The T-34 medium tank has become one of the hallmarks of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War and a prominent representative of the "weapon of Victory" family. It will be said without exaggeration that the T-34 became one of the best combat vehicles of the Second World War. What is the secret of the thirty-four's success, if the tanks were much cooler in their characteristics?
1. Sloped armor
The armor of the T-34 was much thinner than the armor of the German tanks that appeared closer to the middle of the war. However, the T-34, in contrast to the early German tanks, had oblique armor. This technology turned out to be much more progressive than the Germans thought. Therefore, in the early stages of the war, the Nazi "Panzer IV" was not easy to cope with Soviet tanks. It was because of the oblique armor that the Germans had to change the main caliber of their main tank.
2. Lightweight as a feather
Like a very large steel feather. Nevertheless, the T-34 is really quite light by the standards of medium tanks. The machine weighs from 26.5 tons. While the German tanks were constantly heavier, the Soviet 34 never crossed the 30.9 ton mark in the end. All this allowed the tank to pass where even the Panthers, which weighed about 44 tons, were stuck. In addition, the Soviet tank went much faster on the highway, which also plays an important role.
3. Powerful diesel
Diesel engine V-2 with a return of 500 horsepower visited the hull of all tanks during the Second World War. What is really there, its modifications are put on military equipment to this day! Thanks to him, on rough terrain, the T-34 squeezed out of itself 36 km / h, and on the highway 54 km / h. Which was a very good result for those times. In addition, the V-2 diesel engine was designed in such a way that, if there was an urgent need, it could be refueled with almost anything: kerosene, gasoline, oil and even fuel oil.
4. Wide tracks
An important thing, which is usually not paid attention to at all. But it is the width of the tracks that has a major impact on the ability to move over rough terrain. In the T-34, with a 550 mm width, the caterpillars exerted much less ground pressure of 0.62 kg / cc. For comparison, the "Panther" was 0.88 points.
5. Murderous simplicity
Soviet designers, developing the T-34, relied on the simplicity of production and maintenance. This made it possible to make the tank really massive. The T-34 was relatively easy to repair, even in field workshops. Often, in 30 days of fighting, the tank managed to go for repairs several times and return back to service. And the most important thing is that a huge modernization potential was laid in the Soviet car.
Continuing the topic, read about Pz. Kpfw V: what was the crushing power of the Panther tank.