WWII heavy tank Light tanks in the Great Patriotic War. The technical superiority of the USSR in the prewar years and during the war

22.04.2020

For each "Tiger" there were six dozen T-34s, and for each "Panther" - eight "Shermans"
Comparing with each other those who participated in the Great Patriotic War on both sides of the front, in principle, is rather pointless. After all, in the end, the best, as they say, is the one that won. And in the case of the greatest war of the 20th century, it would be more fair to say this: the best weapon is the weapon that the winners hold in their hands. You can compare German, Soviet, British and American tanks in terms of armament, armor, thrust-to-weight ratio, and comfort for the crew. For each parameter there will be leaders and outsiders, but in the end, the tanks of the anti-Hitler coalition won the victory. Including because there were simply so many more of them. The total output of the ten most massive tanks of the Great Patriotic War is at least 195,152 units. Of these, the USSR accounts for 92,077 tanks and 72,919 - for the United States, that is, four-fifths, and the rest is the share of Germany (21,881 tanks) and Great Britain (8275 tanks).

On the one hand, it is noteworthy that, yielding in the total number of tanks produced, Germany was able to manage the available ones so efficiently. On the other hand, the Soviet Union had to pay with massive tank losses for the low level of training of tankers and the combat experience that they gained during the war. But it is significant that of the ten most numerous tanks of the Great Patriotic War, and indeed the entire Second World War, the vast majority is included in any list of "the best tanks of the 1940s." Which is natural: in military conditions, they are setting up the mass production of precisely those weapons that prove their effectiveness and superiority in general.

1. Soviet medium tank T-34

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 84,070 pieces

Weight: 25.6-32.2t

Armament: 76/85 mm cannon, two 7.62 mm machine guns

Crew: 4–5 people

Speed on rough terrain: 25 km/h

Not a single tank in world tank building has ever been produced in such colossal quantities. More than half of the nearly 85,000 "thirty-fours" are modifications of the very first version - the T-34-76 (the brainchild of the legendary designer Mikhail Koshkin), armed with a 76-mm F-34 cannon. It was these tanks, which by the beginning of the war had produced about 1800 units, that gave the Wehrmacht tankers an unpleasant surprise and forced Germany to hastily invent ways to make their armored vehicles capable of fighting the Russians on equal terms. It was these machines that they carried on themselves - in the truest sense of the word! - and the severity of the first months of the war, and the incredible tension of the turning point in the war, and the swiftness of the throw to the west, to Victory.

The T-34, in fact, was one big compromise: it had to be both easy to manufacture and repair, light enough and at the same time with powerful armor, relatively small, but at the same time with high combat effectiveness, easy to master , but with modern equipment ... For each of these parameters, and even for several at once, the T-34 is inferior to any of the other nine tanks from this collection. But, of course, he was and remains the winner tank.

2. American medium tank M4 "Sherman"

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 49,234

Armament: 75/76/105 mm cannon, 12.7 mm machine gun, two 7.62 mm machine guns

Crew: 5 people

Speed on rough terrain: 40 km/h

Tank M4 "Sherman". Photo: AP

His name - "Sherman", in honor of the hero of the American Civil War, General William Sherman - M4 received first in the UK, and only then it became common to all tanks of this model. And in the USSR, where Lend-Lease M4s were supplied from 1942 to 1945, it was most often called "emcha", according to the index. In terms of the number of tanks that were in service with the Red Army, the M4 was second only to the T-34 and KV: 4063 Shermans fought in the USSR.

This tank was disliked for its excessive height, which made it very visible on the battlefield, and its too high center of gravity, due to which the tanks often capsized even when overcoming minor obstacles. But it was very easy to maintain and reliable, comfortable for the crew and quite effective in combat. After all, the 75- and 76-mm guns of the Shermans successfully destroyed the German T-IIIs and T-IVs, although they turned out to be rather weak against the Tigers and Panthers. It is also curious that when rocket-propelled grenade launchers "faustpatrons" began to be massively used on the Soviet-German front, it was the M4 tanks that became the basis of the tactics of dealing with grenade launchers, called the "broom". Four or five machine gunners, seated on the tank and fastened with uniform belts to the brackets on the tower, opened fire on any shelters where the Germans armed with "faustpatrons" could hide. And the whole point was the amazing smoothness of the Sherman: no other tank of the Red Army would have allowed machine gunners to aim at full speed due to crazy shaking.

3. American light tank "Stuart"

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 23,685

Armament: 37 mm cannon, three to five 7.62 mm machine guns

Crew: 4 people

Speed on rough terrain: 20 km/h

In the American army, light tanks M3 "Stuart" appeared in March 1941, when it became clear that their predecessors M2 clearly did not meet the requirements of the time. But the "two" became the basis for the creation of the "troika", having inherited both its advantages - high speed and operational reliability, and disadvantages - the weakness of weapons and armor and the terrifying cramped fighting compartment. But on the other hand, the tank was uncomplicated in production, which allowed it to become the most massive light tank in the world.

Of the almost 24,000 Stuarts, the main part went to the theaters of operations, where the American army itself fought. A quarter of the M3 went to the British, and the Soviet troops were the second in terms of the number of vehicles received under Lend-Lease. 1237 (according to American data, 1681, however, in the USA all shipped vehicles were taken into account, some of which were destroyed along with convoy ships) Stuart tanks of all modifications fought in the Red Army. True, unlike the Shermans, they did not enjoy respect from the tankers. Yes, they were reliable and simple, but they could only move normally along straight and wide roads, and on narrow and winding roads they did not maneuver well and easily overturned. Their tightness became a byword among Soviet tankers, and the course machine guns installed in the side niches were immediately removed in parts so as not to waste cartridges: these machine guns did not have sights at all. But on the other hand, the M3s were indispensable in reconnaissance, and their light weight made it possible to use the Stuarts even for landing operations, as was the case during the landing near South Ozereyka in the vicinity of Novorossiysk.

4. German medium tank T-4

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 8686

Crew: 5 people

In German, it was called Panzerkampfwagen IV (PzKpfw IV), that is, an IV battle tank, and in the Soviet tradition it was designated as T-IV, or T-4. It became the most massive Wehrmacht tank in the entire history of its existence and was used in all theaters of operations where German tankers were present. T-4 is, perhaps, the same symbol of German tank units as the T-34 became for Soviet tankers. Yes, they were, in fact, the main enemies from the first to the last day of the war.

The first T-4 tanks left the factory gates in 1937, and the last ones in 1945. Over the eight years of its existence, the tank has undergone many upgrades. So, after meeting in battle with the Soviet T-34 and KV, he got a more powerful gun, and the armor got stronger and stronger as the enemy got new means to fight the PzKpfw IV. Surprisingly, it is a fact: even after the appearance of more powerful and powerful "Tigers" and "Panthers", the T-4 remained the main tank of the Wehrmacht - its modernization potential was so great! And, naturally, this armored vehicle enjoyed well-deserved love from tankers. Firstly, it was very reliable, secondly, it was fast enough, and thirdly, it was extremely comfortable for the crew. And it is clear why: for the sake of the convenience of placing people, the designers abandoned the strong angles of the armor. However, this also became the weak point of the T-4: both in the side and in the stern, even 45-mm Soviet anti-tank guns easily hit them. In addition, the chassis of the PzKpfw IV turned out to be not very good for Russia with its "directions instead of roads", which made significant adjustments to the tactics of using tank formations on the Eastern Front.

