What the Germans said about Soviet tanks (8 photos). "War Chronicles": rewrite history! Tips on battle tactics

Who is stronger in World of Tanks today? Who gets the laurels of the winners in hot computer battles on the battlefields? Whose car makes the enemy tremble and run at full speed from the battlefield? Today we will talk about the ten best tanks according to the website Topstens.ru - and we will see that most of them did not leave a noticeable mark on history.

10 FV 214 Conqueror ("Conqueror")

Tenth place on the list is occupied by this British mastodon. It was invented in the late forties as a counterweight to Soviet heavy tanks, which ironed the fields and roads of East Germany and, in the opinion of the West, were really eager to reach the English Channel. The Briton turned out to be heavy, clumsy, slow-moving, and even gluttonous. At a maximum speed of 30 km/h, it could cover only 150 km. For comparison, our T-62 “ran” under fifty dollars and at the same time covered a distance of 450 km. What did the British “conqueror” take? Strong and thick armor, a 120 mm cannon and two 7.62 caliber machine guns. Very a good option for use in ambushes or defense. And yet, with such firepower, the tank had many shortcomings. The FV 214 Conqueror did not take part in any war, plagued British tank crews with its shortcomings and was eventually withdrawn from service. Those vehicles that did not end up in museums became training targets at training grounds for other tanks.

9. Batignolles-Chatillon 155mm

Surprisingly World game of Tanks has resurrected this French self-propelled gun from the ashes. It was developed immediately after World War II. It was armed with a 155-mm howitzer, 36 rounds of ammunition and, the most important difference from its brothers in the shop, a rotatable turret. But bad luck - the French tried to assemble it for more than three years, but in the end they prepared only a prototype and that one... was made of wood. In general, this self-propelled gun never managed to take part in real combat. But in the virtual it fights very well.

8. T-62 – the veteran hasn’t said everything yet

Soviet, formidable, fast and reliable, it was born in the late 60s of the last century. It was distinguished by strong armor, a 115-mm smoothbore gun, and anti-nuclear (!) protection. Shot sub-caliber armor-piercing, cumulative and high-explosive fragmentation shells. Auxiliary weapons include a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun and heavy machine gun 12.7 mm DShKM. In the USSR, more than twenty modifications were carried out on the basis of this tank. It was in service with 28 countries and fought in twenty wars and military conflicts. The T-62 was first used during the conflict on Damansky Island - unfortunately, this did not prevent the Chinese from seizing a piece of Soviet territory.

7. KV-1 - who forged victory knows how to win

This tank was born in the war - and is still fighting to the delight of the “tankers” and to spite their “enemies”. KV was born in August 1939, and three months later he ironed the impregnable Mannerheim line. The Finns were shocked by this Soviet car: Not a single anti-tank gun could take his armor. German tank crews experienced the same shock in 1941: they could only damage the HF from extremely short distances. True, no matter how formidable the KV was, there were enough shortcomings in its design, and the main one was unreliability. Perhaps this factor played a role in World of Tanks: the powerful Klim Voroshilov could have been higher in the ranking.

6. “St. John’s wort” – from the museum to battle (object 268)

Soviet designers assembled this self-propelled gun, in fact, for the sake of quickly transporting the wonderful M64 cannon. After all, a projectile fired by this 152-mm gun could hit targets at a distance of more than 10 km. Therefore, in the mid-fifties, it was decided to design a self-propelled gun for it. It turned out to be heavy, durable and gluttonous (200-220 liters per 100 km). Unfortunately, the gun itself had a number of “childhood diseases”, and while they were being eliminated, the Americans and British managed to create their own heavy tanks, against which Soviet self-propelled gun turned out to be powerless. Therefore the first and only prototype was sent to a museum in Kubinka. Only on the fields of virtual tank battles did the St. John's Wort reveal its fire potential.

5. Brief Witch Age (M18 hellcat)

This American self-propelled artillery unit was born during World War II, in 1943. Armed with a 76-mm gun, it was considered a tank destroyer and performed well during operations in Italy, Africa, and Normandy. American soldiers gave her the nickname "witch." Weighing 17.7 tons, this armored self-propelled gun could reach speeds of up to 90 km/h with a cruising range of 160 km. It is clear that having such good speed, she unexpectedly jumped out of ambushes, spun around on the battlefield, as if in a frying pan, hit enemy targets, and then left unharmed. And yet her life was short-lived. At the end of the 40s, the “witch” was sent to the reserve.

4. A tank that was not yet born (Waffenträger auf e100)

This juggernaut of steel and firepower has been in development since 1943. The 100-katon colossus was supposed to deal a deafening blow to Soviet tanks and become the king of tank battles. However, the German economy could not cope with such expensive production, and despite Hitler’s personal order to bring the tank to completion, it never left the workshops even for testing. According to the designers, the supertank was supposed to reach speeds of up to 40 km/h, have strong armor (frontal - 200 mm, side 120 mm and rear 150 mm), and most importantly - a terrible 174 mm caliber gun. But he was not destined to fight in life. Now the “Squire” is finishing the war in World of Tanks and, as we see, is very popular among gamers.

