Ninety years ago, on August 31, 1920, the Red Sormovo factory in Nizhny Novgorod rolled out the first Soviet tank. It was named “Freedom Fighter Comrade Lenin,” weighed seven tons, was armed with a 37mm cannon and one machine gun, carried armor 16 to 18 mm thick, had a crew of two and was able to develop a speed of 8.5 kilometers an hour. A history of the world’s armor comes alive in the Kubinka museum.
Ninety years ago, on August 31, 1920, the Red Sormovo factory in Nizhny Novgorod rolled out the first Soviet tank. It was named “Freedom Fighter Comrade Lenin,” weighed seven tons, was armed with a 37mm cannon and one machine gun, carried armor 16 to 18 mm thick, had a crew of two and was able to develop a speed of 8.5 kilometers an hour. A history of the world’s armor comes alive in the Kubinka museum. Among its exhibits are:
The BT-2 light wheeled/tracked tank, the first in the BT (high-speed tanks) family. Production run: 1932-33.
The T-35 heavy tank developed in 1935.
The T-34-85 Soviet medium tank that fought in World War II. Produced in the Soviet Union from January 1944 to 1950. Total output: 80,000 units (including the T-34-76).
The T-34-85 - one of the main Soviet tanks in World War II and the main tank in the Soviet army through the mid-1950s, when replaced with the T-54.
The SU-100 Y heavy self-propelled gun.
88mm Waffentragen open-type self-propelled gun.
The Maus super-heavy tank.
The Gerat 040 Karl self-propelled siege mortar.
The Pz. Kpfw. V Panther medium tank.
The Pz. Kpfw. VI E The Tiger I heavy tank.
The 380mm Sturmtiger assault mortar (developed by the Alkett firm in 1944).
The 150mm Brummbar (Grizzly) self-propelled gun.
The 188mm Jagdtiger tank hunter (developed by Nibelungenwerke from the Pz. Kpfw. heavy tank. Production run: 1944-45).
The 88mm Ferdinand/Elefant anti-tank self-propelled gun of the Wehrmacht.
The M5A1 Stuart light tank of World War II (United States).
The MBV armored rail car (developed in 1936-37 at the design bureau of the Leningrad Kirov Plant).
The T-VG Panther heavy tank. Produced from 1944 by Germany’s MAN and Daimler Benz firms. Used until the end of World War II.