5. English infantry tank "Valentine"

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 8275 units

Armament: 40 mm cannon, 7.92 mm machine gun

Crew: 3 people

Tank "Valentine". Photo: AP

Designed to support infantry during the assault on fortified positions, the Valentine became the most massive British armored vehicle, and, of course, these tanks were actively supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease. In total, 3782 Valentine tanks were shipped to the Soviet side - 2394 British and 1388 assembled in Canada. Fifty fewer cars reached the Soviet-German front: 3332 pieces. The first of them hit the combat units at the very end of November 1941, and, as the German participants in the Battle of Moscow wrote in their memoirs, they did not perform in the best way: the captured Soviet tankers, they say, scolded the British "tins" from the bottom of their hearts.

However, according to tank building historians, the reason for everything was a catastrophic rush, because of which the crews simply did not have time to master the technique as they should, and evaluate all its capabilities. After all, it was not by chance that Valentine was produced in such a large series. In full accordance with the British concept of an infantry tank, it did not differ in high speed, but it was superbly armored. In fact, it was a kind of British analogue of the Soviet KV with a much weaker gun and low speed, but much more reliable and maintainable. After the first experience of combat use, the command of the tank units of the Red Army found a good option for using these vehicles in battle. They began to be launched in conjunction with Soviet vehicles more adapted to the war on the Eastern Front, paired with the more maneuverable, but less protected light Astrov tanks of the T-70 type. The only problems that could not be dealt with were weak artillery weapons and the terrifying crampedness of the Valentines.

6. German medium tank "Panther"

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 5976 units

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Weight: 45t

Armament: 75 mm cannon, two 7.92 mm machine guns

Crew: 5 people

Speed on rough terrain: 25-30 km/h

Tank "Panther". Photo: U.S. Army Signal Corps/AP

The first appearance of Panzerkampfwagen (PzKpfw) V Panther - the famous "Panther" - on the Eastern Front falls on the Battle of Kursk. Unfortunately for the Soviet tankers and gunners, the new German tank was too tough for most of the Red Army's guns. But the Panther itself “bited” from afar: its 75-millimeter cannon pierced the armor of Soviet tanks from such distances at which the new German vehicle was invulnerable to them. And this first success made it possible for the German command to talk about making the T-5 (as the new tank was called in Soviet documents) the main one instead of the “veteran” T-4.

But the reality turned out to be different. Although the Panther was the second most produced German tank of the Second World War, and some of the tank experts consider it the best medium tank of the 1940s, it could not displace the T-4. According to a common legend, the Panther owes its birth to the Soviet T-34. Say, Berlin, dissatisfied with the fact that the Russians managed to create a tank that is too tough for the Wehrmacht, demanded to design a kind of "German thirty-four". But, as you know, the desire to repeat something created by the enemy leads to the appearance of a weapon that is more powerful, but less suitable for modernization: the designers are held in a vice by the characteristics of the prototype and the success of its design. This happened with the Panther: it managed to outperform the medium tanks of the allies, including the T-34, but did not get rid of its inherent flaws until the end of its military career. And there were a lot of them: the power plant that easily failed, the excessive complexity of the track roller system, the extremely high cost and laboriousness of manufacturing, and so on. In addition, if in the confrontation with tanks, the Panther showed itself from the best side, then the artillery was seriously dangerous to it. Therefore, the PzKpfw V were most effective on the defensive, and suffered significant losses during the offensive.

7. German medium tank T-3

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 5865

Armament: 37/50/75 mm cannon, three 7.92 mm machine guns

Crew: 5 people

Speed on rough terrain: 15 km/h

Although not as massive as the T-4, the Panzerkampfwagen (PzKpfw) III from mid-1941 to early 1943 formed the basis of the Panzerwaffe fleet - the tank forces of the Wehrmacht. And the reason for everything is the system of determining the type of tank by ... weapons, which is strange for the Soviet tradition. Therefore, from the very beginning, the T-4, which had a 75-mm gun, was considered a heavy tank, that is, it could not be the main vehicle, and the T-3, which had a 37-mm gun, belonged to the medium ones and fully claimed the role of the main battle tank.

Although the T-3 by the beginning of World War II was already significantly inferior in terms of its characteristics to the new Soviet T-34 and KV tanks, the number of PzKpfw III in the troops and the tactics of their use worked out in European theaters, multiplied by the rich combat experience of German tankers and an established system of interaction between different military branches, equalized their capabilities. This continued until the beginning of 1943, when the necessary combat experience and skills appeared among the Soviet tankers, and the shortcomings of the early modifications of domestic tanks in the new ones were eliminated. After that, the advantages of Soviet medium tanks, not to mention heavy ones, became obvious. And this is despite the fact that the caliber of the T-3 gun was successively increased first to 50 mm, and then to 75 mm. But by that time, the more advanced and well-developed T-4 had the same gun, and the production of “triples” was curtailed. But the car, which was distinguished by its excellent performance characteristics and was loved by German tankers, played its role, becoming one of the symbols of the Second World War.

8. Soviet heavy tank KV

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 4532

Weight: 42.5-47.5t

Armament: 76/85 mm cannon, three 7.62 mm machine guns

Crew: 4–5 people

"Klim Voroshilov" - and this is how the abbreviation KV stands for - became the first Soviet heavy tank of the classical scheme, that is, single-turret, not multi-turret. And although the experience of its first combat use during the Winter War of 1939-1940 was not the best, the new car was put into service. The military became convinced of how correct this decision was after June 22, 1941: even after several dozen hits by German guns, heavy KVs continued to fight!

But the impenetrable HF required a very careful attitude to itself: on a heavy machine, the power unit and transmission quickly failed, the engine suffered. But with due attention and with experienced crews, even the first series of KV tanks managed to cover 3000 km without engine repair. Yes, and with its main task of direct support of the assaulting infantry, the machine coped perfectly. She could move at the speed of a foot soldier for a long time, allowing the infantrymen to hide behind the armor all the time, which was too tough for most of the most common Wehrmacht anti-tank guns at that time.

In the summer of 1942, when it became clear that heavy tanks, even if their main task remains the direct support of an infantry breakthrough, should have greater maneuverability and speed, the KV-1s appeared, that is, high-speed. Due to slightly thinner armor and a modified engine, its speed has increased, the new gearbox has become more reliable, and the effectiveness of combat use has increased. And in 1943, as a response to the appearance of the Tigers, the KV received a modification with a new turret and a new 85 mm gun. But the modified model did not stand on the assembly line for long: it was replaced in the fall by heavy tanks of the IS series - much more modern and efficient.

9. Soviet heavy tank IS-2

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 3475

Armament: 122 mm cannon, 12.7 mm machine gun, three 7.62 mm machine guns

Crew: 4 people

Speed on rough terrain: 10-15 km/h

The first tanks of the IS series - "Joseph Stalin" - were developed in parallel with the modernization of the KV tanks, which were equipped with a new 85-mm gun. But very soon it became clear that this gun was not enough to fight on equal terms with the new German Panther and Tiger tanks, which had thick armor and more powerful 88-mm guns. Therefore, after the release of a hundred and a few IS-1 tanks, the IS-2 was adopted, armed with a 122-mm A-19 cannon.

