page_title: T-44
section_title: Genesis
hierarchical_section_title: T-44 / Development history / Genesis
caption_attribution_description: T 34 au musée des blindés de Saumur - T34/85
context_page_description: The T-44 is a medium tank first developed and produced near the end of World War II by the Soviet Union. It was the successor to the T-34, offering improved ride and cross-country performance and 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 combat.
  Attempts were made to improve the T-44's armament with a new 122 mm gun, but the turret proved to be very cramped and the rate of fire was poor, on the order of three rounds per minute. Another attempt with a 100 mm gun seemed more promising although a number of additional changes were needed to make a truly effective design. 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.
context_section_description: 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. It had enhanced armour protection, a three-man hexagonal turret, torsion bar suspension instead of Christie suspension, road wheels with internal shock absorption, increased fuel capacity, and more main gun ammunition (100 rounds instead of 77 in standard T-34). The bow machine gun and driver's hatch switched positions on the glacis plate. In addition to six smaller wheels, the suspension of the T-34M had four return rollers. The original model V-2 12-cylinder diesel engine developing 500 hp (373 kW) was replaced by a new 12-cylinder diesel engine which produced 600 horsepower (450 kW). It had a new 8-speed transmission system. It was the first tank design to feature transverse engine placement, which made it smaller than a standard T-34 and gave the crew more space.
  The Zhdanov Metallurgical Factory manufactured five sets of armour plates for the hull of the T-34M and delivered them to Factory No. 183. However, early in 1941 work on the T-34M ceased as the production facilities were extremely busy with the mass production of the T-34. When the war with Nazi Germany broke out the only sensible solution was to gradually improve the existing design.
  During the battles on the Eastern Front it became apparent that the Red Army needed a new medium tank. They  requested that it should have better protection at a minimal increase of weight. In 1942 the T-43 tank design project began. It featured a new turret and shorter suspension which reduced the clearance between the roadwheels. However, it concentrated on increasing armour at a time when maintaining production and increasing firepower were more important. The T-43 was cancelled, but its new turret design was adapted to carry a larger 85 mm D-5T and later ZiS-S-53 gun in a new variant called the T-34-85. It marked the end of T-34 improvements as fitting 100 mm guns in T-34-100 prototypes proved unfeasible. (See T-34 variants article for details).
caption: T-34-85
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