Tank A: Yugoslavian medium tank
This Yugoslavian tank was called the vehicle A (or Type A). The basic idea was to produce a copy of the Soviet tank T-34.
Teski Tenk Vozilo A (Heavy Tank Type A) – This was a 1949 Yugoslav tank based on the T-34 design. A total of nine prototypes were built. They were designed and built at the height of the danger from Soviet invasion when Yugoslavia was building up its weapons industry. They were designed by reverse engineering of the Soviet T-34-85 medium tank without any documentation. They are recognizable by their angled front hull corners, modified hull machine gun mantlet, streamlined turret with cylindrical cupola, muzzle brake on the gun, and external fuel tanks that appear to be notched to fit the hull. An alternate version existed, armed with a gun and a mantlet from the M47 Patton. Two examples survive. One of the prototypes is on display at the military museum in the Kalemegdan fortress in Belgrade. The other surviving example is in Banja Luka barracks.
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The T-34 had a profound effect on the conflict on the Eastern Front, and had a long-lasting impact on tank design. The tank was praised by multiple German generals when encountered during Operation Barbarossa, although its armour and armament were surpassed later in the war. Though, its main strength was its cost and production time, meaning that German panzers would often fight against forces several times its size. The T-34 is also a critical part of the mechanized divisions that form the backbone of the Deep Battle Strategy.
The T-34 was the mainstay of the Soviet Red Army armoured forces throughout the war. Its general specifications remained nearly unchanged until early 1944, when it received a firepower upgrade with the introduction of the greatly improved T-34-85 variant. Its production method was continuously refined and rationalized to meet the needs of the Eastern Front, making the T-34 quicker and cheaper to produce. The Soviets ultimately built over 80,000 T-34s of all variants, allowing steadily greater numbers to be fielded despite the loss of tens of thousands in combat against the German Wehrmacht.
