight
tons) tons) tons) tons) tons) tons) tons)
76.2 mm L- 76.2 mm F- 76.2 mm F- 76.2 mm F- 76.2 mm 85 mm ZiS- 85 mm ZiS-
Gun
11 34 34 34 F-34 S-53 S-53
Ammunitio
76 rounds 77 rounds 77 rounds 100 rounds 60 rounds 58 rounds
n
460 L 460 L 460 L 610 L 545 L 500 L
Fuel (100 imp gal (100 imp gal (100 imp gal (130 imp gal (120 imp gal (110 imp gal
(internal) ; ; ; ; ; ;
120 US gal) 120 US gal) 120 US gal) 160 US gal) 144 US gal) 130 US gal)
250–300 km
160–250 km 160–250 km 160–250 km 330 km 240 km 250 km
Road range (160–
(99–155 mi) (99–155 mi) (99–155 mi) (210 mi) (150 mi) (160 mi)
190 mi)
16–
15–45 mm 20–52 mm 20–65 mm 20–70 mm 20–90 mm 15–120 mm
90 mm
Armour (0.59– (0.79– (0.79– (0.79– (0.79– (0.59–
(0.63–
1.77 in) 2.05 in) 2.56 in) 2.76 in) 3.54 in) 4.72 in)
3.54 in)
270,000 193,000 135,000 164,000
Cost
rubles rubles rubles rubles

Dimensions, road speed and engine horsepower of the various models did not vary significantly, except for
the T-43, which was slower than the T-34.

Armour
The heavily sloped armour design made the tank better protected than the armour thickness alone would
indicate. The shape also saved weight by reducing the thickness required to achieve equal protection. A few
tanks also had appliqué armour of varying thickness welded onto the hull and turret. Tanks thus modified
were called s ekranami (Russian: с экранами, "with screens").[31]
The USSR donated two combat-used Model 1941 T-34s to the United States for testing purposes in late
1942.[49] The examinations, performed at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, revealed problems with overall
armour build quality, especially of the plate joins and welds, as well as the use of soft steel combined with
shallow surface tempering. Leak issues were noted: "In a heavy rain lots of water flows through
chinks/cracks, which leads to the disabling of the electrical equipment and even the ammunition".[50] Earlier
models of the T-34, until the Model 1942, had cast turrets whose armour was softer than that of the other
parts of the tank, and offered poor resistance even to 37 mm anti-aircraft shells.

In addition, close examination of the T-34 at the Aberdeen Testing Ground showed that a variety of alloys
were used in different portions of the armour on the T-34. "Mn-Si-Mo steels were employed for the thinner
rolled armour sections, Cr-Mo steels for the thicker rolled armour sections, Mn-Si-Ni-Cr-Mo steels were
employed for both rolled and cast steel components from 2" to 5" in thickness, and Ni-Cr-Mo steels were
employed for some of the moderately thick cast armour sections". [51] The armour was heat-treated in order
to prevent penetration by armour-piercing shells, but this also caused it to be structurally weak, resulting in
strikes by high explosive shells causing spalling.

Despite these deficiencies, the T-34's armour proved problematic for the Germans in the initial stages of the
war on the Eastern Front. In one wartime account, a single T-34 came under heavy fire upon encountering
one of the most common German anti-tank guns at that stage of the war: "Remarkably enough, one
determined 37 mm gun crew reported firing 23 times against a single T-34 tank, only managing to jam the
tank’s turret ring."[52] Similarly, a German report of May 1942 noted the ineffectiveness of their 50 mm gun
as well, noting that "Combating the T-34 with the 5 cm KwK tank gun is possible only at short ranges from
the flank or rear, where it is important to achieve a hit as perpendicular to the surface as possible." [32]
However, a Military Commissariat Report of the 10th Tank Division, dated 2 August 1941 reported that
within 300–400 m the 37 mm Pak 36's armour-piercing shot could defeat the frontal armour.[53][54]
According to an examination of damaged T-34 tanks in several repair workshops in August to September
1942, collected by the People's Commissariat for Tank Industry in January 1943, 54.3% of all T-34 losses
were caused by the German long-barreled 50 mm KwK 39 gun.[55][56]

As the war went on, the T-34 gradually lost some of its initial advantages. The Germans responded to the
T-34 by fielding large numbers of improved anti-tank weapons such as the towed 75 mm gun, while hits
from 88 mm-armed Tigers, anti-aircraft guns and PaK 43 88 mm anti-tank guns usually proved lethal.[57] A
Wa Pruef 1 report estimated that, with the target angled 30° sideward, a Panther tank could penetrate the
turret of a T-34-85 from the front at ranges up to 2000 m, the mantlet at 1200 m, and the frontal hull
armour at 300 m.[58] According to the Pantherfibel, the T-34's glacis could be penetrated from 800 m and
the mantlet from 1500 m at 30° sideward angle.[59] Ground trials by employees of NIBT Polygon in May
1943 reported that the KwK 36 88 mm gun could pierce the T-34 frontal hull from 1,500 meters at 90
degrees and cause a disastrous burst effect inside the tank. The examined hull showed cracks, spalling, and
delamination due to the poor quality of the armour. It was recommended to increase and improve the
quality of welds and armour.[60]

Firepower
T-34 side view, displaying the F-34 gun, with an ISU-122 and T-54 in background

The F-34 76.2 mm (3 in) gun, fitted on the vast majority of T-34s produced through to the beginning of
1944, was able to penetrate any early German tank's armour at normal combat ranges. When firing APCR
shells, it could pierce 92 mm of armour at 500 m.[61] The best German tanks of 1941, the Panzer III and
Panzer IV, had no more than 50 or 60 mm of flat frontal armour.[62] The F-34 also fired an adequate high
explosive round.

The gun sights and range finding for the F-34 main gun (either the TMFD-7 or the PT4-7[63]) were rather
crude, especially compared to those of their German adversaries, affecting accuracy and the ability to
engage at long ranges.[64] As a result of the T-34's two-man turret, weak optics and poor vision devices, the
Germans noted: