Evolution of Russian Tanks | Animated History

hi i'm griffin johnson the armchair historian few nations embraced the invention of the tank with as much vigor as the soviet union building on the experiments performed by the russian empire in the closing days of the first world war the soviet union constantly sought to improve its armored capabilities fielding some of the most well-known tanks in military history throughout the second world war with the war's end these soviets only increased their research and development preparing for a possible conflict with their ideological enemies and equipping their enhanced tanks with the latest armor and personnel protection technology this spirit of armored innovation continues in the present day with the russian federation continuing to build on the works of the red army in this second episode of our evolution of tanks series we'll look at the growth of russian armor from lightning quick scout tanks imported as farming equipment to the armored juggernauts of the soviet union and beyond before we dive into the action i'd like to take a minute to thank today's sponsor hellofresh a food delivery service dedicated to making cooking at home easy fun and most importantly affordable if your schedule is as busy as mine it's unlikely you have the time for complicated recipes and don't want to risk your health by constantly ordering out hellofresh answers this dilemma by offering many healthy meal kits made using fresh produce sourced directly from farmers with a delicious and varied menu of over 50 items per week the pre-portioned ingredients reduce waste and the competitive pricing model lets you save an average of 28 over regular grocery shopping hellofresh is also committed to helping the community having donated over 4 million meals to charity in 2020 alone i received three meals this week a burger meal taco kit and chicken dish the portions for two are perfect for those who live alone you'll have plenty of delicious leftovers and for those with families you'll have unrestricted access to high quality affordable and easy to make meals that can serve up to four the best part is the recipes teach you how to cook meals that would otherwise be unapproachable for people who like me have limited cooking skills making dinner is now something i look forward to especially when i can make a meal together with my significant other when you're ready to experience delicious food without additional hassle or stress go to hellofresh.com and use my code armchairhistorian14 to get 14 free meals including free shipping [Music] the scale of both soviet and modern russian tank production and development is truly dizzying so we will just be examining the key turning points in each tank design both for the sake of brevity and preventing our animators from launching a worker's revolution of their own additionally we'll be focusing on tanks exclusively and will not be covering small armored vehicles tank destroyers or self-propelled guns with that said let's begin like her continental peers the russian empire began experimenting with armored warfare during the first world war in august of 1914 designer alexander perak hofshikov was tasked with creating an all-terrain vehicle for the tsar's army the result of his labors was the vesticot literally translating as all-terrain vehicle with a repeated top speed of 42.6 kilometers per hour and iron armor plating the vesticot is the first of a handful of russian tanks that are poorly understood little information survives about this tsarist experiment the vesticot project was carried out in spurts between 1914 and 1916 ultimately ending in the october of that year with the fall of the russian empire and the rise of the soviet union international trade disputes resulted in american weapons designer walter j christie inking a deal to sell his design for a fast tank to the red army the first of these american tanks were built and shipped to the soviet union as agricultural tractors to skirt an arms embargo imposed upon the communist state thanks to its christie's suspension system the b-2 had incredible mobility and a simple field modification allowed the fragile tracks to be removed letting the wheels run directly on paved surfaces enabling top speeds of up to 55 kilometers or 34 miles per hour four years after the b2's adoption the red army slowly replaced it with the bt-7 which remained in service until the end of the second world war the bt-7 could reach a top speed of 86 kilometers or 53 miles per hour on road and 50 kilometers or 31 miles per hour off-road the bt-20 light tank was introduced in 1938 as a pre-production model for the t-34 two main variants were produced the bt-20 or a20 and the a-32 or t-32 the a-20 mounted a 45-millimeter main gun and weighed in at 31 tons the variant also featured sloped armor and a larger simplified hole to aid in protection and manufacturing respectively the a32 added two more wheels on each track and widened the tracks themselves full armor was thickened across the board and the caliber of the main gun was upgraded to a 76.2 millimeter l10 the a32 was a limited production model similar to its successor the a32 served as the basis for the t-34 laying the foundation for one of the most effective tanks in military history which made its debut following the outbreak of the second world war variants of the t-34 would serve across the globe in conflicts ranging from world war ii to korea there were many variants produced but here are the most notable the basic model 1940 t-34 saw action from 1940 to 1944 and carried a crew of four with an l-11 76.2 millimeter main gun like the t-32 that preceded it weighing in at 26.8 tons and with between 16 and 52 millimeters of armor thickness the t-34 could reach a top speed of 54 kilometers per hour or 33.5 miles per hour as it pushed back the tide of nazi aggression the 1943 t-34 dubbed the t-3485 saw increases across the board adding an additional crew member and bringing armor thickness in selective areas up to 80 