T-43 tank

T-43 Tank
Top: T-43 tank prototype Bottom: T-43 next to a T-34 Model 1943
Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Specifications
Weight	34 tonnes
Length	8.10 m (26 ft 7 in)
Width	3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)
Height	2.58 m (8 ft 6 in)
Crew	4
Armor	16–90 mm
Main armament	76.2mm F-34 tank gun
Secondary armament	2 × 7.62mm DT machine gun
Engine	V-2-34 diesel 500 hp (373 kW)
Power/weight	15 hp/tonne
Suspension	torsion beam suspension
Operational range	300 km (190 mi)
Speed	50 km/h (31 mph)

The T-43 medium tank was a prototype Soviet medium tank developed during the Second World War as a possible replacement for both the T-34 medium and KV-1 heavy tanks. The project's aim was to build a medium tank with heavier armour, but German advances in tank technology proved better countered by a more heavily armed T-34-85 and the T-43 was cancelled.

The T-34 medium tank was the mainstay of Soviet mechanized forces in World War II, produced in huge numbers. In May 1942, Soviet forces started encountering German tanks armed with the new long 75mm KwK 40 gun which could easily penetrate a T-34 at long range.

In June 1942, the Soviet Main Directorate of Armoured Forces (GABTU) issued a requirement to two tank-design bureaus to compete in designing a "universal tank", which would combine the heavy armour of heavy tanks with the mobility of the T-34 medium tank. The SKB-2 heavy tank design bureau in Chelyabinsk started the KV-13 program, which two years later resulted in a line of successful Iosif Stalin heavy tanks. The Uralvagonzavod complex in Nizhny Tagil developed the T-43 medium tank. Uralvagonzavod included the Morozov Design Bureau, the designers of T-34, who were able to draw on its previous work on the advanced T-34M project. T-34M had been cancelled in 1941, when Germany invaded the USSR. The T-43 project received low priority, as the primary focus was on increasing production of the T-34.

First prototype T-43 was completed in March 1943. The T-43 was generally similar to the T-34, but had a new armour layout and turret design, a space-efficient torsion beam suspension instead of the T-34's Christie type, and a new five-speed gearbox. It also featured a three-man turret with commander's cupola for all-round vision, a major improvement on the T-34's two-man turret in which the tank commander was constantly distracted with aiming the main gun. Compared to the T-34 Model 1943 with hexagonal turret, the T-43's turret armour was increased from 70 mm to 90 mm, hull from 47 mm front and 60 mm sides to 75 mm. It retained the same 76.2 mm F-34 tank gun and, for ease of production, shared at least seventy percent of its parts interchangeably with the T-34. Testing at Kubinka showed that the heavier T-43 couldn't match the T-34's mobility, while its armour was still not heavy enough to stop the German 88mm gun.