Original sentence: At the time it was first fielded in 1940, it was easily the finest tank design in the world (Zaloga & Grandsen 1983).By mid-war the T-34 was no longer technically superior to its opponents, but it was still effective in combat (Zaloga & Grandsen 1983).In 1941 the thick, sloped armour of the T-34 could defeat all German anti-armour weapons at normal combat ranges except the towed 88 mm Flak guns.In contrast, most contemporary German, British, and U
Edited sentence: (Zaloga & Grandsen 1983).At the time it was first fielded in 1940, it was easily the finest tank design in the world.By mid-war it was no longer technically superior to all its opponents, but it was still better than most, and it was available in huge numbers.In 1941 its thick, sloped armour could defeat all German anti-armour weapons at normal ranges.In contrast, contemporary German, British and U.Overall then, in hard factors the T-34 was the worldwide trend-setter for tank development in the first half of the war.Since the Soviet-German front was the decisive land theatre of the war, the importance of the T-34 can hardly be exaggerated.T-34s could be knocked out only by the towed 88 mm Flak guns or at close range by 50 mm and 75 mm short-barrelled tank guns.The 'big three' of tank design have always been armour, firepower, and mobility.The T-34 had an outstanding balance of all three throughout its World War II life cycle.The demonstrated potential of the medium tank would lead to the development of the modern main battle tank (MBT).The effectiveness of the T-34 tank, when employed with the lessons of mobile combined arms operations learned in the war, would have a profound impact on the practice of warfare.The infantry tank/cavalry tank concept was shown to be obsolete, and abandoned by all nations by the war's end.The majority of German tanks in 1941 did not have 75 mm guns; 37 mm guns were far more common.While more economical types of vehicles would take over the various supporting roles of tanks, well-balanced medium tank designs could become more specialized and optimized for their role in mechanized warfare