3. I rocked the tower, but didn’t fight (T57 Heavy)

This heavy tank was simply a guinea pig and the victim of a failed experiment. The Americans decided to outdo all their competitors and “dressed” it in armor with a thickness of 137 to 203 mm. To completely frighten the whole world, they equipped it first with a 150 mm and then with a 203 mm cannon. In addition, all this power had to be located in a swinging tower, allowing it to hit targets in mountain battles. This colossus promised to become the most terrible weapon in the hands of the restless American generals. However, not everything that is drawn and drawn can be brought to life. So the idea of ​​the T57 remained only on paper and in the dreams of Uncle Sam’s henchmen. And, of course, on the battlefields of World of Tanks.

2. Killed not by the enemy, but by bureaucrats (AMX 50 FOCH (155))

Another theoretical armored monster, but in reality just an iron can, has revealed its potential in virtual World battles of Tanks. This French self-propelled gun was designed based on AMX tank 50 to become a formidable destroyer of Soviet tanks, which were much feared in France. The sixty-ton colossus had a 120-mm rifled cannon, a 7.62-caliber machine gun and could run along the highway at speeds of up to 50 km/h. And although it looked very formidable during testing, the French had to abandon it... simply because it did not meet NATO standards. By the way, this story played a role in the fact that the French subsequently withdrew from the military treaties of the North Atlantic bloc.

Our Soviet KV-1s became the undisputed leader of virtual tank battles. This vehicle was nothing more than a modernization of the KV-1, but the index “c” meant that the tank was faster than its predecessor, less massive and more mobile on the battlefield. Perhaps he would have become the real king of tank battles of the Great Patriotic War if the Germans had not released their heavy T-VI (“Tiger”), which turned out to be stronger than its Soviet opponent. Therefore, the USSR opted for the new and powerful IS-1. That's the whole short history of this Soviet tank. But on the fields of World of Tanks today he has no equal.

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There are many good tanks, but modern gamers prefer these vehicles. And we are doubly pleased that domestic cars occupy leading positions in the top ten. It’s not for nothing that the old song says, “The armor is strong and our tanks are fast, and our guys, what can I say...”

I've never played tanks before. Several years ago, in the wake of hype, I played a dozen battles in World of Tanks Blitz on iOS, but after a week I deleted the application.

Full World of Tanks I decided to install it because of the special football mode that was released during the 2018 World Cup. I did football challenges for several weeks, and at the end of June I wanted to completely remove the game from my computer.

We stopped several million earned coins and tens of thousands of free experience points. Not bad luggage for a novice tanker, I decided to try regular battles.

I started looking at player statistics and was a little surprised. There are often accounts with 60-70 thousand completed battles. Just think about it: 70 thousand fights in 8 years the existence of tanks is about 25 battles per day! Every day, seven days a week, for eight years!

I wasn’t drawn in that much; in just a month I felt all the problems of the game in its current form. Here are the four main complaints players have about WOT today:

1. The famous random

So-called FBG (great Belarusian random) only new, inexperienced players do not notice. Everyone understands that there must be an element of surprise in the game, and at first you take a lot of what happens as pure chance.

With experience, you understand that the role of randomness can be too large in some battles, and, after several thousand battles, you begin to suspect him of bias.

Almost all game indicators when calculated on the server are calculated using random variables, but the pattern of occurrence of certain values ​​can hardly be called random. Such games have long used simple “levelling” of players so that even the most inept can win.

Issued several good fights- get ricochets and no penetration, quickly merged in several rounds in a row - here are hits for you with any shot.

Random manifests itself in everything: accuracy, probability of penetration or ricochet, and damage dealt. Indications may deviate by 25% from the normal value both up and down. Thus, two games in a row can differ dramatically in terms of gaming interest and player luck. This is so noticeable that something needs to be done about it.

In one game you target the enemy, look for vulnerable points, wait for complete aiming and hear the annoying “didn’t penetrate”, and in the other you shoot almost at random, when the aiming circle is several times larger than the enemy tank, regularly earning frags.

Idea for Wargaming: That’s not what happens in life. Turn up the spread of parameters for FBG even more. Make defective shells that don’t explode, spontaneous breakdowns of equipment out of the blue, and crew sabotaging the commander’s orders.

I don't mind randomness in the game, but there are too many of them in WOT. Look how often one tank can survive a battle against three or four opponents, how regularly the enemy has 5-10 HP left after a shot for sure, how many hits happen at the last second before the tank hides in cover or comes out of sight.

The general statistics of the players clearly illustrates the situation. Most tankers have between 40 and 60% win rates. The most inexperienced ones manage to win four out of ten battles, and those who have been playing for several years cannot make less than four defeats in ten battles.

Conclusion: those who play for pleasure sooner or later give up the game due to great influence random.

2. Changes too often

Eight years is a very long time for such a project. The developers are great for not letting the project die out and regularly stir up user interest in tanks.

Unfortunately, sometimes the methods of influence are too radical.

Innovations in the game are great, but why touch something that has already been working for a long time.

Concepts "up" And "nerfed" They have become so firmly entrenched in the vocabulary of WOT players that not a single conversation among tank leaders is complete without them. Almost every month the game is updated, introducing new and new changes.

New maps appear – that’s good, new tanks are being delivered – that’s also great. But when begin to revise the parameters of technology, which has been in the game for several years, is very frustrating.

The player went through a certain branch for several months, endured all the difficulties of inconvenient tanks, and accumulated precious experience and coins. As a result, I bought the cherished car, and it was “nerfed” (reduced performance) in the next patch.