Invulnerable to most Wehrmacht anti-tank guns, and many tank ones too, the IS-2 could play the role of not only an armored shield, but also artillery support and an anti-tank weapon for the infantry using it. The 122-millimeter gun made it possible to solve all these problems. True, it was also the cause of one of the significant disadvantages of the IS-2. Served by a single loader, the heavy projectile cannon was slow-firing, allowing it to fire at a rate of 2–3 rounds per minute. On the other hand, unsurpassed armor made it possible to use the IS-2 in a new role - as an armored basis for assault groups operating in cities. Infantry paratroopers defended the tank from grenade launchers and anti-tank gun crews, and tankers smashed fortified firing points and pillboxes, clearing the way for infantry. But if the infantrymen did not have time to identify a grenade launcher armed with a Faustpatron, then the IS-2 was at great risk. The fuel tanks placed inside the tank made it extremely flammable (the driver, who did not have his own hatch and was the last to leave through the turret, very often died in the fire), and the ammunition rack at the bottom of the fighting compartment, when hit by an almost guaranteed cumulative projectile, exploded, destroying the entire crew.

10. German heavy tank "Tiger"

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 1354

Armament: 88 mm cannon, two or three 7.92 mm machine guns

Crew: 5 people

Speed on rough terrain: 20-25 km/h

Tank "Tiger". Photo: German Federal Archives

Contrary to popular belief that the Panzerkampfwagen (PzKpfw) VI Tiger owes its appearance to the collision of Germany that attacked the USSR with the new Soviet T-34 and KV tanks, the development of a heavy breakthrough tank for the Wehrmacht started back in 1937. By the beginning of 1942, the vehicle was ready, it was put into service under the PzKpfw VI Tiger index, and the first four tanks were sent to Leningrad. True, this first battle was unsuccessful for them. But in subsequent battles, the heavy German tank fully confirmed its feline name, proving that, like a real tiger, it remains the most dangerous "predator" on the battlefield. This was especially noticeable in the days of the Battle of Kursk, where the "tigers" were out of competition. Armed with a long-barreled gun, a tank with powerful armor was invulnerable to both Soviet tanks and most anti-tank guns, at least in the forehead and from afar. And in order to hit him on the side or stern from close range, you still had to manage to take such an advantageous position. This was not an easy task: the crew of the T-6, as the "Tiger" was called in Soviet documents, had an excellent system for monitoring the battlefield.

Only later, when the Soviet IS-2s, the ISU-152 self-propelled guns and BS-3 guns created on their basis, appeared on the “tigers”. It is no coincidence that the ISU-152 and BS-3 received the respectful nickname "St. John's wort" among the troops. But this happened only in 1944, and until that time the PzKpfw VI tank was out of competition. Even today it is considered one of the best heavy tanks of Nazi Germany, and of the entire Second World War. However, the “tigers” were not released enough for these expensive ones - the cost of one car reached 800,000 Reichsmarks and was three times the cost of any other tank of that time! - and powerful machines had a dramatic impact on the course of the war.

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Analyzing the reasons for the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, one can consider many factors, proving its regularity and inevitability. However, in addition to moral superiority, the mass heroism of soldiers and officers, the feat of home front workers, attention should also be paid to such an important component of overall success as the technical support of the troops. Tanks were the main striking force of the ground forces during the Second World War. The USSR was armed with unsurpassed models of armored vehicles already at the end of the thirties. No other country in the world could achieve such a technological level for a long time.

First tanks

The basic ideas of tank building were formed painfully, the search for optimal layout schemes, criteria for the sufficiency of protection and the ratio of maneuverability to firepower was accompanied by many mistakes and insights. It was important to find the best suspension for the road wheels, the correct location of the drive wheels, calculate the gearbox, and choose the appropriate caliber for the turret guns. The first tanks of the USSR were produced abroad, more precisely, in France, by Renault. They were renamed in honor of the "freedom fighters comrades Lenin and Trotsky", and there were only two of them. There could be no experience of mass construction of tanks in Soviet Russia, and before the revolution this issue was not given sufficient attention. In fairness, it should be remembered that in the 1920s and 1930s, discussions continued between theorists of strategy about the primary importance of cavalry during deep invasion operations and in defense, not only in our country, but also abroad. abroad. You had to start almost from scratch.

20s

Blaming pre-war cavalry supporters for illiteracy and retrograde thinking has long been considered a win-win. These, of course, included Budyonny and Voroshilov, while Tukhachevsky, Blucher, Uborevich, and even Yakir, who suffered from Stalin, were just as schematically classified as "progressives". In fact, the supporters of the "equestrian" theory, of course, had their own, and quite weighty arguments. In the early 30s, armored vehicles were, to put it mildly, imperfect. The armor is bulletproof, otherwise the low-power carburettor car engine could not move the car from its place. The armament was also in most cases at the level of the famous "cart-Rostovite". There was a logistical problem in the delivery of fuels and lubricants, a car is not a horse, you cannot feed it with grass. And yet, already in the twenties, the first tanks of the USSR appeared. Photos of these samples today are not impressive, and technical characteristics too. In most cases, they copied foreign analogues and did not stand out in any way.

Something had to be started. The starting point can be considered the T-18, which became the first mass-produced Soviet tank. It was produced in 1928-1931, 9 hundred copies were built. All the tanks of the USSR and Russia can be considered descendants of this "grandfather" of Soviet tank building. The same Renault-17 served as the basis for its creation. The work of designers was complicated by the need to "reinvent the wheel", since not all parts and assemblies were preserved after the Civil War. The tank was light, the armament consisted of one machine gun. Until the conflict on Lake Khasan, he remained in the service, and the main value of this machine is that it laid the foundation for the Soviet tank building school.

Wheeled-caterpillar concept

The middle of the 30s was marked by the flourishing of the wheel-tracked concept. Its essence was briefly reduced to the fact that in the upcoming offensive operations, speed would be a priority success factor, and cars moving along European highways like cars would be able to achieve it. But good roads still need to be reached, having overcome the chronic Russian impassability. Caterpillars could also be needed in order to cross fortified areas, trenches and ditches. The enemy should not be underestimated, he would certainly use all known methods of defense.

This is how the idea of a hybrid undercarriage arose, providing for the possibility of carrying out the initial stage of the offensive on tracks, then dropping them, and then developing success using actually wheeled tanks. The USSR was preparing for an offensive fleeting war on foreign territory, accompanied by insignificant losses, with the support of the insurgent proletariat of the liberated countries.

T-29

The T-29 became the first personification of the wheel-tracked concept. Theoretically, he absorbed all the most advanced technical ideas of his time, even going beyond them. The caliber of the turret gun was unthinkable for the mid-30s, it was as much as 76 mm, had a slightly larger size than the previous T-28 model, and with 30 mm armor thickness it could move quite quickly, no worse than the light tanks of the USSR of that time . The machine was let down by the complexity of production and low reliability, it remained experimental, but its role should not be underestimated.

Grotte's Mysterious Machine

The uninitiated in the intricacies of the history of tanks may consider the name of this Soviet model foreign. In a sense, it is.

