At the end of the thirties, tanks of the USSR possessed all the hallmarks of modern armored vehicles of the late twentieth and early present centuries. These include the following: a long - barreled gun, a diesel engine, a powerful anti-ballistic reservation made without rivets, and a rear transmission. Throughout the Second World War, not a single country created a single model of military equipment that met all four of these criteria, only in the second half of the fifties did foreign designers understand that Soviet tank builders were clear already in the mid-thirties.
The base of the tank fleet of the Soviet Union as of 1941 was the light BT-7 (high-speed). This state of affairs was fully consistent with the offensive nature of military doctrine: they were preparing to beat the enemy on its territory. These cars had high speed (up to 80 km / h) and maneuverable characteristics, were wheel-tracked. They practically could not fight on the roads, but, like all tanks of the USSR, they had a powerful diesel engine, rear drive rollers, a 45-mm cannon capable of hitting any foreign analogue of their time, and a machine gun. Rear-wheel drive provided a lower profile, which reduced vulnerability, since it was not necessary to drive the driveshaft to the front rollers.
Despite the dominant role of the offensive strategic idea, the tanks of the USSR were not only light, but also medium and heavy. The T-34, the best in the medium class, had a 75-mm gun in the first modification, in addition, the frontal reservation was thick, it was located at a reflecting angle. As in BT tanks, its chassis included track rollers on spring-loaded inclined springs. This scheme was invented by the American engineer Christie, it has become the best in the practice of world tank building and remains so to this day. In 1943, a modification of the T-34-85 appeared, with an 85-mm gun and a cast turret.
After the German attack on the USSR, it was medium and heavy tank building that became the main direction for the development of design developments.
The heavy tanks of the USSR of the Second World War knew no equal. HF and IS appeared on the front in 1944 became an ideal tool for breaking the enemy’s defense in depth. The turret gun of 122 mm caliber did not give any German tank a chance to win an artillery duel, and the armored defense up to 120 mm thick made the 46-ton giant practically invulnerable.
Compared to German tanks of the USSR, they had much better passability, were easier to operate, and because of the correct layout, it was even easier, while having better combat qualities. They were much easier to transport, to transport over bridges, both ordinary and pontoon. It should be noted that the German designers did not succeed in creating a tank diesel engine until the end of the war, which could be compared with our 600-strong B-2-34.
In the postwar decades, Soviet factories continued to build tanks. The USSR produced them more than all other countries combined. T-54, T-62, T-72 and other Soviet-era armored vehicles became masterpieces of design thought and the object of borrowing technical ideas for tank builders around the world.