What to do? A few months of playing down the drain? Selling a tank for half the price, not caring about time, experience and money?

The game developers suggest just waiting. Perhaps in a few months (or years) the tank will be recognized as too weak and it will be “uprated” (the parameters will be increased).

In other words, the player must have in his hangar not one, but 5, 7 or 10 top tanks in order to play not on the one he wants, but on the one that is currently “bending.”

Idea for Wargaming: It's high time to make a tank horoscope. Jupiter is in the constellation Orion - penetration of German tanks worsened by 8% until the next full Moon.

There are test servers in WOT where it is tested new technology, actively invite players to try out different modifications of tanks before releasing them to the public. Why is it impossible to successfully fit new models into existing system without balancing old tanks?

The same thing happens regularly with new tanks. At first they turn out to be very good, so that players want to buy a new product, but after a few months, when every second person gets a car, its characteristics deteriorate.

It still happens sometimes "hidden nerf" tanks. The developers leave all the displayed indicators in place, but change several parameters “under the hood” that affect the balance.

For example, they can change the coefficient of soil resistance for a tank. The power parameters remain the same, but it will begin to accelerate or turn differently.

Even premium tanks (which are purchased with real money) degrade over time to motivate players to buy new ones. If someone pays a couple of thousand rubles for suitable equipment, then six months later his tank turns out to be a banal average machine.

Conclusion: Most players have no desire to follow every change in the game and review their hangar after the next patch.

3. Greedy economy in the game

Experienced players began to often complain about the lack of silver. This is the easiest currency to earn, but it is always in short supply.

In a month of playing, I almost upgraded one of the simplest and most popular branches of Soviet heavy tanks. The hardest thing was to accumulate silver. Even experience that no amount of money could buy somehow dripped into the piggy bank, but the coins just didn’t want to accumulate.

At the initial levels, the player is generously rewarded with silver, equipment repairs are cheap, shells are inexpensive, and there is always enough for equipment. With each subsequent level of technology, prices for tanks and components increase significantly, repairs become more expensive, and ammunition even becomes gold.

In theory, the damage caused by the player increases, which should result in more coins earned, but that was not the case. This is where the famous random comes into play.

Even good players with good vehicles often encounter a series of annoying misses, ricochets and non-penetrations, but every fired projectile costs at least 1000 coins. Five shots “in the milk” and even in case of victory the player can go into minus.

If at the same time the equipment also needs to be repaired, then three unsuccessful battles in a row will hit the budget hard.

Idea for Wargaming: Why haven’t they introduced fuel and food for the crew into the game yet? This is a guaranteed pumping of coins after each battle!

Experienced marketers wisely divided the targeted pumping of funds into small micro-transactions. Proudly flaunting 50K silver on the screen after the battle they turn into 3-5 thousand after repairing equipment, replenishing ammunition and purchasing equipment.

As a result, if you play without investment, it will be very difficult at the last levels. You won’t have enough money every now and then; you can gain experience relatively quickly to buy the next tank, but saving coins will take two to three times longer.

You may even have to sell your previous favorite tank that you are used to. In return, you will receive a stock blank, which will have to be pumped again, and the “consumables” for it cost twice as much.

Conclusion: Regular gifts, rewards for simple tasks and all kinds of promotions do not solve the problem. The developers need to reconsider the game's economy, it has become too greedy for the players. No investment for high levels very difficult to play.

4. “Nerdishness” at the last levels

From my own experience, I will say that I experienced maximum interest and pleasure when playing tanks of levels 6-7. Tanks drive smartly and quickly, shoot moderately accurately and often, and bring in a lot of money regularly.

The cost of mistakes increases significantly; the risk is almost never justified. It is easier to take a pre-known position and try to shoot opponents than to lead the attack of your own team.

As a result, shootouts on tanks of the last levels turn into dull “nerdiness”. Ten people crowd into a narrow passage in the middle of the map, hide around the corners and try to quickly lean out to make a shot.

At the same time, you also have to target miniature hatches, towers and other vulnerabilities opponents. This is how eight out of ten battles take place using such equipment.

The World of Tanks hangar contains hundreds of combat vehicles, each of which has its own “character” and combat capabilities. But not all of the more than four hundred tanks in the game can boast comfortable gameplay and outstanding advantages. the site organized a review of the worst vehicles in World of Tanks, offering you a list of the five most likely candidates.

AMX 40 - a French misunderstanding

“Soap Dish”, “Bun”, “Duckling”, “Bald”. World of Tanks fans don't skimp on mocking nicknames for French light tank Tier IV AMX 40. Slow, with a disgusting weapon, the AMX 40 will be a real nightmare for inexperienced players. Especially in stock condition. In battles with classmates of level IV and provided that all necessary modules are fully upgraded, AMX 40 is not so bad. Unless, of course, you pay attention to the incredible slowness of the tank and the rather weak weapon 75 mm SA32 with poor aiming, accuracy and armor penetration. But more often than not, the French “light” (20 tons of weight and disgusting dynamics indicate otherwise) tank ends up in battles with tanks Level V-VI. And then the AMX 40 player will know the full depth of suffering and pain. If you take the wrong position or make a mistake, your car will end up in the hangar. The Frenchman is a favorite target for artillerymen and tank destroyers with a good tool, a tasty prey for maneuverable and fast tanks.

What makes the AMX 40 famous:

Weak dynamics and acceleration, maximum speed At 50 km/h it climbs uphill, but falls on a flat surface.

