Советтік Орта танкі Т-44

Soviet medium tank

The T 44 was a medium tank developed and produced near the end of World War II by the Soviet Union. It was the successor to the T 34, offering an improved ride and cross country performance, along with much greater armor. Designed to be equipped with an 85 mm main gun, by the time it was fully tested the T 34 had also moved to this weapon. Both tanks offered similar performance, so introducing the T 44 was not considered as important as increasing T 34 production. Fewer than 2,000 T 44s were built, compared to about 58,000 T 34s. Although the T 44 was available by the end of the war, it was not used in any battle. It was 1 ton lighter than the T 34 85 and slightly faster. The T 44 was heavily influential on the design of the T 54/55 main battle tank, most prominently lower hull and turret profiles. Also notable was the T 44 100, a 100mm D 10T armed prototype, which would be the same 100mm gun mounted on the T 54/55, bar some minor changes. Attempts were made to improve the T 44's armament with a new 122mm gun, but the turret proved to be very cramped and the rate of fire was poor, on the order of three rounds per minute. Design work on a slightly enlarged version of the T 44 began during the war and a prototype was produced in 1945. This newer design entered production in 1947 as the T 54/55 series of medium tanks, the most produced tank series of all time.

By the end of 1940, when production of the T 34 started, there were already plans to improve the vehicle's reliability and operational capabilities by adopting more modern technology. This design project was designated T 34M. The bow machine gun and driver's hatch switched positions on the glacis plate. In addition to six smaller wheels, It had a new 8 speed transmission system.

In the autumn of 1943 the design bureau of the Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. 183, located in Nizhny Tagil (in the Ural Mountains, where most of the Soviet tank industry had been evacuated after Operation Barbarossa in 1941), started working on a vehicle that would have improvement opportunities in the future, under a direct order from Joseph Stalin. The intention was to retain the high mobility of the T 34 and provide it with heavier armour protection against modern tank guns. In November 1943, the chief designer, A. A. Morozov, presented the overall design of the vehicle and a model of the tank, which received the designation T 44 (Ob'yekt 136). The first prototype was completed by January 1944 and two more were completed in February. The first two prototypes were armed with 85mm D 5T guns and received the designation T 44 85, while the third prototype was armed with the 122mm D 25 44T tank gun and received the designation T 44 122. The D 25 44T tank gun was very similar to the basic D 25 field gun, but differed in some minor details including fixed single piece ammunition to increase the rate of fire and a double baffle muzzle brake. The penetration of the gun is disputed over whether the in battle or tested under conditions results should be used but in battle the penetration like previous model the t 34 the gun was unable to penetrate the expected amount of armor due to the powder used in the shells. What allowed fitting such powerful armament in a medium tank weighing 30 tonnes was the construction of the hull with an innovative placement of the engine. Unlike most tanks, in the T 44 the engine was placed perpendicular to the axis of the tank. The hull was designed without sponsons. It was also much wider which made the crew compartment bigger and allowed the turret to be placed over the center part of the vehicle. It was believed that putting a high speed 12 cylinder engine with a working displacement of almost 40 liters perpendicular to the direction of travel would cause problems, including breaking the connecting rods. to the center of the hull, increased the accuracy of the main gun These cylindrical fuel tanks were later used on Soviet main battle tanks as additional fuel tanks. Further development of the T 44 was canceled and all the attention was directed towards the development of the new T 54 main battle tank. The extensive machine gun firing port in the glacis plate (which was present in the T 34 medium tank) was a weak spot in the armour. and an improved fuel system which increased its power output, side slopes and 60° gradients and ford 1.3 m deep water obstacles without preparation. and development of a more advanced medium tank with a more powerful 100 mm gun proceeded. The relatively brief production run ended in 1947 with a total of 1,823 T 44A tanks built. The reasons for such a brief production run included mechanical teething problems, the end of the war which reduced the Red Army's need for a new tank,) were re equipped with T 34 85 tanks prior to entering the Battle of Berlin and Prague Offensive. The T 44A was not used operationally during World War II in Europe for several reasons, including the fact that the Red Army was not ready to accept a new tank;

Due to the Cold War, the USSR decided to keep the tank secret. It was never shown publicly during military parades nor during the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, The Star, and Downfall. In the first, it was used to portray a T 34. Some T 44As were given to military museums including one in Brest in today's Belarus, and one in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow, Poklonnaya Hill Victory Park. One of two T 44 100 prototypes are in the Kubinka Tank Museum near Moscow. In conjunction with the video game company Gaijin Entertainment, creators of the World War II multiplayer combat game War Thunder, and Kubinka Tank Museum, the T 44 tank number "721" was restored to full operating condition over the course of nearly six months, and given a parade paint scheme in the style of the T 44 "Znamenskiy" tank from the 29th Tank Corps of the 5th Guards Mechanized Army.

(1944) – Designation for two first generation prototypes armed with 85 mm D 5T tank gun and two second generation prototypes armed with 85 mm ZiS S 53 tank gun. Rahachow, Belarus.