In parallel with the T-28 and T-29, work was underway in the USSR to implement another secret project. Having become a communist, the German designer Edvard Grotte created his car in our country, using unusual and even revolutionary approaches. Some of his achievements were later used by Soviet engineers (welded technologies, for example), while others of his ideas were not continued (spiral suspension rollers and multi-tiered placement of weapons). Alas, the tank of the German engineer Grotte suffered from excessive complexity, was expensive to manufacture and unreliable.

Multi-tower SMK

The first heavy tanks of the USSR were named after the murdered leader of the Leningrad Bolsheviks, Sergei Mironovich Kirov. On the basis of the already tested design of the T-35, a means of breaking through the layered fortifications of the enemy was created. The mass of the vehicle was 55 tons, it was armed with two guns (caliber 76 and 45 mm) placed in individual towers. The original scheme assumed five-tower equipment, but the weight went off scale, and it was simplified. SMK - the most unusual tanks of the USSR. Their photos give an idea that the maneuverability of these machines leaves much to be desired. Their silhouette is immortalized on the obverse of the medal "For Courage". In the Great Patriotic War, this caterpillar artillery battery practically did not have to fight, but the experience of the Finnish campaign revealed the general constructive conceptual depravity of the multi-tower scheme.

Fleet

All light tanks of the USSR of the Second World War are considered obsolete, even taking into account the fact that their age in 1941 was measured over a period of several years. Their armor was modest, their armament was insufficient, at least, post-war historians claimed so. The BT series turned out to be of little use for the defense of the country, this is true. However, this does not detract from their technical merits. The 45-mm gun was enough to destroy any German tank in the initial period of hostilities. The machines of this series showed themselves perfectly during offensive operations at Khalkhin Gol in very difficult conditions. It was on them that the main ideas were tested, according to which all subsequent tanks of the USSR were built, including the rear location of the transmission unit, inclined armor and an indispensable diesel engine. The speed of the machines justified the name of the series (BT-2 - BT-7), it reached 50 or more km / h (on tracks), and exceeded 70 km / h on wheels.

floating

When mastering vast territories, the armed forces of any country face the problem of forcing numerous water barriers. Usually it is solved by landing and holding a bridgehead by them for the time necessary to establish a pontoon crossing. The capture of bridges can be considered an ideal case, but the retreating enemy, which is quite logical, seeks to destroy them before leaving. Immediately before the war, our designers created amphibious tanks. The USSR of the Second World War, according to the official historical version, did not expect, but prepared the Red Army to overcome numerous rivers and other bodies of water. T-38 and T-37 were built in large series (by 1938 there were over a thousand of them), and in 1939 the T-40 was added to them. They were of little use for defense, the armament was rather weak (7.62 or 12.7 mm machine gun), so at the initial stage of the war, almost all vehicles were lost. By the way, the German Wehrmacht did not have amphibious tanks at all.

Main tank T-34

The most famous and mass-produced tanks of the USSR in 1941-1945 are the “thirty-fours”. The designers of the warring countries failed to create the best car anyway. And it's not about the extra-thick protection or the unique caliber of the gun. The main advantage of this tank was its amazing survivability, mobility, the ability to repel projectiles, and manufacturability. All this was achieved thanks to the correct layout of the nodes. The designers lowered the silhouette by placing the drive rollers at the rear and removing the cardan shaft. The mass of armor has decreased, driving performance has improved. Modification of 1944 received a cast hexagonal turret and a gun with a caliber increased to 85 mm. A lot has been said and written about this tank, it deserves it, even despite the shortcomings, without which, however, not a single piece of equipment can do.

T-44

The T-44 became a further development of the T-34 concept. This machine was distinguished by an even more perfect layout, in particular, the diesel engine was placed in it coaxially with the drive rollers, perpendicular to the longitudinal line of the armored hull. This solution made it possible to reduce the length (as well as the mass), improve habitability, move the driver's hatch to a horizontal plane in front of the turret, and solve a number of other design problems. KhTZ produced 190 copies of the T-44 until May 1945. After the advent of modern T-54 tanks, the chassis of the "forty-fours" managed to serve as tractors, various auxiliary equipment was mounted on them. The film career of the T-44 is also noteworthy: for the filming of feature films, they were often "made up" under the German "Panthers".

"Klims" - the heaviest tanks - 1941

The USSR was preparing to crush the enemy's fortifications on foreign territory. By the end of 1938, in parallel with the aforementioned QMS, the Kirov Plant began to design a unique single-turret KV machine. A year later, the first copies were tested in quite combat conditions in Karelia. According to the established plan, in 1940 more than two hundred copies rolled off the assembly line, and in 1941 they were supposed to produce 1200 pieces. Weight - 47.5 tons, speed - 34 km / h, turret gun caliber - 76 mm. Not a single army in the world had such a machine. Its main purpose is to break into a layered defense equipped with powerful anti-tank weapons. Other WWII tanks also appeared at its base. By the beginning of hostilities, the USSR already had a well-thought-out and perfect technological chain that made it possible to use the successful KV undercarriage in combination with various types of towers and various artillery weapons (KV-1 KV-2, KV-3, etc.). Such a maneuverable heavy tank was not able to create the industry of Nazi Germany. However, the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition did not succeed either.

IS - Stalin in metal

In order to name a tank after the leader, one had to have courage, but even with it, caution was not superfluous. However, at the Kirov Plant there were owners of both advantages. Without a doubt, these were the most powerful and invulnerable tanks of the USSR. World War II had already swung its monstrous pendulum to the West, the Soviet Army went on the offensive, but the enemy was still strong and tried to turn the tide of hostilities in his favor, releasing more and more new monsters with extended trunks of long-range guns onto the battlefields. In 1943, tests of the IS-1 were completed, which were a deeply modernized version of the KV. This machine had a relatively small caliber, like the latest T-34 model (85 mm). The IS-2 was a further development of this series (caliber 122 mm), and for the IS-3 they came up with a new form of the reflective surface of the frontal armor, nicknamed the “pike nose”.

After the war, many outstanding tanks were created, which are still considered the best in the world. The basis of science and practice in the production of armored vehicles was laid by WWII tanks. The USSR became the leading tank building power. This tradition continues in the new Russia.

For each "Tiger" there were six dozen T-34s, and for each "Panther" - eight "Shermans"

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Sergey Antonov

The Soviet tank column is moving towards the city of Ungheni. Reproduction of TASS Newsreels

Comparing the tanks that participated in the Great Patriotic War on both sides of the front, in principle, is rather pointless. After all, in the end, the best, as they say, is the weapon that won. And in the case of the greatest war of the 20th century, it would be more fair to say this: the best weapon is the weapon that the winners hold in their hands. You can compare German, Soviet, British and American tanks in terms of armament, armor, thrust-to-weight ratio, and comfort for the crew. For each parameter there will be leaders and outsiders, but in the end, the tanks of the anti-Hitler coalition won the victory. Including because there were simply so many more of them. The total output of the ten most massive tanks of the Great Patriotic War is at least 195,152 units. Of these, the USSR accounts for 92,077 tanks and 72,919 - for the United States, that is, four-fifths, and the rest is the share of Germany (21,881 tanks) and Great Britain (8275 tanks).