Low speed of reloading, turret rotation and gun aiming.

Poor penetration of the top gun, weak characteristics the first two guns.

In 8 cases out of 10, hitting Tier VI tanks ends in the shameful destruction of the tank in the first minutes of the battle.

Tips on battle tactics:

Playing at the top of the team is a chance for the AMX 40 to demonstrate the few strong qualities that the car has. The “French” can push directions, taking advantage of thick armor and quiet movement. At the bottom of the list, act as carefully as possible, choosing “cardboard” tanks or vehicles of your level as targets.

M3 Lee - an awkward nerve killer

What medium tank has five crew members, no turret, low speed and a tall, awkward hull? That's right, the American car has Tier IV M3 Lee. It is a steel box filled with problems and shortcomings. Not every player can withstand the number of battles that must be played in order to research the next car in the branch. Slow, clumsy due to the lack of a turret, and with a bad gun, the M3 Lee is not the most pleasant tank to play with. Moreover, for most tankers, the vehicle tops the list of the most uncomfortable and weakest vehicles in WoT.

Main disadvantages:

The high hull allows enemies to conduct aimed fire at your tank with impunity.

The weapon is not powerful enough in battles with opponents of a higher level.

The slowest speed among Tier IV medium tanks.

The abundance of crew members slows down their leveling.

The gun on the right side of the hull forces you to move out from behind the cover completely (if the tank leaves from the left).

Tips on battle tactics:

Try to pass this tank as quickly as possible, and forget about it as if it were horrible dream. But seriously, at the top of the team M3 Lee is still capable of resisting. It is enough to act very carefully, in the style of a tank destroyer. At the bottom of the list, players have no choice but to try to shoot at the sides and rear of enemy vehicles, knock down their tracks, or fire with landmines.

Churchill Gun Carrier - British limousine without armor

Looking at British tank destroyer Level VI Churchill Gun Carrier, you begin to suspect the designers from the shores of Foggy Albion of excessive love for luxury and Rubensian forms. A massive, unwieldy vehicle is a favorite target of artillerymen in any battle. The huge size, slow aiming and large dispersion of the gun prevent the Churchill GC from operating in the favorite manner of all tank destroyers - shooting from bushes at long distances. We add to all these “charms” poor visibility and frontal armor. The logical result is the general dislike of tankers for this difficult-to-control vehicle and its place on our list of the worst tanks in the game.

Let's list the disadvantages again:

A huge cabin and a low-set gun.

Weak armor at right angles.

Poor horizontal aiming angles.

Slow speed and terrifying dynamics.

Disproportionately long body.

The risk of damage to two crew members (the gunner and the driver) from a direct hit to the forehead by an AP projectile.

Low visibility of 400 meters and a small amount of experience due to shooting at someone else’s “light.”

Tips on battle tactics:

The top gun is quite fast-firing, so it’s not a sin to take advantage of this advantage of the Churchill GC. Playing in the bushes behind the bushes and a tree fallen on top for safety is your only chance. You shouldn’t stay at your base; a light or medium tank breaking through to your rear will destroy you in a minute, if not less. Sitting behind a shelter and playing “swing” is also not for you. Try to catch your opponent on the caterpillar and shoot the helpless enemy, using the quick reload of the gun.

There are few tanks in World of Tanks that can compare with the A-44 in the likelihood of catching fire in the middle of a battle from a frontal shot. The turret of a Tier VII medium tank is located at the rear, and the elevation angles are among the worst in the game. To shoot successfully, or at all, A-44 owners will have to dodge and improvise in every battle. A good weapon in the top configuration of the ZiS-6 with a caliber of 106 millimeters has good one-time damage, but is not pleased with accuracy, long reloading and aiming. To fire at the enemy, you will have to drive backwards from behind cover and try to shoot back at your opponent.

So, the cons:

The transmission and engine are located in the front, which means that the A-44 will often be driven with the engine knocked out. And there’s no point in talking about fires; the tank burns very often.

The rear position of the tower is difficult for inexperienced players.

There are no vertical aiming angles; the gun simply does not go down.

Weak turret armor.

Poor gun accuracy and long reload time.

Large spread when turning the turret or shooting while moving.

Tips on battle tactics:

Try to research all the necessary modules on the tank (engine, chassis and ZiS-6 gun) as quickly as possible. Without them, the A-44 will suffer even more. Playing on a vehicle with a turret at the back of the tank requires a certain level of experience and play, so it will be difficult for beginners to cope with the capricious vehicle. When playing from behind cover, try to ride stern first and not expose the vulnerable front part with the engine to enemy fire.

JagdPz.IV – German mediocrity

German tank technology from the Second World War was rightfully considered the best in the world. But in a tank simulator, one can and should argue with this statement. Tier VI tank destroyer JagdPz.IV is one of the most controversial and difficult vehicles in the German anti-tank vehicle branch. It is equipped with a weapon that is also found on its predecessors Hetzer and StuG III. Fast aiming speed and relatively good accuracy are the only advantages of the gun. Penetration for level VI is already lame, and the one-time damage is very bad, one of the worst among the competitors of the German AT. A weak engine does not allow you to develop good speed or maneuver in place, defending against mobile light or medium tanks. The machine is bad because it does not have outstanding advantages or features that could be turned into these advantages. JagdPz.IV is not the worst tank destroyer in the game, it's just... no good. The faster you complete it and explore the next tank in the branch, the better.

