Read More IS-3 – the Soviet Heavy that Scared the West On the hull, its upper frontal plate was 90 mm thick and angled back at 60 degrees, while the vertical sides were 75 mm thick, and the back was 45 mm angled at 17 degrees. Its armor was 120 mm thick across the gun mantlet, 90 mm on the sides, and 75 mm on the back. The T-44 had a cast turret with a shape generally similar to that of the T-34. The final version of the vehicle entered serial production in November 1944 and a total of 1823 vehicles were produced until 1947, when production was diverted to the new T-54 tanks. A turret positioned near the front can lead to weight distribution issues and adds to a gun barrel’s overhang,ĭuring armor testing trials against captured German Panther and Tiger tanks it was shown that the armor of the vehicle was inadequate, so the production series version was up-armored, lowering the speed of the vehicle on road by about 6 mph (10 km/h). The T-34’s large V12 was mounted length ways, pushing the crew compartment and turret towards the front of the tank. It was impossible to achieve a satisfactory rate of fire and, as there was no stabilization, it was deemed impractical for use when the tank is in motion. The D-25T was ineffective as the T-44’s turret was simply too small. The prototypes were tested using different main armaments, the rifled 85 mm D-5T, the rifled 85 mm ZiS S-53 and the rifled 122 mm D-25T.

The first prototype was completed in the beginning of 1944, and two more were finished a month later.

The idea of the design was simplistic – to create a low profile, highly maneuverable, fast and adequately armored medium tank as a successor to the T-34. The development of the T-44 (Object 136) started in 1943 in factory № 183 in Nizhny Tagil under the supervision of lead designer Alexander Morozov. That set the stage for the creation of the T-44, which was an entirely different design concept. However the T-43 fell short, as the T-34/85 modification was better suited for production in large quantities during the war and had good enough firepower, so the T-43 was not seen as the radical change needed to counter German armor. As indicated by its appearance, the T-44 is a blend of T-34 and T-54.

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