T-34 (1940)

T-34 (1940)

T-50

T-34 (1941)

T-34 (1940)

T-50

T-34 (1941)

USSR

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.3	3.3	2.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:9 200

Purchase:16 000

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Description

The T-34 (1940) is a Rank II Soviet medium tank Template:BR1. It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41. The first public iteration of the T-34 series, the T-34 1940 shows most of the early Soviet weaponry, but provides a demonstration of its famous sloped armour and mobility.

The T-34 mod. 1940, like all the other T-34s, is fairly quick and maneuverable, decently armed, and decently armoured. It is the first researchable T-34 and the "oldest" (worst) model, aside from the T-34 prototype. It is notable for its distinct appearance, with its broad, sloped front, large road wheels, and comparatively narrow turret. It is distinguished from all other T-34/76 models in that it has the L-11 gun, as opposed to the more powerful F-34. It is identified by its low-slung barrel, with a recuperator creating a bulge above it. The vehicle's speed allows it to be a versatile flanker, but its armour keeps it competitive enough to be a brawler. It will also bounce somewhat frequently so angling the armour, as with any T-34, is helpful. The gun is decent for its rank, but will struggle to penetrate other T-34s, KV tanks, M4 Shermans, and similar vehicles from the front.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Driver's hatch, Machine gun port)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides (Slope angle)	Rear	Roof
Hull	45 mm (60°) Front Glacis 45 mm (53°) Lower Glacis 45 mm (61°) Driver's Port 45 mm (28-77°) Machine Gun Port	40 mm (40°) Top Hull 45 mm (0°) Lower hull	40 mm (47°) Top 40 mm (46°) Bottom	20 mm
Turret	45 mm (8-81°) Turret front 45 mm (3-74°) Gun mantlet	45 mm (30-31°)	45 mm (30°)	15 mm

Notes:

• Suspensions wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.

The T-34 1940 can pose a formidable enemy at its BR (3.3) and one might find it a resilient and stubborn foe. If your vehicle can reliably penetrate 90mm (more if vehicle is angled) of armour at medium to long range, you should try to eliminate the T-34 at the longest possible range, where the L-11 gun will preform poorly. If your weapon cannot reliably penetrate 90mm of armour and you are forced to close the distance, be wary of your foes mobility. It is recommended to aim for the turret ring, as the crammed crew compartment will result in an easy crew kill. Avoid shooting the drivers hatch and frontal machine gun port, it can easily result in a ricochet. It is wise to avoid shooting at the turret, often it will bounce and if it does penetrate a knowledgeable T-34 user would have emptied their turret, resulting in only the turret crew being knocked out. Brawling with a T-34 1940 is not recommended, the vehicles mobility and armour combined with a quick turret rotation speed may prove fatal.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armour weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
25.6	N/A	54 (AB)
		49 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	775	954
Realistic/Simulator	442	500
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	30.27	37.26
Realistic/Simulator	17.26	19.53

Armaments

Main armament

76 mm L-11
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
77			-5°/+25°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	14.9	20.6	__.__	__.__	__.__
Realistic	14.9	17.5	__.__	__.__	__.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
9.3	__.__	__.__	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
BR-350A	APHEBC	73	71	65	57	51	45
OF-350M	HE	9	9	9	9	9	9
Sh-354T	Shrapnel	37	35	29	25	20	17
BR-350SP	APBC	77	76	69	61	54	48

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
BR-350A	APHEBC	615	6.3	0.15	10.0	150	+4°	48°	63°	71°
OF-350M	HE	615	6.2	0.05	0.1	621	+0°	79°	80°	81°
Sh-354T	Shrapnel	615	6.2	0.5	8.0	85	+0°	62°	69°	73°
BR-350SP	APBC	615	6.8	N/A	N/A	N/A	+4°	48°	63°	71°

Ammo types

• BR-350A: Most versatile of all the ammo types, with a decent penetration of ~70 mm and with an explosive filler for maximum damage.
• BR-350SP: More penetration than 350A with about 76 mm of penetration at 100 meters, but no explosive filler for more internal damages.
• OF-350M: Standard high-explosive shell for use against unarmoured targets.
• Sh-354T: Shrapnel shell with nearly same damage potential as high-explosive, but has some penetration capabilities that allows the round to do maximum damage at light armour vehicles by exploding inside the tank.