Let's go through the disadvantages more specifically:

Low armor penetration.

Worst review on the level.

The engine often catches fire when hit in the forehead or stern.

Large mass negatively affects acceleration and maneuverability.

Low one-time damage.

Tips on battle tactics:

The tactics of fighting on German mediocrity is the classic role of the PT. Take an advantageous position near your own base (preferably in the bushes for camouflage) and catch single targets. Being at the bottom of the team list, never push forward, move at a decent distance from your allies, firing from the third line. The rate of fire allows you to knock down enemy tracks and help your teammates in every possible way. On urban maps, it is best to move forward slowly, following the slow and well-armored TTs.

Undoubtedly, there are many more bad tanks in World of Tanks. The list of candidates for the title of the worst car will continue to grow, which means we will return to this topic again. Stay tuned for updates on our portal and good luck in your battles!

In addition to recent posts about Soviet tanks during the Second World War

In the year of the 70th anniversary of the great victory, discussions between scientists and military history buffs about the relationship between the combat qualities of Soviet and German armored vehicles will flare up more than once. In this regard, it will be interesting to remember how our opponents, the German military leaders, saw and assessed Soviet tanks. These opinions could hardly be completely objective, but the enemy's assessment undoubtedly deserves attention.

“If this tank goes into production, we will lose the war.” - German about T-34
Equal to "tiger"
By the beginning of the campaign against the Soviet Union, the German military had vague ideas about the Soviet armor tank troops Oh. In the highest circles of the Third Reich it was believed that German tanks were qualitatively superior to Soviet ones. Heinz Wilhelm Guderian wrote in his Memoirs: “At the beginning of the war against Russia, we thought that we could count on the technical superiority of our tanks over the types of Russian tanks known to us at that time, which could to some extent reduce the significant numerical superiority of the Russians known to us "

Another famous German tanker, Hermann Hoth, assessed the Soviet armored forces before the start of the Great Patriotic War:
“Russian armored forces were consolidated into mechanized brigades and several tank divisions. Tank corps hasn't happened yet. Only some rifle divisions were assigned obsolete tanks. Hence the conclusion is that Russia has not yet learned the experience of the operational use of large tank formations. Whether our tank gun was superior in penetrating ability and firing range to the guns of Russian tanks - this question could not be answered definitely, but we hoped so.”
And yet, one circumstance made the Germans think that the Red Army might have more advanced tank designs than the models in service with the Wehrmacht. The fact is that in the spring of 1941, Hitler allowed the Soviet military commission to inspect German tank schools and tank factories, ordering them to show everything to the Russians. It is known that, examining the German T-IV tank, our specialists stubbornly refused to believe that the Germans did not have heavier tanks. The persistence of the commission was so great that the Germans thought seriously and came to the conclusion that the USSR had heavier and more advanced tanks. However, the euphoria from easy victories in Poland and the West drowned out the isolated voices of some experts who pointed out that the combat potential of the Soviet army, including its armored forces, was greatly underestimated.

“The Russians, having created an exceptionally successful and completely new type tank, made a big leap forward in the field of tank building. Due to the fact that they managed to keep all their work on the production of these tanks well classified, the sudden appearance of new vehicles at the front had a great effect... With their T-34 tank, the Russians convincingly proved the exceptional suitability of diesel for installing it on a tank" (Lieutenant General Erich Schneider ).

Tank fear

Guderian's tanks first encountered the T-34 on July 2, 1941. In his Memoirs, the general wrote: “The 18th Panzer Division gained a complete understanding of the strength of the Russians, for they used their T-34 tanks for the first time, against which our guns were too weak at that time.” However, then the T-34 and KV were used for the most part scattered, without the support of infantry and aviation, so their individual successes were lost against the general background of the sad situation Soviet troops in the first months of the war.
The T-34 and KV began to be used en masse only at the beginning of October 1941 in the Battle of Moscow. On 6 October, Katukov's armored brigade, equipped with T-34s and KVs, attacked the German 4th Panzer Division, part of Guderian's 2nd Panzer Army, forcing it to endure "several bad hours" and inflicting "sensible losses". Without developing the initial success, Katukov retreated, prudently deciding that the preservation of the brigade was more important than its heroic death in the fight against an entire enemy tank army. Guderian described this event as follows: “For the first time, the superiority of the Russian T-34 tanks was clearly demonstrated. The division suffered significant losses. The planned rapid attack on Tula had to be postponed.” Guderian makes the next mention of the T-34 two days later. His lines are full of pessimism: “The reports we received about the actions of Russian tanks, and most importantly, about their new tactics were especially disappointing. Our anti-tank weapons of that time could operate successfully against T-34 tanks only under particularly favorable conditions. For example, our T-IV tank with its short-barreled 75-mm cannon had the ability to destroy the T-34 tank from the rear, hitting its engine through the shutters. This required great skill."
Another fairly famous German tanker, Otto Carius, in his monograph “Tigers in the Mud. Memories German tankman“He also did not skimp on compliments of the T-34: “Another event hit us like a ton of bricks: Russian T-34 tanks appeared for the first time! The amazement was complete. How could it be that those at the top did not know about the existence of this excellent tank? T-34 with its good armor, perfect shape and with its magnificent 76.2-mm long-barreled gun it left everyone in awe, and all German tanks were afraid of it until the end of the war. What could we do with these monsters, thrown against us in great numbers? At that time the 37mm gun was still our strongest anti-tank weapons. If we were lucky, we could hit the T-34 turret ring and jam it. If you are even more lucky, the tank will then not be able to operate effectively in battle. Certainly not a very encouraging situation! The only way out was an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun. With its help it was possible to act effectively even against this new Russian tank. Therefore, we began to treat the anti-aircraft gunners with the highest respect, who previously received only condescending smiles from us.”
Engineer and Lieutenant General Erich Schneider describes the advantage of the T-34 over German tanks even more expressively in his article “Technology and Development of Weapons in War”: “The T-34 tank created a sensation. This 26-ton tank was armed with a 76.2-mm cannon, the shells of which penetrated the armor of German tanks from 1.5-2 thousand meters, while German tanks could hit Russians from a distance of no more than 500 m, and even then only , if the shells hit the side and rear of the T-34 tank. The thickness of the frontal armor of German tanks was 40 mm, and the side armor was 14 mm. The Russian T-34 tank had 70 mm frontal armor and 45 mm side armor, and the effectiveness of direct hits on it was further reduced due to the strong slope of its armor plates.”