millimeters this extra protection led to a sharp increase in weight at 32 tons but reduced speeds of 38 kilometers or 23 miles per hour the 1943 model also increased the size of the main gun bringing the caliber up to 85 millimeters in 1945 the t-3485 was outfitted with an electrically driven traverse motor for the turret greatly enhancing its ability to engage moving targets in a chaotic battlefield environment over 57 600 of these motorized turret tanks would be built before the war's end the final t-34 variant added night driving gear and an enlarged fuel tank to bring the war-weary platform into the modern age the t-44 tank was brought into service beginning in 1944 while originally intended to build on the t-34 the final product ended up being a complete redesign weighing in at 31 tons and with four crew members the tank featured an impressive 120 millimeter maximum armor thickness a total of 1823 tanks were built from 1944 but none saw service during the second world war 1961 saw the t-44m roll off of the assembly line the first in a long line of retrofitted tanks with the letter m designated for modernized the t-44m was refitted with increased ammunition and fuel capacity as well as night vision and infrared sights enabling it to fight in any situation the t-54 succeeded the t-44 going on to become the most widely used tank throughout the eastern bloc over 35 000 were built and modernizations and adaptations kept the model in regular use through the 1990s and possibly even into the 2020s the t-54 shared a similar armor layout as its predecessor but now utilized a torsion bar suspension system with redesigned treads an articulated gun sight and anti-aircraft machine gun were additional features added to the base design over time in 1954 the red army used the t54 platform to test the d54ts 100 millimeter main gun paired with a reduga stabilizer this modernization project the t-54m would serve as a blueprint for future t54 designs as models began integrating separate stabilization systems and also began being identified with alphabetic suffixes in 1957 the t-54b took the field armed with a new rifled gun and a second generation stp stabilizer while improved survivability was provided by standardized self-sealing fuel tanks 1959 saw the addition of infrared optics an infrared searchlight was mounted on the commander's cupola and the gunner was given an ir sight to allow target acquisition in any level of light the t-55 tank built on many of the innovations of the t-54 with a new focus on protection and survivability in all manner of combat conditions the base t-55 was a formidable fighting vehicle with a plethora of improvements over the t-54 such as an improved engine and a full complement of nuclear biological and chemical safeguards inspired by nuclear blast tests performed on the t-54 over 27 500 units were produced over the course of the model service life during the 1970s and 80s the t-55 underwent a veritable maelstrom of improvements under the model names t-55m and t-55am the tank was outfitted with increased armor and anti-mine defenses an upgraded engine new tracks and suspension a laser range finder fitted onto the main gun 81 millimeter smoke grenade launchers for concealment and many other improvements a notable sub variant was the t-55 modified for service in afghanistan which was given soft side skirts over its tracks and a rear rpg screen to counter the conditions of the soviets battle against the taliban and other militants the 1990s saw a revolution in tank defense with the introduction of explosive reactive armor where a layer of explosive material is sandwiched between the sheets of armor plating when struck by a shell or any projectile the sandwiched explosive will detonate ideally destroying the shell before it can penetrate the armor and kill the crew inside the t-55 received its first outfitting of era with the t-55 mv and the amv which were initially adopted by the soviet naval infantry before spreading to its newly formed ground forces of the russian federation following the soviet union's collapse introduced in tandem with the t-55 was the 1961's t-62 of which 22 700 were built created as an answer to the british centurion and american patent tanks the t-62 had a 115 millimeter smoothbore cannon firing new kinetic energy penetrator rounds with a 102 millimeter frontal plate angled at a 60 degree angle and a turret up to 214 millimeters thick in some places the t-62 had excellent armor for its day it was eventually modernized as the t-62m equipped with a volna rangefinder improved sights and a ballistic computer 10 millimeters of armor was added to the tank's side skirts and improved nbc protection completed the overhaul 1963 saw the introduction of the t-64 platform 12 000 of the base tanks were built notable for their sharp increase in armor thickness a maximum of 599 millimeters and the reduction of crew from the standard four to three the first refresh for the t64 came in 1966 with the introduction of the t64a the main gun was scaled up to 125 millimeters from an initial caliber of 115 millimeters with a new rangefinder and sights additionally a new turret was introduced for the commander as well as an anti-aircraft gun intended as the second generation main battle tank for the soviet armed forces this 41 and a half ton behemoth was armed with a 125 millimeter main gun as well as a 12.7 millimeter anti-aircraft machine gun and a coaxial 7.62 machine gun for anti-infantry duties the ba variant of the t72 added era in the form of contact 1 composite plates arrayed along the turret and hole the t-72 would go on to receive upgrades to its contact armor throughout its useful life up until the modern day t72 b3 introduced thermal sighting for improved target acquisition in all manner of conditions first produced in 2014 the t72 b3 can still be found in russian armored units today introduced in 1976 the t-80a was an amalgam of new parts and components from the t-72 and the t-64 the driver's position shifted to the center of