With the start of the Korean War, China received 300 T-34-85 medium tanks, along with many trucks and other support vehicles. The T-34-85 (S-53) arrived in China as part of a Soviet military assistance package. Being the sixth variant of the T-34 medium tank family, it features an easier-to-reload ZiS S-53 tank gun, a radio relocated from the hull into a turret with an improved layout, and an improved gunner's sight. Models supplied unassembled and unpainted.The T-34-85 (S-53) Model 1944 is a remodelling of the late-production T-34-85 variant with the introduction of an 85 mm Zavod imeni Stalina (ZiS) S-53 tank gun. With over 21,000 of the 57,000 T-34s built during WWII being T-34/85s, the Russian credo was clearly one of quantity over quality, although it was an unwise Panzer commander who discounted the ability of the T-34/85.īox contains 1 plastic tank, leaflet and decal sheet. Another major advantage of the relatively simple design is the sheer number of tanks the Soviet tank factories could produce - by the summer of 1944 the Soviet war machine could produce more T-34/85s in a month than the Germans had Panther tanks in the whole of the Eastern Front! This ensured a far smoother and faster production line than would have been the case with a completely new design. The T-34/85's great strength lay in its adaptation of the T-34/76tank design which preceded it. A supremely rugged and reliable tank, the T-34/85 had excellent off-road capability, especially in the marshland or snow of the Eastern Front, and was easy for the crew to operate and maintain. The T-34/85, the very symbol of Soviet military strength in the Second World War, had a new turret to house the more powerful 85mm ZiS gun. As German tank design came to the fore, the Soviet war machine once again raised the bar with the T-34/85. The introduction of the T-34 into action saw German tank design follow suit with similarly angled armour on the likes of the Panther and King Tiger. The sloping, angular layout of the T-34 increased the effective armour thickness, and also saw a larger proportion of shells deflected away than penetrated its armour. The T-34 series, with its sloping armour, changed the principles of tank design during the war.
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