Soviet colossi

In the pre-war period, German military leaders did not know that the USSR had heavy tanks KV-1 and KV-2 with a large turret and a 152-mm howitzer, and the meeting with them was a surprise. And the IS-2 tanks turned out to be worthy rivals for the Tigers.
Some of the shortcomings of the famous Soviet tank did not escape the Germans either: “And yet the new Russian tank had one major drawback,” Schneider wrote. - His crew was extremely cramped inside the tank and had poor visibility, especially from the side and rear. This weakness was soon discovered during the inspection of the first tanks destroyed in battle and was quickly taken into account in the tactics of our tank forces.” We have to admit that to a certain extent the Germans were right. To achieve the high tactical and technical performance of the T-34, something had to be sacrificed. Indeed, the T-34 turret was cramped and uncomfortable. However, the cramped space inside the tank paid off in its fighting qualities, and therefore in the lives of its crew members saved.
The impression the T-34 made on the German infantry is evidenced by the following words of General Gunter Blumentritt: “... And suddenly a new, no less unpleasant surprise fell upon us. During the battle for Vyazma, the first Russian T-34 tanks appeared. In 1941, these tanks were the most powerful of all tanks that existed at that time. Only tanks and artillery could fight them. 37 and 50 mm anti-tank guns, which were then in service with our infantry, were helpless against T-34 tanks. These guns could only hit older Russian tanks. Thus, the infantry divisions were faced with a serious problem. As a result of the appearance of this new tank by the Russians, the infantrymen found themselves completely defenseless.” He confirms these words with a specific example: “In the Vereya area, T-34 tanks, as if nothing had happened, passed through the battle formations of the 7th infantry division, reached artillery positions and literally crushed the guns located there. It is clear what impact this fact had on the morale of the infantrymen. The so-called fear of tanks has begun.”

It couldn't be harder

At the initial stage of the war, the average tank PzKpfw IV (or simply Pz Iv) remained the heaviest German tank. Its 75-mm cannon with a barrel length of 24 calibers had a low initial speed projectile and, accordingly, less armor penetration than a gun of the same caliber installed on the T-34.

Tough Argument

German generals and officers wrote much less about the Soviet heavy tanks KV and IS than about the T-34. This was probably due to the fact that there were far fewer of them produced than the “thirty-fours”.
The 1st Panzer Division, part of Army Group North, encountered the KV three days after the start of the war. This is what the division's combat log says: “Our tank companies opened fire from a distance of 700 m, but it turned out to be ineffective. We approached the enemy, who, for his part, was calmly moving straight towards us. Soon we were separated by a distance of 50-100 m. A fantastic artillery duel began, in which the German tanks could not achieve any visible success. Russian tanks continued to advance, and all our armor-piercing shells they simply bounced off their armor. A dangerous situation arose when Soviet tanks broke through the battle formations of our tank regiment to the positions of German infantry in the rear of our troops... During the battle, we managed to damage several Soviet tanks using special anti-tank shells from a distance of 30 to 50 m.”

Franz Halder made an interesting entry in his “war diary” dated June 25, 1941: “Some data have been received on a new type of Russian heavy tank: weight - 52 tons, frontal armor - 37 cm (?), side armor - 8 cm. Armament - 152 mm cannon and three machine guns. Crew - five people. Travel speed - 30 km/h. Range of action - 100 km. Armor penetration - 50 mm, the anti-tank gun penetrates armor only under the gun turret. The 88-mm anti-aircraft gun apparently also penetrates the side armor (the exact details are still unknown). Information has been received about the appearance of another new tank, armed with a 75-mm cannon and three machine guns.” This is how the Germans imagined our heavy tanks KV-1 and KV-2. Obviously inflated data on the armor of KV tanks in German sources indicate that German anti-tank guns were powerless against them and failed to cope with their main responsibility.