the crew compartment with the other two crew positioned inside a new two-man turret era and nbc protection came standard and over 5000 t-80as were produced t-adu short for ulucenya or improved sported the contact 5 era system as well as an improved engine leading to increased survivability range and service life the t90 tank was introduced as the third generation main battle tank for the nascent russian federation 2260 of these 45.7 ton tanks were built mounting a 125 millimeter main gun along anti-tank missile capability the russian government has released little other information about the t90 which continues to serve to this day the latest model the t90am features a smoothbore 2a46m5 gun as well as upgrades to its armor and engine our last medium tank was introduced in 2015 the t14 armada is the cutting edge of russian mbt design 900 millimeters of armor protects its crew of three who operate a 2a82 smoothbore gun and 12.7 millimeter cord machine gun and 7.62 millimeter purpose-built tank machine gun the turret is entirely mechanized which eliminates the positions of the gunner and loader traditionally found in tank crews production for the model was planned to reach 2300 between 2015 to 2020 with a test batch of 100 to be issued to the second guard's motor rifle division in 2021 the first of russia's heavy tank designs the t28 featured a crew of five and later six men operating a 76 76.2 millimeter howitzer and between three to five 7.62 millimeter machine guns a rolling gun position the t28 was protected by 20 to 30 millimeters of overall armor thickness 503 units were produced between 1932 and 1941. a sterling example of the short-lived trend of outfitting massive tanks with multiple turrets the t-35 could be best described as a land battleship with a total of five gun turrets covering massive arcs of fire more of a propaganda tool than a weapon of war t-35 units rumbled into action during operation barbarossa only to promptly break down on mass and be scuttled by their crews to prevent capture by the germans the kv heavy tank first debuted in 1939. the base tank had a production run of 100 units each armed with a 76 millimeter cannon and five crew 25 to 90 millimeter of armor made the tank an extremely tough nut to crack the second generation kv-1b introduced in 1940 added an additional machine gun as well as an improved cannon the 1b was a simplified design intended for mass production and 1200 were built now behold the russian death fridge introduced in 1940 the kv-2 proved more than effective against the vermost during the defense of the soviet union topping out at 57 and a half tons and mounting a 152 millimeter howitzer as its main gun this six-man juggernaut helped stopped the german invasion cold first introduced in 1943 the is series of heavy tanks served as a test bed for the latest in soviet and later russian design philosophy eventually leading to the modern t10 system the is-1 was based on the kv-85 and sought to address the mobility and armament problems the kv line had developed while taking advantage of the armor trade-offs and design choices made in the previous series at 43 tons and with a crew of four the is-1 mounted an 85 millimeter main gun complemented by three 7.62 machine guns 120 millimeters of frontal armor protected the hull and turret introduced later in 1943 the is-2 was designed specifically to counter german heavy tanks with 3854 of these purpose-built cat killers rolling off of the assembly line a 122 millimeter main gun promised to deal heavy damage to nazi armor and a dishca anti-aircraft machine gun warded off any luftwaffe attackers just a year after the introduction of the is-2 came the is-3 first unveiled during the allied victory parade in berlin the is-3 had an all-new armor layout and a distinctive pike nose turret that offered excellent protection introduced in 1952 the penultimate version of the soviet's heavy tank platform began its life as the is-9 later re-christened the is-10 and then the t-10 in 1953 as part of the destalinization program of nikita khrushchev over 5000 of these tanks were built featuring a 122 millimeter main gun and two 12.7 millimeter machine guns as well as 250 millimeters of armor at its thickest the final version of the soviets heavy tank program the t10m was completed in 1957. modernizations included replacing one machine gun with a 14.5 millimeter cannon as well as integrating night vision optics and nbc protection in the platform a longer hole and turret accommodated a larger gun with an integral muzzle break the net result was a massive vehicle that was ultimately abandoned in favor for other tank designs [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 2,158,295

Keywords: soviet tanks, ussian tanks, the t-34, kv-1, kv-2, t-26, t34 tank, russian tanks, ww2 tanks, world war two tanks, tank history, light tanks, heavy tanks, medium tanks, tank warfare, tank development, historical tanks, modern tanks, cold war tanks, tanks in ww1, tanks in ww2

Id: LyJSsv3KFpM

Length: 24min 2sec (1442 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 27 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Some_Ukrainian_Guy]

The video is incredibly inaccurate.

Fanfiction at best, not actual proper data.

Too many inaccuracies and gloss-overs, also lazy tank drawing, he shows wrong tanks does not show IS-2s gun recoil and many other errors.

Like, why mention the drivers position when talking about the T-80?

It makes is seem like all the tanks before it had the driver to the left, when in reality the change was made on the T-64 over 10 years before.

Weird mistakes like classing T-28 as a heavy (it wasn't, it's a medium), also completely bonkers section about IS tank, like come on man where is the "armor compromise" compared to the KV?

All in all, he entirely missed the point of tank development and just picked random well known tanks. If you have no idea about your material - don't make an "educational" video about it.

[u/SRDD_Mk-II]

You’re a bit late. Already got one out