After the T-34 was officially commissioned, the Soviets never stopped improving it.
World War II Soviet tanks
At the beginning of 1941, the USSR Defense Council already had a T-34M upgrade project, which was code-named "A43". However, operation Barbarossa, launched by the Nazi Wehrmacht in June of the same year, completely interrupted this upgrade plan.
At the beginning of the Soviet-German war, the Soviet Union had been busy urgently increasing the armor and firepower of its tanks, so it did not think much about the T-34M tank.
It was not until the beginning of 1943 that the situation improved: the Soviets had fully stabilized the front that year, and had gradually launched a counter-offensive on some battlefields.
Coupled with the constant emergence of new tanks from the Germans, the Soviets had realized that the original T-34 tank was already quite difficult to deal with on the front line! In this case, in fact, the continued research and development of new medium tanks has invisibly created sufficient conditions and reasons.
The T-43 tank was successfully developed, but redundant and repetitive! The T-44 began to "get on the horse."
This improved research and development project was renamed "Project 136" by the Soviet Union, and because the Soviet military personnel already had a large amount of data on the previous T-34M tank as a reference, the development progress of the T-43 tank was also surprisingly fast.
T-43 tank
Soon, two T-43 prototypes were completed! They were fitted with a D-5T 85 mm gun, while the third prototype switched to a D-25-44 122 mm gun, as well as a newly developed turret.
Later, during testing, the Soviets discovered that the 122 mm gun was not suitable for use on medium tanks. So they finally decided to continue to equip the already familiar 85 mm tank gun.
In March 1943, the first T-43 production prototype finally rolled off the production line: it used new torsion bar suspension and other components, and many details were improved. Unfortunately, the T-43's overall performance and T-34/85 are very close! Therefore, if the Soviets choose the T-43 tank, it is obviously redundant and repetitive.
T-34/85
In the end, the Soviet top brass decided not to put the T-43 tank into mass production, but also not to abandon it! Instead, it continued to improve on the original car, creating a medium tank that was better than the T-34/85. In early 1944, the development of the new T-44 tank was back in full swing.
This time, Soviet military personnel decided to take advantage of their own tanks, combined with the many advantages of American and German tanks, to develop an almost "perfect" T-44 tank. And the designers also made extensive reference to the opinions of the front-line tankers: the Soviets had been on the battlefield for many years, and they already had a wealth of combat experience in tank warfare.
In March 1944, the "T44 tank prototype" that combined the advantages of the World War II tank was finally completed.
First of all, its firepower is not much different from the T-34/85, and it is equipped with the same 85 mm main gun, which can fire ordinary armor-piercing shells, hat-piercing shells and shell-piercing shells. When firing a shell-piercing projectile, it can penetrate 137 mm of homogeneous steel armor at a distance of 500 meters, and 107 mm of homogeneous steel armor at a distance of 1000 meters.
The secondary armament consisted of two 7.62 mm machine guns, one of which was a side-by-side machine gun and one of which was a front machine gun, with an ammunition base of 2750 rounds. What makes tankers most pleased is the T-44 tank turret design: the use of a wider 3-man turret, compared to the earlier T-34 compact turret, tankers' maneuvering comfort is greatly enhanced, and there is no longer a need to carry a small hammer to open the tank.
In terms of armor protection and maneuverability, the T-44 tank is also much stronger than the T-34/85: it has a maximum speed of 50 kilometers per hour and a maximum range of 300 kilometers. The armor was significantly thicker than the T-34/85, with a maximum armor thickness of 120 mm, and the cast hexagonal turret further enhanced its protection.
Finally, the T-44 tank engine adopts a horizontal layout, which greatly reduces the height of the hull, and the probability of being hit by the opponent is correspondingly reduced.
The almost "perfect" T-44 failed to appear on the battlefield, but achieved the famous T54/55.
In May 1944, the experimental test of the new T-44 medium tank was completed, and the test results were very satisfactory to the Soviet high command. So in July of the same year, the tank received the official "T-44 number" official mass production. At the end of 1944, the T-44 was the first to be piloted in several Soviet tank brigades.
But unfortunately, until the end of World War II, the T-44 tank did not really "debut" on the battlefield. Because the Soviet front-line armored units did not want to receive a new batch of medium tanks during the war, this would cause them great training and logistical problems.
However, by the tank standards of the time, the Soviet T-44 tank was definitely the best tank. Looking around europe, the only thing that could rival it at that time was probably the British Centurion tank.
British "Centurion" tank
At the end of 1944, the basic version of the T-44 was further improved:
Its turret seat diameter was expanded to 1700 mm, and later continued to expand to 1825 mm. A larger turret meant that it could hold a larger gun, so it was later fitted with a more powerful D-10 100 mm tank gun. At the same time, a 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun was added to the top of its turret, which was the T-44-100.
The T-44-100 is actually quite close to the next generation of T-54 tanks. As a tank model that "inherits the past and the future", the T-44 looks like both the T-34 and the T-54. In fact, from research and development to loading, the T-44 tank has actually been "deliberately hidden" by the Soviets! It has never appeared in public and has not been exported to any country.
Therefore, few people know the true combat effectiveness of the T-44 tank. But for whatever reason, the T-44 tank failed to appear on the battlefield of World War II, which has to be said to be a very regrettable thing.
In 1947, production of the T-44 was officially discontinued, although some remained in service with the Soviets. Although the total production of the T-44 was only 1823, it was an "important bridge" between the T-34 and T-54/55 tanks: many of the designs on this tank were later used on the more famous T54/55 and T-62 tanks.
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