At the same time, in an entry dated July 1, 1941, Franz Halder noted that “during the battles of the last days, along with the newest ones, vehicles of completely outdated types took part on the Russian side.”
Unfortunately, the author did not explain exactly what types of Soviet tanks he had in mind.
Later, Halder, describing the means of fighting against our KVs, wrote the following: “Most of the heaviest enemy tanks were knocked out by 105 mm guns, fewer were knocked out by 88 mm anti-aircraft guns. There is also a case when light field a howitzer knocked out a 50-ton enemy tank with an armor-piercing grenade from a distance of 40 m.” It is curious that neither 37 mm nor 50 mm anti-tank german guns are not mentioned at all as a means of combating HF. This leads to the conclusion that they were helpless against Soviet heavy tanks, for which German soldiers nicknamed their anti-tank guns “army firecrackers.”

The appearance of the first new German heavy Tiger tanks on the Soviet-German front in the fall and winter of 1942-1943 forced Soviet designers to quickly begin work on creating new types of heavy tanks with more powerful artillery weapons. As a result, the development of tanks, called IS, began hastily. The IS-1 heavy tank with an 85-mm D-5T cannon (aka IS-85, or “Object 237”) was created in the summer of 1943. But it soon became clear that this gun was not strong enough for a heavy tank. In October 1943, development was carried out on a version of the IS tank with a more powerful D-25 tank gun of 122 mm caliber. The tank was sent to a test site near Moscow, where fire was fired from its cannon from a distance of 1500 m German tank"Panther". The very first shell pierced the frontal armor of the Panther and, without losing its energy, pierced all the insides, hit the rear hull plate, tore it off and threw it several meters away. As a result, under the IS-2 brand name, the tank was accepted into service in October 1943. mass production, which unfolded in early 1944.

IS-2 tanks entered service with separate heavy tank regiments. At the beginning of 1945, several separate guards heavy units were formed. tank brigades, which included three heavy tank regiments each. Units armed with IS combat vehicles received guards rank immediately upon formation.
In a comparative analysis of the combat qualities of the Tiger and the IS-2, the opinions of the German military were divided. Some (for example, General Friedrich Wilhelm von Mellenthin) called the Tigers the most the best tanks World War II, others considered the Soviet heavy tank to be at least equal to the Tiger. The second group of German soldiers included Otto Carius, who commanded a Tiger company on the Eastern Front. In his memoirs, he noted: “The Joseph Stalin tank, which we met in 1944, was at least equal to the Tiger.” It had a significant advantage in terms of shape (just like the T-34)."

Interesting opinion

“The Soviet T-34 tank is typical example backward Bolshevik technology. This tank cannot compare with the best examples of our tanks, manufactured by the faithful sons of the Reich and who have repeatedly proven their superiority...”
The same Fritz writes a month later -
“I compiled a report on this situation, which is new to us, and sent it to the army group. I described in clear terms the clear advantage of the T-34 over our Pz.IV and gave corresponding conclusions that should have influenced our future tank building...
Who is stronger

If we compare the specific engine power indicator - the ratio between engine power and vehicle weight, then for the T-34 it was very high - 18 hp. per ton. PZ IV had power density 15hp PZ III - 14hp per ton, and the American M4 Sherman, which appeared much later, is about 14 hp. per ton.

The term “tank” in Ozhegov’s dictionary is explained as “armored self-propelled fighting machine with powerful tracked weapons." But such a definition is not a dogma; there is no unified tank standard in the world. Each manufacturing country creates and has created tanks taking into account its own needs, the characteristics of the proposed war, the manner of upcoming battles and its own production capabilities. The USSR was no exception in this regard.

History of the development of tanks of the USSR and Russia by model

History of invention

The primacy of the use of tanks belongs to the British; their use forced military leaders of all countries to reconsider the concept of warfare. The use by the French of their Renault FT17 light tank determined the classic use of tanks for solving tactical problems, and the tank itself became the embodiment of the canons of tank building.

Although the laurels of first use did not go to the Russians, the invention of the tank itself, in its classical sense, belongs to our compatriots. In 1915 V.D. Mendeleev (the son of a famous scientist) sent a project for an armored self-propelled vehicle on two tracks with artillery weapons to the technical department of the Russian Army. But for unknown reasons, things did not go beyond design work.

The idea itself of installing a steam engine on a caterpillar propulsion device was not new; it was first implemented in 1878 by Russian designer Fyodor Blinov. The invention was called: “A car with endless flights for transporting goods.” In this “car”, a track turning device was used for the first time. The invention of a caterpillar propulsion device, by the way, also belongs to the Russian staff captain D. Zagryazhsky. For which a corresponding patent was issued in 1937.

The world's first tracked combat vehicle is also Russian. In May 1915, tests took place near Riga armored vehicle DI. Porokhovshchikov called “All-terrain vehicle”. It had an armored body, one wide track and a machine gun in a rotating turret. The tests were considered very successful, but due to the approaching Germans, further tests had to be postponed, and after some time they were completely forgotten.

In the same year, 1915, tests were carried out on a machine designed by the head of the experimental laboratory of the military department, Captain Lebedenko. The 40-ton unit was an artillery carriage enlarged to gigantic proportions, driven by two Maybach engines from a downed airship. The front wheels had a diameter of 9 meters. According to the creators, a vehicle of this design should easily overcome ditches and trenches, but during testing it got stuck immediately after it started moving. Where I stood long years until it was cut into scrap metal.

