T-34-85 (S-53) (China)

␗Т-34-85 (S-53)

␗M4A1 (75) W

Т-34-85 Gai

␗Т-34-85 (S-53)

␗M4A1 (75) W

Т-34-85 Gai

China

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.7	5.7	5.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:54 000

Purchase:185 000

Description

The ␗Т-34-85 (S-53) is a rank IV Chinese medium tank with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Cupola, Driver's hatch, Machine gun port)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	45 mm (60°) Front glacis 45 mm (60°) Lower glacis 75 mm (60°) Driver's hatch 65 mm (30°) Machine gun port	45 mm (39-40°) Top 45 mm Bottom	45 mm (47-49°) Top 45 mm (46°) Bottom	20 mm
Turret	90 mm (1-69°) Turret front 90 + 40 mm (8-61°) Gun mantlet	75 mm (19-22°) Front 2/3rd 52 mm (13-19°) Rear 1/3rd	52 mm (9°)	20 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	90 mm	20 mm

Notes:

• The gun mantlet has 90 mm in front with additional small and thin 40 mm plates on the sides of the gun. See here.
• Suspensions wheels are 20 mm thick and tracks are 18 mm thick

The armour layout of the T-34-85 (S-53) is virtually identical to the T-34-85. The hull armour, while well angled, is very thin for its rank and can be penetrated by nearly any tank cannon. Creative use of angling can still lead to the occasional bounce. The 90 mm thick turret is also thin for its rank, but the good sloping on the sides can also lead to bounces with some luck.

The T-34-85 has very poor survivability due to the fact that all 5 crew members are packed close to each other. A hull penetration will likely knock out all of them. However, inexperienced players that face this tank will often shoot the lower hull part of the driver hatch, which is infamous for being surprisingly resilient.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)		Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse	Stock	AoA	Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	62	10	32	0.2	775	954	24.22	29.63
Realistic	55	9			442	500	13.81	15.53

The T-34-85 (S-53) has excellent mobility for a medium tank, as expected of a T-34. It can reach high speeds both on and off-road thanks to its wide tracks. The reverse speed is not exactly great, but it is significantly better than those of comparable Shermans, Panthers, and early T-34s (76 mm, 57 mm variants).

Armaments

Main armament

The T-34-85 (S-53) (China) is equipped with the fantastic ZiS-S-53 cannon, with penetrates about 145 mm on the close range with the stock BR465K round. This might not be enough to fight Tiger IIs frontally, but it works perfectly with other tanks, which are less armoured or you can engage them from the side. The gun depression is like on many other soviet (based) vehicles quite poor, with only 5° there are no hull-down manoeuvres possible.

85 mm ZiS-S-53					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	60	-5°/+22°	±180°	N/A	23.80	32.94	40.00	44.24	47.06	9.62	8.51	7.84	7.40
Realistic					14.88	17.50	21.25	23.50	25.00

Ammunition

The stock round is the BR365K which has 148 mm of penetration on close range. The APHE round has a very good one-shot-potential with 48g of A-IX-2(73,92g of TNT equivalent).

The second round, the BR365A, only" has about 135 mm penetration on point-blank. But instead of having 48g, it has 164g TNT of explosives inside the shell. This increases the post-penetration effect dramatically.

APCR is also available, but keep in mind that it hates sloped armour and it has very poor post-penetration damage.

This BR365-P penetrates about 195mm of RHA on close range.

The HE-shell is called O-365K. With 660g of TNT inside it performs pretty good against trucks&halftrucks.

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
BR-365K	APHE	148	143	126	106	90	77
BR-365A	APHEBC	135	133	125	115	106	97
BR-365P	APCR	195	187	154	120	94	74
O-365K	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
BR-365K	APHE	792	9.2	1.2	14	73.92	47°	60°	65°
BR-365A	APHEBC	792	9.2	1.2	14	164	48°	63°	71°
BR-365P	APCR	1050	3.99	N/A	N/A	N/A	66°	70°	72°
O-365K	HE	793	9.54	0.1	0.3	660	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the T-34-85.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
60	51 (+9)	41 (+19)	31 (+29)	21 (+39)	11 (+49)	1 (+59)	no

Turret empty: 24 (+12)

Machine guns

7.62 mm DT
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	1,890 (63)	600	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

While the T-34-85 is a fairly well-rounded tank, its poor armour and high speed mean that one should play it more like a light tank than a medium. The gun is very lethal but the penetration is not particularly good, so it is better to flank and go for side shots, which can instantly knock out all but the largest and most spacious opponents. During frontal engagements, Tiger Is should be shot in the flat portions of the hull (avoiding the driver's port), Panthers should be shot in the turret (in the less curved portion of the mantlet) or possibly in the lower glacis, and non-Jumbo Shermans can generally be shot anywhere. The Tiger II (P) is only vulnerable in a small portion of the turret cheeks and the Tiger II (H) is essentially frontally immune, so for these kinds of targets, circle around to get a good shot at the hull sides and let the slope modifiers take care of the rest. Watch out for American tanks like the M4A3 (76) W and T25, as they have vertical stabilizers and can often shoot first if they are aware of you.

In AB, you should play this tank like any other T-34. Push because you have a pretty well-rounded tank and will generally be able to adapt to whatever situation that develops. The AB meta generally favours more heavily armed and armoured tanks due to the presence of markers, making flanking and ambushes more difficult, so play carefully and take advantage of your high mobility.

In RB, play this tank offensively yet carefully. Use your speed and keep up with your teammates, or alternatively play it like a light tank and go on long flanks. In RB, one will often encounter enemy flankers like the infamous M18 Hellcat or R3 T20 FA-HS; while the main gun is adequate for dispatching these soft targets, the heavy machine gun can also rip through them in a pinch, particularly from the sides. The machine gun can be especially helpful if one's tank is otherwise disabled due to a jammed turret ring, destroyed gun breech, etc. Diving aircraft expecting to strafe an innocuous T-34 can also be given a nasty surprise, though the DShK's small belt capacity makes this more difficult.

