T-44

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources. Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources where they are used inappropriately. (September 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "T-44" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

T-44
A restored T-44 tank
Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1944 – 1960s
Used by	Soviet Union
Wars	Hungarian Revolution of 1956 World War II (August 1945, Manchuria only)
Production history
Designer	A.A. Morozov
Designed	1943–1944
Manufacturer	Factory No. 75, Kharkiv
Produced	1944–1947
No. built	1,823
Variants	T-44-100, T-44-122
Specifications (T-44A)
Mass	32 t (35 short tons; 31 long tons)
Length	6.07 m (19 ft 11 in) 7.65 m (25.1 ft) over gun
Width	3.25 m (10 ft 8 in)
Height	2.455 m (8 ft 0.7 in)
Crew	4
Armour	120 mm (4.7 in)
Main armament	85 mm ZiS-S-53 tank gun (58 rds.) 100-mm D-10T tank gun 100-mm LB-1 tank gun 122-mm D-25-44 tank gun
Secondary armament	2× 7.62 mm DTM machine gun or 1x 12.7mm DshK
Engine	Model V-44 12-cyl. 38.88 L diesel 520 hp (388 kW)
Power/weight	16.3 hp/tonne
Transmission	planetary 5-speed manual
Suspension	Torsion bar
Ground clearance	510 mm (20 in)
Fuel capacity	500 litres (110 imp gal; 130 US gal) 150 litres (33 imp gal; 40 US gal) external
Operational range	Road: 240–300 km (150–190 mi) Cross-country: 150–210 km (93–130 mi)[1]
Maximum speed	55 km/h (34 mph)

The T-44 was a medium tank developed and produced near the end of World War II by the Soviet Union. It was the successor to the T-34, offering an improved ride and cross-country performance, along with 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 any battle. It was 1 ton lighter than the T-34-85 and slightly faster. The T-44 was heavily influential on the design of the T-54/55 Medium tank, most prominently lower hull and turret profiles. Also notable was the T-44-100, a 100mm D-10T-armed prototype, which would be the same 100mm gun mounted on the T-54/55, bar some minor changes.

Attempts were made to improve the T-44's armament with a new 122mm gun, but the turret proved to be very cramped and the rate of fire was poor, on the order of three rounds per minute. 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.