1. Soviet medium tank T-34

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 84,070 pieces

Weight: 25.6-32.2t

Armament: 76/85 mm cannon, two 7.62 mm machine guns

Crew: 4–5 people

Speed on rough terrain: 25 km/h

Not a single tank in the history of world tank building has ever been produced in such colossal quantities. More than half of the nearly 85,000 "thirty-fours" are modifications of the very first version - the T-34-76 (the brainchild of the legendary designer Mikhail Koshkin), armed with a 76-mm F-34 cannon. It was these tanks, which by the beginning of the war had produced about 1800 units, that gave the Wehrmacht tankers an unpleasant surprise and forced Germany to hastily invent ways to make their armored vehicles capable of fighting the Russians on equal terms. It was these machines that they carried on themselves - in the truest sense of the word! - and the severity of the first months of the war, and the incredible tension of the turning point in the war, and the swiftness of the throw to the west, to Victory.

2. American medium tank M4 "Sherman"

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 49,234

Weight: 30.3t

Armament: 75/76/105 mm cannon, 12.7 mm machine gun, two 7.62 mm machine guns

Crew: 5 people

Speed on rough terrain: 40 km/h

Tank M4 "Sherman"

Tank M4 "Sherman". Photo: AP

3. American light tank "Stuart"

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 23,685

Weight: 12.7t

Armament: 37 mm cannon, three to five 7.62 mm machine guns

Crew: 4 people

Speed on rough terrain: 20 km/h

4. German medium tank T-4

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 8686

Weight: 25t

Crew: 5 people

5. English infantry tank "Valentine"

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 8275 units

Weight: 16t

Armament: 40 mm cannon, 7.92 mm machine gun

Crew: 3 people

Tank "Valentine"

Tank "Valentine". Photo: AP

6. German medium tank "Panther"

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 5976 units

Weight: 45t

Armament: 75 mm cannon, two 7.92 mm machine guns

Crew: 5 people

Speed on rough terrain: 25-30 km/h

Tank "Panther"

Tank "Panther". Photo: U.S. Army Signal Corps/AP

7. German medium tank T-3

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 5865

Weight: 25.9t

Armament: 37/50/75 mm cannon, three 7.92 mm machine guns

Crew: 5 people

Speed on rough terrain: 15 km/h

8. Soviet heavy tank KV

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 4532

Weight: 42.5-47.5t

Armament: 76/85 mm cannon, three 7.62 mm machine guns

Crew: 4–5 people

Soviet troops are moving after the heavy tanks "KV"

Soviet troops are moving after the heavy tanks "KV". Photo: Samariy Gurary / RIA Novosti

9. Soviet heavy tank IS-2

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 3475

Weight: 46t

Armament: 122 mm cannon, 12.7 mm machine gun, three 7.62 mm machine guns

Crew: 4 people

Speed on rough terrain: 10-15 km/h

10. German heavy tank "Tiger"

The total number of produced tanks of all modifications: 1354

Weight: 56t

Armament: 88 mm cannon, two or three 7.92 mm machine guns

Crew: 5 people

Speed on rough terrain: 20-25 km/h

Tank "Tiger"

Tank "Tiger". Photo: German Federal Archives

Tanks are a formidable weapon, a symbol of the power and strength of world powers. Russia is a superpower in terms of the number of legendary tanks.

MS-1 (T-18)

MS-1 (T-18) became the first mass-produced Soviet tank. In total, about 960 units were produced. For the first time in battles, MS-1s were used in the conflict on the CER in 1929, when the attack of 9 tanks put the Chinese infantry to flight. In the second half of the 30s - early 40s, a significant part of these vehicles was used as fixed firing points on the border in the Far East and the Karelian Isthmus. Occasionally there are references to the participation of MS-1 in hostilities in the first months of the Great Patriotic War. To this day, no more than 10 MS-1s have survived as museum exhibits and monuments.

BT-7

BT-7 is a fast tank. His military debut came in the summer of 1938 against Japanese troops near Lake Khasan. However, the BT-7 proved to be the best a year later in Mongolia in the battles at Khalkhin Gol, where the high speed and maneuverability of this tank were fully manifested in the steppes. BT-7 successfully operated during the campaign of the Red Army in Poland in September 1939, when the rapid advance of mobile tank groups made it possible to paralyze possible active actions of the Polish troops. At the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War, in terms of their combat qualities, the BT-7 was not inferior to most German tanks and was used until the first half of 1942.

The final episode in the combat biography of the BT-7 was the Soviet-Japanese war in August-September 1945.

At that time, these already obsolete tanks were part of the second battalions of tank regiments and went into a breakthrough for more powerful T-34s and IS-2s.

T-34/76

T-34/76. One of the best medium tanks for 1940. Combined good armor protection and powerful weapons. The 76 mm cannon of the tank could effectively deal with both manpower and equipment. At least until the middle of 1942, the enemy could do little to oppose him. Often, the T-34, having received numerous hits, remained in service.

The most productive Soviet tanker who fought on the T-34, D. F. Lavrinenko (4th tank brigade), destroyed or disabled 52 two German tanks from October to December 1941.

With the advent of heavy equipment from the enemy in 1943, the T-34 was also subjected to serious modernization. The armor protection was strengthened, a fifth crew member was added, and the tank was armed with a new 85-mm cannon capable of hitting almost all German tanks at close and medium distances. New T-34/85 from March 1944 began to arrive at the front. The T-34 turned out to be not ideal in many ways, but it was easy to manufacture and master, as well as the most massive tank in the world. In the second half of the 20th century, T-34s were used in conflicts until the 90s (the war in Yugoslavia).

KV-1

KV-1 - Soviet heavy tank. The first KVs passed military tests in the last weeks of the Soviet-Finnish war. As of June 1941, the KV could be considered one of the strongest heavy tanks in the world. There is a well-known case in June 1941 in the Rassenaya area, when one KV-1 fettered the actions of a German division for almost two days. One of the German documents noted:

“There were practically no means to deal with the monster. The tank cannot be bypassed, around the swampy terrain. Ammunition could not be brought in, the seriously wounded were dying, they could not be taken out. An attempt to destroy the tank with fire from a 50-mm anti-tank battery from a distance of 500 meters led to heavy losses in crews and guns. The tank was not damaged, despite the fact that, as it turned out, received 14 direct hits. From them there were only dents on the armor.

When the 88-millimeter gun was brought to a distance of 700 meters, the tank calmly waited until it was put into position and destroyed it. Attempts by sappers to undermine the tank were unsuccessful. The charges were insufficient for the huge caterpillars. Finally, he became a victim of cunning. 50 German tanks feigned an attack from all sides to divert attention. Under cover, they managed to advance and disguise the 88-mm gun from the rear of the tank. Of the 12 direct hits, 3 pierced the armor and destroyed the tank."

Unfortunately, most of the KV was lost not due to combat reasons, but due to breakdowns and lack of fuel. At the end of 1943, heavy IS tanks replaced the KV.

IS-2

IS-2 ("Joseph Stalin") heavy tank. It was created to break through heavily fortified enemy positions and fight heavy enemy tanks. There is a known case when, during the Lvov-Sandomierz operation, two IS-2s, acting from an ambush, destroyed 17 German tanks and self-propelled guns in two days. The IS-2 turned out to be indispensable as an assault weapon in breaking through the enemy defenses, especially in the Berlin direction and near Koenigsberg. In the post-war period, the tank was modernized and officially remained in service until 1995.

