page_title: T-44
section_title: Second generation
hierarchical_section_title: T-44 / Development history / Prototypes / Second generation
caption_attribution_description: Second of the two first generation T-44-85 prototypes and T-44-122 prototype during comparative trials.
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: The first trials of the T-44-122 prototype took place in February and March 1944, but were unsuccessful due to gun failure, and the gun was returned to the No. 9 factory for repair. In April and May 1944 the trials were resumed. Aside from standard trials, the T-44-122 was put in competitive trials against a captured German Panzerkampfwagen V Panther medium tank and the second of two first generation T-44-85 prototypes. The practical rate of fire was two to three rounds per minute due to the cramped turret and long, heavy ammunition. The vehicle had a very limited storage of only 24 rounds and this was considered insufficient for a medium tank. As a result, all further development of the T-44-122 prototype was cancelled.
  Like the T-44-122 prototype, one of the two first-generation T-44-85 prototypes went through competitive trials against a captured German Panzerkampfwagen V Panther medium tank. The second of the two first-generation T-44-85 prototypes was put in competitive trials against the T-44-122 prototype. The second prototype uncovered additional faults in the design. By May 1944 two second-generation prototypes were being built. These featured the driver's position moved rearwards so that his hatch was partially on the hull roof. The driver's vision flap was reduced to a plain square flap with rounded lower corners, in line with the glacis plate. These prototypes had prominent collars at the base of the gun tube, without the mounting bolts which were present in the first generation prototypes. The two prototypes also have differences between each other. One prototype had a splashboard on the glacis plate while the other had a smooth uncluttered glacis plate. One of these prototypes passed trials at the NIBT proving grounds near Kubinka in June and July 1944. This prototype weighed 31.3 tonnes and was armed with an 85 mm ZiS-S-53 gun. The turret front armour thickness was increased to 115 mm. Hulls side armour thickness was increased to 75 mm.
caption: Second of the two first generation T-44-85 prototypes and T-44-122 prototype during comparative trials
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