Its general specifications remained nearly unchanged until early 1944, when it received a firepower upgrade with the introduction of the greatly improved T-34-85 variant. The T-34 was the mainstay of the Soviet Red Army armoured forces throughout the war. The T-34 is also a critical part of the mechanized divisions that form the backbone of the Deep Battle Strategy. Though, its main strength was its cost and production time, meaning that German panzer forces would often fight against Soviet tank forces several times their size. The tank was praised by multiple German generals when encountered during Operation Barbarossa, although its armour and armament were surpassed later in the war. The T-34 had a profound effect on the conflict on the Eastern Front, and had a long-lasting impact on tank design. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. History question! To receive notification whenever any new item is published on HistoryNet, just scroll down the column on the right and sign up for our RSS feed.The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. The German 88’s ability to kick butt may have been legendary, but so were those of Richard Coeur de Lion at an earlier time.ĭon’t miss the next Ask Mr. New explosive reactive armour, which explodes against the incoming shell that activates it to counter its effects, makes it unlikely that a conventional 88mm shell would penetrate the hide of an M1 Abrams, a T-80, a Merkava or, for that matter, a Challenger, all of which are armoured to resist the sort of 120mm to 125mm SABOT or HEAT rounds that they themselves fire using various advanced guidance systems.
I was a “war baby” and over the years I have everyone praising the power of the Nazi German “88” gun when used against Allied tanks, etc. Just as a matter of interest, how would a modern, say, Abrams tank with all its much vaunted armoured protection fare if struck by one of these huge shells?Īside from the fact that we and the Germans have not been trading shots since May 1945, the state of the art of armoured-or armored, as we spell it over here-warfare has changed considerably since then.
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