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the T-34 (1940).

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
77	75 (+2)	72 (+5)	69 (+8)	1 (+76)	no

Turret empty: 69 (+8)

Machine guns

7.62 mm DT
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,890 (63)				600	N/A	N/A

Usage in the battles

This is the first non-premium model of the T-34 series. It's a powerful breakthrough tank in the right hands due to its battle rating, good armour and powerful gun but is prone to getting heavily damaged or destroyed from shots to the turret ring or cheeks. Keep moving, using its high speed and maneuverability, and get close to guarantee a penetration and angle the armour to easily bounce shells from enemy tanks.

The T-34 features great speed and agility, together with a good turret traverse and reload speed. It is best used in groups employing flanking maneuvers and focusing on the impressive speed of the vehicle to catch players off-guard. The armour is also thick and sloped, allowing it to bounce the shots from the short 75mm's and the high-velocity 50mm's on German tanks although the Panzer. IV Ausf. F2's gun will easily go through the sides or UFP even with moderate angling.

At 3.3 the T-34 1940 faces a lot of German and Japanese armour. These Axis tanks tend to have very flat and thin armour which make the 76mm APHE shell extremely effective. The high HE filler makes one-shotting Panzers, Chi-Ha's, etc., very easy. At range, however, Axis long-guns excel- get up close and personal to your opponents.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• The gun has extremely good post-penetration capabilities.
• The overall armour is decent, proper angling can make it very effective.
• Good maneuverability and speed.
• Very fast turret rotation speed.
• Despite weak spots, its armour is still quite resistant to many guns at the rank, especially when angled.

Cons:

• Quite long reload time.
• Turret front armour can be defeated even by the weakest guns, if they are allowed to aim precisely.
• Weaker guns can penetrate the turret ring/cheeks/sides fairly effectively.
• Bad penetration at medium ranges
• The crew is cramped together.
• The first hit will often knock out the loader, extending the reload time and impeding combat performance.
• Rather slow reverse speed.

History

Development

By 1939, the most numerous tank models in the Red Army were the T-26 and the BT-series light tanks. Though adequate on the days they were introduced, they are now outdated by this time due to the changing technology in anti-tank warfare. Back in 1937, a new tank project was already taking place under engineer Mikhail Koshkin, who was assigned to lead a design team at the Kharkiv Locomotive Factory (KhPZ) for a replacement for the BT light tanks as a new "cavalry tank" to engage in maneuver warfare. The first prototype was designated the A-20 with 20 mm of armour, a 45 mm gun, and a diesel engine in a V-12 configuration. The Christie suspension is taken from the BT, even the conversion to drive track-less on roads. But gradually, the new track designs available made this conversion redundant and was excluded in further models. The A-20 also showed the effective research done into sloping armour on previous prototype designs, utilizing an all-round sloping armour on the design.

It was during this design process that the Russo-Japanese border wars took place and showed the deficiency of the T-26 and BT models. Koshkin then appealed for the initiation of a much better tank concept, the "universal tank" to completely replace the T-26 and BT tanks. The second prototype was the A-32 and has an increased 32 mm of frontal armour with a 76.2 mm L-10 gun. The heavier prototype was still just as mobile as the A-20, and further development into the design increased the frontal armour thickness to 45 mm thick and a newer 76.2 mm L-11 gun attached instead. This model was approved for production and designated the T-34 after the year 1934, when Koshkin believed was when he formulated the idea for the T-34. Koshkin, however, never saw his tanks in action as he succumbed to pneumonia in September 1940 after trials with the T-34 in the cold winter. Thus, the drivetrain developer Alexander Morozov was appointed as the next Chief Designer. The T-34 tank would go on to become the most produced World War II tank, with 84,070 tanks produced in the production span between 1940 to 1958.

