T-34/85

The T34-85 can be considered an up-gunned version of the base T34 tank design.

The T-34/85 is designated as an 'up-gunned' version of the familiar and successful base T-34 tank build by the Soviet Union and fielded during the Second World War. The T-34/85 featured a more powerful main gun - of 85mm caliber - that was said to be on par with the German 75mm and 88mm guns. The T34-85 also featured an entirely new five-speed gearbox and a new turret design.

Initial designs of the T-34/85 called for a heavy-penetrating main gun with sufficient mobility (speed was not a matter as much as the powerful armament was when it came to the T-34/85) and crew protection. In short, the Red Army was looking for a weapon system to directly combat the German Panther and Tiger heavily armored and armed tanks. The anti-aircraft 85mm gun was already in trials with success on a tank chassis in the form of the KV-85 system, so the choice of the 85mm as a main gun system was simpler to make. For self-defense, the T-34/85 featured two stationary machine gun mounts - on coaxially in the turret and one embedded in the front hull portion of the tank.

As documented in the T-34 base entry elsewhere on this site, the T-34 chassis was highly adaptable, making it ideal for other production variants such as tank destroyers and anti-mine vehicles. North Korea fielded about 150 of the T-34/85 variant at the beginning of the Korean War. Several T-34/85s were still in frontline service as late as the 1970's, a testament to the chassis' successful design and production methods.

Over 55,000 T-34/85's were built at production's end, though a bulk of that (roughly 40,000) were produced during the war years alone. Nevertheless, it proved to be the most successful Soviet tank design up to that time, setting the stage for Cold War tanks designs that have lasted up to this day. The T-34, at it's core, was efficient to produce and easy to maintain, and proved to be an effective element on the battlefield.

It should be noted that the maximum range for the T-34/85 listed above is with auxiliary fuel tanks (shown in photo above as well). The designation for the T-34/85 may also appear as T34-85 in other sources or as T-34(85).