In SB, play this tank very cautiously because the optics aren't that good and most of the time you will face tanks from pretty far distances. Panthers generally have better optics than you so try to avoid encounters with Panthers or Tigers.

Enemies worth noting:

Panther A/D, Tiger II P:

The Panthers are one of the most common tanks around BR 5.7, and they pose a great threat with their deadly long 75 mm cannon, thick frontal armour and adequate speed. You want to avoid engaging them at long range as the T-34 has only x3.5 scope magnification, making long-range shooting super hard. Engage the Panthers within 500 m and avoid shooting their frontal hull. Their biggest weak spot is the gun mantlet, which is only 100 mm thick and has a flat part in the middle. That is where you want to aim at, the T-34's APHE has sufficient damage to instantly destroy the Panther even from its turret. The second weak spot is the sides, which more often than not instantly destroys the vehicle. Generally, APHE is enough to deal with the Panthers, and no APCR is needed. The APHE shell loves to chew through the Panther's thin side armour, even if it's angled.

For the Tiger II P, aim at the vertical area of the frontal turret which is also 100 mm. The best tactic is still to flank it, however.

Tiger H1/E:

The Tiger's weak spots are the opposite with the Panthers. Their hull is unsloped and rather thin, while the gun mantlet is weirdly shaped and can absorb quite some shells. The best engaging range remains the same, within 500 m. If the Tiger is angling, aim at the turret ring to disable the gunner and destroy the turret traverse, or aim at the hull side below the side skirt, which is only 60 mm. If it is not angling, aim between the driver's vision port and the MG for an instant kill. Avoid shooting at these two parts as they tend to bounce/absorb shells. For the Tiger E, don't shoot at the lower glacis as there will be add-on tracks installed there, making it harder to penetrate.

Ho-Ri:

In a frontal engagement, APCR is required as the APHE shells don't have enough penetration. With APCR loaded, aim at the further sides of the fighting compartment, away from the gun, because the further from the gun, the thinner the armour gets, with the thinnest part being around 160 mm unsloped. Penetrating there will knock out its loader, gunner or commander, or detonate the ammo. Of course, the best way is still side-shooting with APHE.

Panzer IV/70, Jagdpanzer 38(t):

These small tank destroyers with their well-angled frontal armour can be quite a problem from a distance. With APHE, you can disable their transmission by shooting at their lower glacis. Now if you can, flank them. The 85 mm APHE does a great job at penetrating sloped, thin armour, so you don't have to get to their absolute sides. For the Pz IV/70, you can also aim at the downward part of the gun mantlet since the shell might ricochet downwards into the hull, knocking out every crew member. The Jagdpanzer 38(t) doesn't have this problem, so side-shooting is required to destroy it effectively.

M4A3E2 Jumbo:

This is another common enemy. It is recommended to use the BR-365A, the one with less pen but more explosive filler. The reason is that it is better at penetrating sloped armour, which the Jumbo has. With that shell, you can easily destroy an M4A3E2 who's not angling. If it is, aim at the hull side just above the tracks, or load APCR and shoot straight at its gun mantlet. Against a 75 mm M4A3E2, you can relax a bit as it will struggle to penetrate your armour, but your cupola is a rather large weak spot and a shot through there can knock out the T-34. Be more careful with the M4A3E2 76 W, as they can easily pierce through your armour.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive	BR-365A
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism	BR-365P
IV	Transmission	Engine	Add-on Armor	Artillery Support

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent gun with adequate penetration, destructive damage and good reload rate
• 56 km/h top speed and great manoeuvrability allows it to reposition easily
• 5-man crew increases survivability
• Access to BR-365P APCR to effectively penetrate tough tanks up close (M4A3E2s, Tigers & Panthers)
• Has two types of AP for players to choose: BR-365K with a higher penetration but less TNT, and BR-365A with less pen but plenty of TNT
• Similar playstyle with the previous T-34s which is rather beginner-friendly
• Fast turret traverse to easily deal with targets from multiple directions
• Sloped hull and round frontal turret might bounce small calibre shells

Cons:

• Armour is extremely thin, providing very limited protection against common guns (American 76 mm, British 17 pdr, German 75 mm & 88 mm, etc)
• Crew members are closely packed, a well-aimed shot tends to kill them all
• 5 degrees gun depression is below average
• Large turret profile makes it easier to get spotted and shot
• Awkward to place bushes on frontal hull due to the obstruction of MG port and driver's optics

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

See also

T-34-85

T-34-85 (D-5T)

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.

China medium tanks
ZTZ59	Type 59 · ZTZ59A · ZTZ59D1
ZTZ69	Type 69 · Type 69-IIa
ZTZ88/96	ZTZ88A · ZTZ88B
	ZTZ96 · ZTZ96A · ZTZ96A (P)
ZTZ99	ZTZ99-II · ZTZ99-III
ZTZ99A	ZTZ99A · WZ1001(E) LCT
Export series	MBT-2000 · VT4A1
ROC	CM11
Other	Т-34-85 Gai · Object 122MT "MC"
Bangladesh	T-69 II G
Japan	␗Chi-Ha · ␗Chi-Ha Kai
Pakistan	Al-Khalid-I
USA	␗M4A4 · ␗M4A4 (1st PTG) · ␗M4A1 (75) W · ␗M48A1 · ␗M60A3 TTS
USSR	␗T-34 (1943) · ␗Т-34-85 (S-53) · T-34-85 No.215 · Т-62 №545