Design

The T-34 took all of the Soviet's experiences with tanks and incorporated into the design. The tank had great sloping armour, a powerful engine, wide tracks, and a large gun. At its introduction, the armour of the T-34 was one of the best in the world, by sloping the 45 mm thick armour plate by 60 degrees, the effective thickness was now 90 mm thick. The armour was welded into place instead of riveted as rivets tend to "spall" and cause damage inside the tank even if the armour was not penetrated. The 76.2 mm gun was a major advantage compared to those on its adversaries, as it could be used as a multi-purpose weapon against infantry and tanks, unlike the Germans who had tanks split for two different roles such as the Panzer III for anti-tank and the Panzer IV for infantry support. The engine, a Model V-2-34 V12 diesel engine, was adequately powerful for the Christie suspension tank design and allowed the T-34 to reach a maximum of 53 km/h (33 mph). The powerful engine, added with the wide tracks that gave it lower ground pressure, allowed the T-34 to travel across cross-country terrain with relative freedom without risk of bogging down.

However, the T-34 is not without its fault and its quality is very questionable in some cases. Two T-34 1941 models were sent to United States in late 1942 for evaluations. The evaluations found the armour quality to be rather insufficient, with improper welding in places that can allow leaks and improper alloys that made armour weaker in some places than others, the T-34 cast turret was even found to use softer armour than the hull that render it vulnerable to even 37 mm shells. The gun sights for the 76.2 mm cannon was also quite poor in comparison to the Axis and other Allies. The tank reliability was also troubled by various mechanical issues, especially in the earlier models. Low quality air filters and insufficient air flow could impede the engine capabilities and the turret drive had poor reliability that could easily jam up. The vision devices was also poor, the crew are unable to see outside the tank with enough situational awareness, even the tank commander couldn't see well out of the tank. Also, the lack of radios on the first few years of T-34s forced the tank commanders to communicate via flags, with only company commanders tanks fitted with the radios. Ergonomics inside the tanks was unsatisfactory and was very cramped inside, with no turret basket the loader has to struggle when the turret rotates and accessing ammunition on the floor boxes makes it a hard and dangerous job for the loader. The commander's hatch on the turret was also one-piece, making even a "heads-up" view for the commander impossible on these large one-piece hatches. Finally, the two-person turret suffered from not only a very cramped compartment, but an overworked commander who has to act as a gunner as well.

T-34 Mod. 1940

The T-34 Mod. 1940 was the initial production variant of the T-34 and the first of the T-34/76 series. In its initial stages, it ran into political trouble from the conservative side, who wanted to keep the T-26 and BTs in production, that or keep the T-34 out of production as the more advanced T-34M completes its development to take over the tank role more effectively. However, these concerns were dissipated with the Winter War against Finland and the German Blitzkrieg tactics across Poland and France, which then advocated for the mass-production of the T-34 to compete against the Germans and improve the Sovet armoured forces.

The production for the T-34 started in September 1940 and completely overtook the production of the T-26, BTs, and even the T-28 at the KhPZ plant. However, the new design features on the T-34 plus the heavier weight on the tank compared to its predecessors posed a problem to the Soviet industry due to insufficient toolings and machinery available in the majority of the Soviet manufacturing plants, thus defects in armour plates were present in the early models.

The T-34 Mod. 1940 never saw wide use as the design was improved with better gun and layout. The L-11 76.2 mm gun was found to be insufficient in performance, so it was replaced by the newly designed F-34 gun, which was much better than its predecessors. The interior of the tank was also fitted with a 9-RS radio set (when available) and thicker, better quality armour on the tank. This new tank design would be the T-34 Mod. 1941 and this replaced the 1940 model, of which only 400 units were produced before it was phased out, in comparison to the 35,120 T-34/76 models produced in the war.

Media

Skins and camouflages for the T-34 1940 L-11 from live.warthunder.com.

Read also

• Official War Thunder forum article: [Vehicle Profile] The T-34 mod. 1940

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.