The T-34 was a technologically innovative design which addressed
the short-comings of the earlier BT series of wheel/track tank.
The T-34 was developed during the 1936-37 period, the prototype
was completed in early 1939, and in September 1940 T-34 was put
into series production mounting a 76mm gun. The Model 1940, the
first T-34 production variant, t was armed with the L-11 76.2 mm
gun, which was considerably shorter than the subsequent F-34
76.2 mm main gun of the 1941 and later models. The mantlet was
also round in contrast to the more square mantlets of later
models. The tank's main advantage was its simple design which
made it easy to mass produce and repair. The T-34 was also small
and comparibaly light, while the tank's water-cooled diesel
engine minimized the danger of fire and increased the tank's the
radius of action. The design overcame the technological
superiority of German forces during the Great Patriotic War.
Built in Ukraine in the Kharkov Steam-Engine Factory (KhPZ), the
German general von R