re: #103 SteveMcGaziBolaGate

I clicked around on that afvnews blog and saw a fascinating entry. I had never heard nor read this before, but Germans felt the T34 was INFERIOR to their own tanks (once upgunned in 1942) The commander and gunner were the same person in the Soviet tanks, and that hindered their performance.

That was the biggest drawback of the T34. Commander and gunner should be separate jobs.

The 75mm guns they put on the Panzer IV and the long 50mm on the Panzer IIIs were much better guns. With their superior ergonomics (5 man crew) along with better communications (intercoms plus a radio with an operator in every tank) meant the German tanks were much better.

Their armour left a lot to be desired though.

ETA: As D_F noted the German tanks were less mobile as well. At least until the PzV (Panther) came out, although that had its own problems.