Soviet Tanks: 1946-1965
T-34
The Soviet T-34 medium tank was first produced in 1940. It
represented a revolutionary tank
design developed from lessons learned during
the Spanish Civil War.[1]
It possessed an excellent combination of armor, firepower, and mobility, arguably
better than any other medium tank design for nearly the first four years of the
Second World War. At the commencement of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 Soviet
T-34s, though relatively few in number, held significant advantage over
Germany’s best tank, the Panzer IV, to the extent that in many cases only the
Germans’ 88mm anti-aircraft guns could be relied upon to effectively deal with
it. The T-34’s front glacis plate, only 45mm in thickness, was equivalent to
75mm of steel due to its extreme angle. The T-34’s V-2-34 12 cylinder diesel
motor, which developed 500 hp at 180 rpm, coupled with its wide tracks and
effective Christie suspension gave it excellent speed and cross country
performance. The T-34’s 76.2mm main gun was most effective in dealing with
enemy armor until improved German tanks began to be introduced in 1943.[2]
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| Chinese T-34/85, Tienanmen Square, 1950 Public Domain |
Improvements made to the T-34 in 1943 were unable to keep
Germany’s latest tank designs, specifically the Panther (Panzer V) and Tiger
(Panzer VI), from surpassing it, but the Soviet armored forces were now
reaching maturity and their superior numbers would lead to the Soviet watershed
victory at Kursk-Orel. The T-34 and its improved variant, the T-34/85, which included
a larger and better armored turret that allowed for the addition of a dedicated
gunner (in prior models the tank commander doubled as the gunner), all-around
improved armor, and a harder-hitting 85mm main gun, were produced in greater
numbers than any other tank during the Second World War, to include the
American M4 Sherman.[3]
The T-34’s war-time successes and mass-availability ensured that it would
become an active participant in numerous future conflicts. The Soviets supplied
their allies heavily with T-34/85s, being most notably used by the North
Koreans in the first year of the Korean War. Czechoslovakian built T-34s were
also used extensively by Egypt in the 1956 and 1967 Arab-Israeli Wars.
T-54/55
The T-54/55 series MBT, with over 95,000 built during its
thirty-year production life and Cold
War use by 35 countries worldwide, is the
most numerous and prolific tank in human history.[4]
When compared with the conventional Western MBTs of today it is an obsolete
design yet modernized versions of it still remain in widespread service; this
longevity is not only a testament to its mass-availability, but also its cheap,
adaptable, and reliable design. As mentioned above, the T-54/55’s design
descends directly from the T-34/85 medium tank and its planned replacement, the
T-44. Limited production began for the T-54 in 1947, but in the wake of the war
the design was not fully mature until 1950.[5]
Continual improvements were incorporated into the T-54 over the next eight
years, resulting in numerous new model numbers, each with limited
modifications. The balance of new innovations were finally incorporated into
one new design which was standardized as the T-55, entering production in 1958.
Modification and improvement of the T-55 never ceased and an enormous variety
of specialty vehicles employing the basic T-55 chassis were developed as
needed. Many nations, such as Romania, India, and China to name a few, either
created or rebuilt their own versions of the T-55.
 |
| T-55: US Army Manual |
The T-54/55 series boasted 203mm (8in) max armor, the 100 mm
D-10T main gun that was more than a match for Western armor in the early
post-war years, and a 12 cylinder diesel engine, the V-54, that developed 520
bhp at 2000 rpms (the T-55 had the even more powerful V-55 motor), affording
the T-54 a maximum road speed of 30 mph and a range of 250 miles.12 In the
late-40s through late-50s the T-54 was a formidable tank, but the T-54’s slow
developmental start ensured that it was not exported in time for the Korean
War, nor the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It would however, ultimately see action in
every continent except Australia and Antarctica and be an active participant in
every following major conflict that occurred during the Cold War, with the
exception of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
The IS-3
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| IS-3 at a museum in Brussels Paul Hrmans via Wikimedia Commons. |
With the appearance
of the Tiger II in 1944, the Soviets once again resorted to creating a new IS, or Joseph Stalin, design, this time with the express purpose of developing a tank capable of
stopping the Tiger II’s lethal 88mm main gun. The resulting IS-3 stood as a
significant bolstering and redesign of the successful IS-2 heavy tank, offering
a serious upgrade to the existing powerplant and protection package. It kept
the same 122 main gun, however, and therefore the same limited ammunition
capacity, but used a revolutionary sleek hull and well-rounded hemispherical
turret design. The inverted ‘frying pan’ shape would be adopted for use in the
T-44 medium tank’s turret and by extension all following Soviet Cold War MBT
designs.[6]
Post-war Western tank designs were also influenced by the IS-3’s sleek hull and
turret lines, seen clearly with the American M48 Patton.[7]
The IS-3 had been rushed into production and consequent mechanical issues
brought delays and prevented any impactful number being ready by war’s end. The
IS-3 would see very limited combat at the end of the Second World War and,
given the comparably few number of Tiger IIs, would never get the chance to
face off against its intended nemesis. The IS-3 would not see service during
the Korean War but was used extensively in the Middle East. During the 1967
Arab-Israeli War, the IS-3M (modernized) was the only tank that the Israelis
had any fear of.[8]
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