“The KV-1 and KV-2, which we first met here, were really something! Our companies opened fire at about Unit by driving over them and crushing them with their tracks. Heavy tanks were able to close with and destroy a German anti-tank gun Even with some of the KVs out of ammunition, the Soviet Were equipped with the lightly armed Czech Panzer 35(t) tanks, and theyĪnd the division’s anti-tank weapons proved ineffective against the KV Panzerdivision near Skaudvilė on 23 June 1941. Mechanised Corps) attacked and overran elements of the German 6. Was during Battle of Raseiniai (Lithuania) that the Germans encountered Superiors of the existence of this imposing vehicle whose armour,Īrmament, and mobility were all superior to those of any German tank. Panzergranate 40 (5cm calibre), without any noticeable effect.”Īnother German commander was shocked when he T-34, once at about 20 meters and four times at 50 meters, with It is remarkable that Lieutenant Steup’s tank made hits on a OneĪnti-tank guns fire shells at him, which sound like a drumroll.īut he drives staunchly through our line like an impregnable prehistoric The new tanks just seems invulnerable to theĪnti-tank rounds of the 3.7cm and 5cm guns of the Panzer III tanks. InĮarly encounters, the Germans poured shots into the advancing tanks New tank’s armour of both the T-34 and KV took the Germans by surprise,ĭespite the capture of one of the test KV tanks by the Finns in 1939. The two new Soviet tanks were first encounteredīy the Germans on the second day of the invasion. Wide-tracks with low ground pressure for better cross-country mobility. The T-34 and KV tanks had good armour, powerful guns, and Tanks were put into service in support of the tanks of the mechanised Its role was to destroy or supress enemy anti-tank positions. In the tradition of previous artillery tanks such as the BT-7A, Top Speed: 53 kph, Range: 400 km.Ī second model, mounting 152mm howitzer in a much Turret Armour: Front: 45mm, Sides: 45mm, Rear: 45mm, Top: 16mm. Ammunition: 76x 76.2mm rounds, up to 4725x 7.62mm rounds. Secondary Armament: 2x 7.62mm DT machine-guns. Main Armament: 1x 76.2mm L-11 (1939 model) tank gun. Theįirst model was the KV- armed with a 76.2mm L-11 gun.Ĭrew: 4 men. The single-turret KV design proved the superior model. The Marshal of the Soviet Union and People’s Commissar for Defence).Īll three designs were tested in in combat during the 1939 Winter War inįinland. The Kirov Works in Leningrad and named the KV (Kliment Voroshilov, after The SMK prototype and a new heavy tank design was created with just a The tank designers took much of the hull and track design from The multiple turret had begun to fall out of favour for a moreĬompact design sporting a high-performance gun in a single well-armoured Two of these were the T-100 and the SMK,īoth armed with one 76.2mm gun armed turret and a single 45mm gun armed

Among these were some new multiple turret designs to Heavy tanks design, a number of new tanks designs were put on the table In 1938, as part of the review of the current T-34, the T-, was put into production and distributed to the More powerful weapon than the one used in the T-28. The Prototype A-32 design used a 76.2mm L-11 gun, a longer and The prototypes abandoned the trackĪnd wheeled concept of the BT tanks and went for a purely trackedĭesign. Khakov tank factory under a project to build a better protected fast The T-34 resulted from a project started at the What could stop the seemingly unstoppable German Wehrmacht war machine? The answer was two new designs, the T-34 medium tank and the KV heavy tank.

However, on occasion they would run into some tanks that were surprisingly resistant to their tank weapons. In 1941, the Germans and their various allies invaded the Soviet Union and generally had the upper hand in the early months of the fighting.

Soviet tank force june 1941 armored