Produktbeschreibung
The increasing number of heavy German tanks such as the Tiger and Panther in 1943 gave the Soviets pause for thought, especially after the tank clashes at Kursk. Front-line tank commanders now felt the T-34's 76.2mm gun was inadequate when pitted against the German's new big cats.
Development of a T-34 replacement, the T-43, was cancelled and work was set about to fit the existing 85mm anti-aircraft gun to a T-34. To fit the larger gun a larger turret and turret ring (from 1425mm to 1600mm) had to be accommodated on the T-34 hull. This required retooling of the factories. The T-43's turret design was hurriedly adapted to fit the T-34.
The resulting new T-34/85 tank had a much superior gun and finally, a three-man turret. The new stopgap model still retained the radio in the hull, but this was remedied later with the obr 1944. With a three-man turret the commander could just command the tank, leaving the operation of the gun to his gunner and loader.
The new tank was the T-34/85 obr 1943, it was only put in production for a short period (February-March 1944) and was armed with the D-5T 85mm gun rather than the ZiS-S-53 85mm gun of the 1944 model. The T-34/85 obr 1943 turret displayed a unique style of bolted collar.
This interim model also featured a rounded front-hull joint, rounded front fenders and no turret fillet. Approximately 800 T-34/85 Model 1943 were produced at Gorky in early 1944.
Due to the bad positioning of the cupola (over the gunners position) many T-34/85 obr 1943 went into service still with only two turret crew.
However, some units managed to pressgang extra crewmen from anti-tank rifle units to bring the turret crew up to three.
The T-34/85 was still not a one on one match for a Panther, but the Soviets always have numbers on their side. Its improved firepower helped to level the playing field. The decision to improve the current T-34 model rather than launch into the production of a whole new production series (though the T-43 did still retain 70% parts compatibility) retained the Soviets overwhelming numerical advantage.
In May 1944, the Wehrmacht had only 304 Panthers operating on the Eastern Front, while the Soviets increased T-34-85 production to 1200 tanks per month.
The improved T-34/85 remained the standard Soviet medium tank with an uninter- rupted production run until the end of the war.
The T-34/85 obr 1943 in Flames Of War -
You can replace up to five T-34 obr 1942 with T-34/85 obr 1943 in any Medium Tankovy Company (see Festung Europa page 117).
A T-34/85 obr 1943 has Limited Vision, but that can be eliminated by adding a cupola which represents the adding of the third turret crew member.
They are Fully-tracked, Armour Front 7, Side 5 and Top 1 and are armed with a 85mm D-5T gun, Co-ax MG, and a Hull MG.
The 85mm D-5T gun has Range 32"/80cm, ROF 2, AT 12 and FP 3+. |