T-72 - the main tank. The production of this tank has been deployed since 1973. Since the conflict in Lebanon in 1982, the T-72 has been actively used in wars in the Middle East and the territory of the former USSR. Noteworthy are the actions of a group of four Russian tanks under the command of Captain Yuri Yakovlev in August 2008, which fought street battles in Tskhinval for two days. Having lost one tank (one crew member was wounded), the group ensured the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers, destroying at least 8 enemy tanks and combat vehicles.

About tanks in the Great Patriotic War

(With commentary by Sergei V. Stroev)

With such tanks we started the war. On the Soviet tank T-26, German soldiers.

Light Soviet tank BT-7 at the beginning of the war. Behind two broken into the trash BT-7.

Such tanks were created to fight the infantry of a weaker enemy, but not to fight the more powerful tanks of a stronger enemy. These fast tanks were good for pursuing the enemy's randomly retreating infantry, which did not have anti-tank weapons. But the Red Army retreated in 1941-1942.

Medium Soviet tank T-34-76. Inferior to the German T-4, but better than the German T-3

Oddly enough, Hitler did not know about these tanks and their appearance, albeit in limited quantities, was a shock to the German command, because in the first months of the war the T-34 had more powerful cannon armament than German tanks. In tank duels in 1941 with the T-34, the Germans were rescued by great combat experience, the coherence of tank crews in battle, the PRESENCE of TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION with all tanks (which was not the case in Soviet tank platoons, companies, battalions), the absence of a tank commander in the T-34 crew , which reduced the combat effectiveness of Soviet tank units in battle. The unit commander's tank stood out for its high antenna, and the Germans always tried to destroy it first, after which the rest of the tanks, deprived of even one-way communication with the commander, actually lost their unified command and fought on their own.

This shortcoming was eliminated only on the T-34-85, after terrible losses on the Kursk Bulge, by January 1944.

Medium German tank T-3 (Panzer-III). The main German tank of the first months of the war.

Reference material

On June 1, 1941, the tank fleet of the Red Army consisted of 23.106 tanks, of which 18.691 are combat-ready or 80.9%. In five border watering districts (Leningrad, Baltic, Western Special, Kiev Special and Odessa) there were 12.782 tanks, including combat-ready - 10.540 or 82.5% (repair, therefore, required 2.242 tanks). Most of the tanks (11.029) were part of twenty mechanized corps (the rest were part of some rifle, cavalry and separate tank units). From May 31 to June 22, these districts received 41 KB, 138 T-34s and 27 T-40s, that is, another 206 tanks, which brought their total number to 12,988. Basically, these were obsolete T-26 and BT light tanks..

new heavy tanks KB and medium tanks T-34 were 549 and 1.105, respectively. On June 1, 1941 . the tank fleet of the Red Army consisted of 23,106 tanks, of which 18,691 or 80.9% were combat-ready. In five border watering districts (Leningrad, Baltic, Western Special, Kiev Special and Odessa) there were 12.782 tanks, including combat-ready - 10.540 or 82.5% (repair, therefore, required 2.242 tanks). Most of the tanks (11.029) were part of twenty mechanized corps (the rest were part of some rifle, cavalry and separate tank units). From May 31 to June 22, these districts received 41 KB, 138 T-34s and 27 T-40s, that is, another 206 tanks, which brought their total number to 12,988.

As part of the tank and motorized divisions of the mechanized corps, the T-34 took part in the battles, figuratively speaking, from the very first hours of the invasion of the Nazi Wehrmacht into our country.

According to the states of 1940, two tank divisions of the corps were to have 375 tanks each, and a motorized division - 275 tanks. Of these, T-34s, respectively, 210 and 17. The rest were BT, T-26, and in the tank division - another 63 KV. Six tanks at the command of the corps supplemented their total number to 1.031, of which 437 were T-34s. It is not difficult to calculate what percentage those 1,105 T-34s made up of the regular strength of twenty MKs. It is equal to 5.4 percent!

Most of the corps did not have the tanks they were supposed to. For example, the 9th, 11th, 13th, 18th, 19th and 24th MKs had 220-295 tanks, while the 17th and 20th, which had 63 and 94 tanks respectively, were generally only listed mechanized corps, but in fact they were not. The commanders of the corps and divisions of these, in the majority of newly formed or still forming formations, mainly came from cavalry or infantry units, had no experience in managing mechanized formations. The crews still had little command of the new machines. The old ones, for the most part, required repair, had a limited motor resource. So most of the mechanized corps were not very combat-ready. It is understandable. In a short time (several months) it was practically impossible to form such a large number of mechanized corps. For these and other reasons, in the battles of the first days of the war, our tank formations suffered heavy and irreparable losses.

Already in August, for example, the 6th, 11th, 13th, 14th MK, which were part of the Western Front, lost about 2,100 tanks, i.e. 100 percent of the available machines. Many tanks were blown up by their crews as they were unable to move due to a malfunction or lack of fuel... http://www.otvaga2004.narod.ru/publ_w4/050_t34.htm

Beginning in 1943, with the transition of the German troops to positional defense, the breakthrough became the main form of offensive combat for the Soviet troops. For its successful implementation, especially with a defense in depth, including solid positions, it was imperative to concentrate powerful means to destroy and suppress enemy firing points and manpower, a high rate of attack, as well as a bold initiative maneuver on the battlefield. The key to success was the involvement of infantry direct support tanks (NPP) in the directions of the main attacks with a consistent increase in the density of tanks and self-propelled guns in the breakthrough areas and ensuring close interaction of tanks with all the forces and means involved in the battle. Accompanying the infantry to the entire depth of the main line of defense, heavy tanks IS-85, IS-122, self-propelled artillery mounts ISU-122 and ISU-152 made passages in barbed wire; destroyed fire weapons and manpower of the enemy, repelled counterattacks by infantry and tanks.

The task of self-propelled artillery, in addition, included the destruction of fortifications and the fight against tanks and self-propelled guns.

From the beginning of 1944, separate guards heavy tank regiments (OGv.TTP) were used to directly support infantry during the breakthrough of positional defense, and from December 1944, separate guards heavy tank brigades (OGv.TTBr). (The Germans were never able to create tank brigades of heavy tanks. Due to the lack of heavy tanks. Regiments of heavy tanks "Tiger" were attached to tank corps, consisting of medium tanks. S. Stroev). For them, the IS-85 and IS-122 tanks were intended. According to the state, the regiment consisted of four tank companies (each with five vehicles), a company of submachine gunners, a technical support company, a control platoon, a sapper and economic platoon, and a regimental medical center (PMP). Each regiment was to have 374 personnel and 21 IS tanks, including the commander's tank. When created, these regiments were immediately given the honorary title "Guards", since they were assigned the most difficult task - a breakthrough, together with infantry and artillery, of the enemy's pre-prepared defense and the field fortified areas created by him ..... http://www.otvaga2004. narod.ru/publ_w1/2006-06-26_is1.htm

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Commentary by S. Stroev

Remarkably, heavy tanks with us and the Germans were mainly used in a similar way: to reinforce the main medium tanks in battle. The Germans also created separate regiments of T-6 heavy tanks from the Tigers. Usually their numbering began with the number 5.

