Anyone working on some hypothetical Warsaw Pact v Nato scenarios? T-54s vs M-46s anyone? When did the 100L get put into the T54? That will sting.
Paging Paul M. Weir pick up the white phone...in 3, 2, ....
Right from the start.
The approximate chain of development is thus ..
An attempt was made to put a 100L in a T-34 as the T-34/100 but that was simply too much gun to be practical.
In the meantime the T-44 was tried with both the 100L and 122L (as in the IS series). The basic T-44 (85L) had a few teething problems so development continued. The T-34 style sprockets and track was regarded as sub-optimal and it was decided to use what became the T-54/55/62 standard with more conventional toothed sprocket and tracks. The new track and sprocket when fitted to existing T-44 turned them into T-44M. The T-44M had other improvements but the new tracks are the most obvious differences. The T-44 turret, though better than the T-34/85 for fitting a 100L, was regarded as being too small and a larger version, with small increases in hull dimensions, was added to the new T-44 automotive components and that became the T-54 m1946 (aka T-54-1).
The m1946 turret was like an enlarged T-44 turret in shape with a wide mantle, quite unlike the latter turrets. T-54 m1946 production seemed to be quite low but at least one found it's way into Egyptian service and is preserved. While T-54 teething problems were likely not much worse than normal but with the end of the war and the need for restoring civilian needs it was not until '49 that a full production version was introduced as the T-54 m1949 (T-54-2). This had the inverted frying pan shaped turret with tiny mantle that we all recognise. This turret had a rear overhang with an undercut. Later the undercut was removed to produce the M1951 (T-54-3). Thereafter various production and refit upgrades were added like first single and later double axis stabilisation. Due to the long service life you saw everything from laser range finders, modular passive and active armour, NBC kit, even tube fired ATGM being added. The T-55 was one of the results of a design effort to improve the T-54. One version had a new gun (smoothbore 100mm?), but what was decided was a production improved version of the T-54 with the same gun as the T-54, the safe bet. There have been so many T-54/55 upgrade items that I have lost track.