First world Russia finished without my tanks. During the Civil War, tanks from other countries were used. During the battles, some of the tanks passed into the hands of the Red Army, on which the workers’ and peasants’ fighters entered the battle. In 1918, in a battle with French-Greek troops near the village of Berezovskaya, several Reno-FT tanks were captured. They were sent to Moscow to participate in the parade. Lenin’s fiery speech about the need to build our own tanks laid the foundation for Soviet tank building. We decided to release, or rather completely copy, 15 Reno-FT tanks called Tank M (small). On August 31, 1920, the first copy left the workshops of the Krasnoye Sormovo plant in Nizhny Tagil. This day is considered to be the birthday Soviet tank building.

The young state understood that tanks were very important for waging war, especially since the enemies approaching the borders were already armed with this type of military equipment. The M tank was not put into production due to its particularly expensive production price, so another option was needed. According to the idea that existed in the Red Army at that time, the tank was supposed to support the infantry during an attack, that is, the speed of the tank should not be much higher than the infantry, the weight should allow it to break through the defense line, and the weapons should successfully suppress firing points. Choosing between our own developments and proposals to copy ready-made samples, we chose the option that allowed us to organize the production of tanks in the shortest possible time - copying.

In 1925, the tank was launched into mass production, its prototype was the Fiat-3000. Although not entirely successful, the MS-1 became the tank that laid the foundation for Soviet tank building. At his production site, production itself and the coherence of the work of different departments and factories were developed.

Until the early 30s, several of their own models T-19, T-20, T-24 were developed, but due to the lack of special advantages over the T-18, and due to their high cost of production, they did not go into series.

Tanks of the 30-40s - a disease of imitation

Participation in the conflict on the Chinese Federal Railway showed the inadequacy of the first generation tanks for dynamic development battle, the tanks showed practically nothing, the cavalry did the main work. A faster and more reliable car was needed.

To select the next production model, we went the beaten path and purchased samples abroad. The English Vickers Mk - 6 tons was mass-produced in our country as the T-26, and the Carden-Loyd Mk VI wedge was produced as the T-27.

The T-27, which at first was so tempting to produce due to its low cost, was not produced for long. In 1933, wedge heels were adopted for the army
amphibious tank T-37A, with weapons in a rotating turret, and in 1936 - T-38. In 1940, they created a similar amphibious T-40; the USSR did not produce more amphibious tanks until the 50s.

Another sample was purchased in the USA. Based on the model of J.W. Christie, a whole series of high-speed tanks (BT) was built; their main difference was the combination of two propellers, wheeled and tracked. To move when marching, BTs used wheels; when fighting, they used caterpillars. Such necessary measure was needed due to the weak operational capabilities of the tracks, only 1000 km.

BT tanks, developing quite a lot on the roads high speed, fully suited the changed military concept Red Army: breakthrough of the defense and through the resulting gap high-speed deployment of a deep attack. The three-turreted T-28 was developed directly for the breakthrough, the prototype of which was the English Vickers 16-ton. Another breakthrough tank was supposed to be the T-35, similar to the English five-turret heavy tank “Independent”.

During the pre-war decade, many interesting tank designs were created that did not go into production. For example, based on the T-26
self-propelled semi-closed AT-1 type (artillery tank). During the Second World War, they will again remember these cars without a cabin roof.

Tanks of the Second World War

Participation in the Spanish Civil War and in the battles at Khalkhin Gol showed how high the explosion hazard of a gasoline engine is and the inadequacy of bulletproof armor against the then nascent anti-tank artillery. The implementation of solutions to these problems allowed our designers, who had suffered from the disease of imitation, to create truly good tanks and KVs on the eve of the Second World War.

In the first days of the war, a catastrophically large number of tanks were lost; it took time to establish production of the uncompetitive T-34 and KV at the only evacuated factories, and the front desperately needed tanks. The government decided to fill this niche with cheap and fast-to-produce light tanks T-60 and T-70. Naturally, the vulnerability of such tanks is very high, but they gave time to expand the production of Victory tanks. The Germans called them “indestructible locusts.”

In battle under the railway. Art. Prokhorovka was the first time that tanks acted as “cementers” of the defense; before that they were used exclusively as attack weapons. Basically, up to today, there were no more new ideas for using tanks.

Speaking about WWII tanks, one cannot fail to mention tank destroyers (SU-76, SU-122, etc.) or “self-propelled guns” as they were called by the troops. The rotating relatively small turret did not allow the use of some powerful guns and, most importantly, howitzers on tanks; for this purpose, they were installed on the bases of existing tanks without the use of turrets. Actually Soviet tank destroyers during the war, except for weapons, they were no different from their prototypes, unlike the same German ones.

Modern tanks

After the war, light, medium and heavy tanks continued to be produced, but by the end of the 50s, all major tank manufacturers concentrated on the production of the main tank. Thanks to new technologies in the production of armor, more powerful engines and weapons, the need to divide tanks into types disappeared by itself. The niche of light tanks was occupied by armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, so the PT-76 eventually became an armored personnel carrier.

The first post-war mass tank The new model was armed with a 100 mm gun, and its modification for use in radioactive zones. This model has become the most popular among modern tanks, more than 30,000 of these machines were in service in over 30 countries.

After tanks with a 105 mm gun appeared among potential enemies, it was decided to upgrade the T-55 to a 115 mm gun. The world's first tank with a 155mm smoothbore gun was named.

The ancestor of the classic main tanks was. It fully combined the capabilities of heavy (125mm gun) and medium tanks (high mobility).