Heavy German tank "Tiger". Appeared in single copies back in 1942.

Hitler delayed the start of the Battle of Kursk by waiting for more heavy Tiger tanks to arrive. But despite their participation as reinforcement regiments, the role of the "Tigers" was not so great, which would justify the postponement of the date of the German offensive to July 1943, which made it possible for the Soviet army to create a strategic defense in depth on the Kursk salient. The beginning of the offensive in the hot July days had another unexpected effect. German tanks were all on gasoline engines and gasoline easily evaporated in the terrible heat and often a German tank caught fire from a Soviet projectile that could not penetrate the armor of a heavy tank, but set fire to gasoline vapors. In war, you can't predict everything...

Heavy Soviet tank IS-2. He entered the front after the Battle of Kursk

For example, the 502nd regiment of heavy tanks "Tiger" "lit up" from the Kursk Bulge to the battles in Germany ... Our regiments of heavy tanks "automatically" became guards, among the Germans they were also "guards" - that is, they were formed as units of the military SS - that is, not security units of the SS, but military units, which were originally created as elite military units.

Some SS tank formations had a high-profile reputation and distinguished themselves in battles. For example, the 2nd SS Panzer Corps, which almost broke through all three lines of defense south of Prokhorovka, and then on the very first day of the counteroffensive of the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army, destroyed up to half of the counterattacking Soviet tanks of this 5th Guards Tank Army. There is a large the role was played by the corps commander himself - Hausser, who literally nurtured his tankers for several years. On July 11, 1943, his tanks stopped for the night in order to resume the offensive in the morning and break through the last line of defense near Prokhorovka. But German intelligence reported on the noise of tank engines from the Soviet side, and at 12 at night Hauser sent a Panther tank battalion for reconnaissance, which collided with tanks of the 5th Guards Tank Army moving to their starting positions for the morning offensive.

Soviet light tank T-70, widely used during tank battles on the Kursk salient.

This lightly armored vehicle with a weak gun was an easy target for the Germans.

The Germans, after an hour-long battle, withdrew to their original positions of the failed morning offensive, since the situation had changed. The tankers, who returned from reconnaissance in battle, reported to the commander the situation: Soviet tanks were preparing for a massive attack. Already at one in the morning, Haussser gave the order to cancel preparations for the offensive and urgently prepare defensive positions for tanks and anti-tank guns to meet Soviet tanks with fire from a place.

The Germans were able to move very quickly from offensive to defensive. By morning, some of their tanks were dug into the ground up to the turret and anti-tank artillery was prepared for the Soviet tank attack. And when the 5th Guards Army went on the attack in the morning, without reconnaissance and without artillery preparation, it was met with a wall of fire. The losses of the Soviet tankers and self-propelled gunners were terrible. The counteroffensive faltered. The Germans could not be moved. Most Soviet tanks and all self-propelled artillery (lightly armored) guns were destroyed.

But the superiority of the Soviet troops in the number of tanks and infantry from the reserves of the Steppe Front nevertheless forced the Germans, after 5 days of their defensive battles, to begin to retreat in an organized manner towards Belgorod, from where they began their offensive on July 5, 1943 on the southern face of the Kursk Bulge. The Germans wedged into our defenses for 35-50 kilometers, and due to the inequality of forces by July 17, as well as due to heavy losses in tanks and especially in infantry, they were afraid of strikes under the base of their ledge, their “little Kursk Bulge”. Therefore, they preferred to level the front and avoid a possible tactical encirclement of part of their units and formations, although a week before that the Germans still managed to encircle one Soviet rifle corps, which, with heavy losses, managed to partially get out of this encirclement on the southern face of the Kursk salient. On the northern face of the Kursk Bulge, the Germans had more modest successes than on the southern.

We do not know much about the realities of the fighting on the Kursk Bulge. Even Stalin did not know them. Because the lost more than 300 tanks during the four hours of a fruitless offensive on July 12 - it was very dangerous for Rokossovsky and he reported to Stalin about these losses, but stretching them out for 2-3 days of "fierce battles with German tanks" .... He was afraid for his head... And not in vain. Even in 3 days, such losses in tanks brought Stalin into a state of intense anger. But Rokossovsky survived ...

Many myths were written in Soviet times about the Kursk Bulge and the Prokhorov tank encounter battle ... Only now are the archives being opened and the truth is beginning to become available to military historians. It can hardly be doubted that the Germans in 1943 surpassed the Red Army in terms of command and control of tank troops (especially in mobile warfare) and the organization of command and control in general. But in 1943, Soviet soldiers already understood that it was unlikely that they would be able to survive in such a massacre. And if you die, then you need to kill as many Germans as possible. Both sides fought with extreme ferocity, but during the two years of the war, the Germans lost their first-class infantry of the 1940 model of the year and made up for these losses with less combat-ready replacements. When the Red Army created its first tank army, the Germans wrote with disdain: "The Russians have created an instrument that they cannot play." From the middle of 1943, this Russian "instrument" increasingly played a funeral march for the Germans.

With the advent of the medium heavy tank "Panther" and the very heavy tank "Tiger" among the Germans, the tank balance in terms of the quality of armored vehicles began to change in favor of the Germans, but not for long. Already in January-February 1944, modernized T-34-85 tanks began to arrive at the front, with a more powerful 85 mm gun, with more powerful armor protection and, finally, with a place for a tank commander. There was no place for the commander in the T-34-76 tank, although Halder wrote in his diary back in the fall of 1941 that the absence of a commander in the T-34 seriously reduces the combat effectiveness of the tank crew and the effectiveness of using these tanks in battle. But even on the Kursk Bulge, in July 1943, Soviet tankers had to fight on the T-34-76 and light T-70 tanks, which could knock the Tiger into the side from a distance of less than 300 meters, while the Tiger could to get them at a distance of up to two kilometers. A tank duel at a distance of one kilometer turned into the shooting of Soviet tanks without loss or damage to German heavy tanks. However, Russian soldiers and commanders resisted.

Medium modernized Soviet tank T-34-85. He entered the front in January 1944.

The courage and steadfastness of the Soviet soldier thwarted Operation Citadel, the collapse of which meant a radical turning point in the entire war against the Germans. The Germans no longer had the strength for such a strategic offensive operation. The initiative completely passed to the Red Army.

German tank T-IV

German medium tank T-4 with crew.

I read in some memoirs that Soviet tank commanders sometimes used this captured T-IV tank as a command tank. It was more spacious than our T-34-76 and had better armor protection. Plus his commander's cupola, which was absent on our T-34-76 until 1944. Plus a good radio .... Plus good optics, good sights .... Plus a long-barreled gun from 1942. It was a good tank ... It was mass-produced by the Germans until the very end of the war. German T-3 and especially Czechoslovak t -38 were significantly weaker.

The main German medium tank T-4. It was mass-produced until the end of the war.

By the way, the Germans also "did not hesitate" to use captured Soviet T-34s in their combat formations. This was especially convenient during the offensive, when the T-34 with the German crew could come close to Soviet tanks, artillery or infantry and suddenly open fire literally at close range. Such cases, in particular, took place during the battles on the Kursk Bulge, where night battles were not uncommon.

About Soviet captured tanks in the Arab-Israeli war of 1973.

Captured Soviet tanks played a decisive role in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. They played a decisive role in the capture of crossings through the Suez Canal, when Captured Soviet tanks with Israeli crews "came peacefully" to the crossings from Israel and suddenly opened fire. The surviving Arabs fled, and the crossings were captured by the Israeli army, as a result of which the Arab 2nd Panzer Army, which had already crossed to the "Israeli" bank of the canal, was cut off from the rear units: from ammunition and fuel. The Egyptians apparently did not have the opportunity to build new crossings across the canal. Thus, the war of 1973 successfully launched by the Arabs with one tank strike of one battalion of captured Soviet tanks on Egyptian crossings through the Suez Canal was completely lost.

About Panther tanks

Formally medium, but rather heavy German tank "Panther" (T-5).

It was created by order of Hitler as a "deeply modernized T-34". It had a very good long-barreled gun, good armor protection (hence the weight of the tank). But it did not have a diesel engine, as on the T-34, since the Germans did not have enough diesel fuel. It was all intended for diesel submarines.

With regard to the T-5 Panther, there is still no clearly defined conclusion - how good a tank it was. There are criticisms of its reliability, running gear. How much better it was than the T-4 is difficult to say, since the T-4 was produced and effectively used until the end of the war. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that the "Panther" was still "damp", and the T-IV was a technologically advanced production tank ... But here's what is remarkable - when forming new SS divisions, for example, such as the 12th Panzer Division The SS "Hitler Youth" armed them with "Panthers" after all. It is clear that the elite SS troops would not have agreed to a bad tank if they had a better one. Yes, and in the memoirs of German tankers, as a rule, tank aces fought on the Panthers. The Tigers were also not so little released (although much less than the Panthers), but the memoirs of the tankers who fought on the Tigers , I have not seen anywhere, except for the description of one episode, in the summer of 1944.

Tankers of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth" in formation near their "Panthers".

The division has fought mainly on the Western Front since the Allied landings in Normandy. Despite the fact that the crews were staffed by very young tankers aged 17-18, who had undergone six months of training, the division fought steadfastly. By the end of 1944, it was almost completely knocked out in people and tanks. It was reorganized and sent to the Eastern Front in Hungary. By May 1945, less than 500 soldiers and non-commissioned officers and only 1 tank remained alive in the division. (In July 1944 there were 16 thousand people)

Heavy tank "Tiger". The range of a direct shot is more than two kilometers.

This episode involving heavy tanks "Tigr" and IS-2 was described by one tanker from the crew of one "Tiger", who stood in a tall bush and waited for his victims - T-34 tanks. When one T-34 tank nevertheless appeared on a flat field, at an average distance from the ambush, the German "Tiger" from the ambush fired the first sighting shot at the "bait" - the Soviet tank that appeared on the field, but after a few seconds the entire crew of the "Tiger" lost consciousness from a direct hit on the "Tiger" by a large-caliber projectile IS-2. This projectile also fired at the German heavy tank "Tiger" by the heavy Soviet tank IS-2, which ALSO stood in ambush and also hunted, but not for medium tanks, namely for this "Tiger", for the time being successfully hiding in an ambush. (All the same, Soviet tankers learned to fight !!). Except for this episode, I did not come across anywhere else the notes of tankers from the "Tiger". This is hardly an accident. Apparently, the German SS tank aces at this stage of the war still preferred heavy Panthers, and good T-4 tanks remained in the Wehrmacht tank divisions.

Heavy Soviet breakthrough tank IS-2 with troops on the armor. 1945 " To Berlin!"

By the way, in the episode with the "Tiger", after a direct hit by an IS-2 projectile, the "Tiger" was sent for overhaul, and the entire crew was sent to the hospital, but none of the crew died, everyone was severely shell-shocked.

The armor protection of this tank was very powerful, although due to the weight of the tank, it reduced the tank's engine life and made it possible to use it far from any terrain. Thus, an episode is described in which Soviet T-34-85 tankmen were waiting for the morning attack of German heavy tanks, having previously thrown their tanks with haystacks in such a way that even tank guns did not protrude from the haystacks, and for communication between tanks, the commanders crawled across the field to not be seen from the other side of the river.

With the start of the attack, the Tigers successfully forded a small river, but it took the front Tiger tank about half an hour to climb the hill of the Soviet bank of this river, because the heavy Tiger climbed up the hill along the river sand with great difficulty. When a sufficient number of enemy tanks accumulated on the sandy slope, which was difficult to maneuver, the Soviet tankmen opened fire at close range. The German tank attack was repulsed with heavy tank losses for the Germans.

About front-line repair of tanks

Irretrievable losses in tanks depended on who left the battlefield for the night

In the first two years of the war, when the Germans advanced, the battlefield, as a rule, remained behind them, and they pulled out their wrecked tanks by tractors at night to repair and put them back into battle. Sometimes during the day. In case of serious damage, wrecked tanks were sent to repair bases more distant from the front line and even to Germany. The Soviet T-34 tanks, which were repairable, were taken by the Germans and subsequently also used them in battles. For the repair of tanks, the Germans created well-equipped workshops 25-30 km away. from the front line, where both German mechanics and Soviet prisoners of war - former tankers worked. The Germans believed that Russian tank mechanics were better than Russian tankers. The qualifications of Russian mechanics did not cause any doubt among the Germans. The Germans also appreciated the captured Soviet guns of the 1938 issue with a caliber from 76 to 85 mm. But during the retreat of the Germans, their use was limited by the lack of shells.

The turning point in the war as a whole and in the mobile tank war was the Battle of Kursk. Especially on its southern face. From July 5 to July 12, 1943, German tank and mechanized troops slowly gnawed through three lines of strategic defense. For a week of fighting, two lines of Soviet strategic defense were broken through by the Germans and the Germans entrenched themselves on them. The offensive was slow, but the battlefield usually remained either behind the Germans or it represented a no-man's land at night, from which both the Germans and Soviet tankers tried to pull out the wrecked equipment under enemy mortar and machine-gun fire. At this time, the Germans were already trying to pull out their tanks, and the Soviets, if possible, blew up high-powered land mines, after which the tank turned into a pile of scrap metal. From July 12 to 17, the fighting went on with varying success without much progress on either side, and on July 17, the Germans began an organized retreat to their original positions to Belgorod. From that moment on, wrecked German tanks basically became Soviet trophies, as the Germans retreated until the very end of the war. Separate German counteroffensives and even the encirclement of Soviet units were still local successes. Which then gave way to a further retreat to the West.

The "Tiger" and other armored vehicles captured without a fight can be seen in the tank museum in Kub inca.

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God save Russia!

WWII heavy tank Light tanks in the Great Patriotic War. The technical superiority of the USSR in the prewar years and during the war

First tanks

20s

Wheeled-caterpillar concept

T-29

Grotte's Mysterious Machine

Multi-tower SMK

Fleet

floating

Main tank T-34

T-44

"Klims" - the heaviest tanks - 1941

IS - Stalin in metal

MS-1 (T-18)

BT-7

T-34/76

KV-1

IS-2

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