The end product yielded a running length of 8 meters with a beam of 3 meters and a height of 2.58 meters. Weight reached 34 tonnes. Up to 70% of the existing parts of the T-34 (Model 1943) were used in making up the T-43.
Evaluations were quick to note the T-43's susceptibility to the German 88mm FlaK guns being used in greater numbers in the Anti-Tank (AT) role (as well as being used as the primary armament of the Tiger I Heavy Tanks). In fact, armor protection and mobility of the T-43 was found to be no better than that already showcased by the T-34 which was a cause for concern. Additionally, the weight of the added armor and new turret drove down road speeds and hampered mobility of the tank, particularly during cross-country affairs. The shift to an all-new turret would also disrupt production at many of the important Soviet facilities should the T-43 project have matured towards serial manufacture.
Add to this the fact that, during the Battle of Kursk (July 5th, 1943 - August 23rd, 1943) - Germany's final "blitzkrieg" which once-again starred the T-34 - after-action reports suggested that the existing T-34 merely lacked a more potent main gun. In response to this, T-43 engineers attempted to mate a more powerful 85mm D-5T main gun into a modified version of the new T-43 turret but this endeavor did not help the T-43 project success. It became much more convenient to simply up-gun the existing T-34 - and this went on to produce the famous T-34/85 Medium Tank (detailed elsewhere on this site) design. Because of this, the T-43 program was therefore cancelled in full with nothing more than a single prototype realized.
For the Germans, who suspected a T-34 successor to be in the works under the designation of "T-43", the T-34/85, when it entered service in 1944 as the standard combat tank of the Soviet Army - was mistakenly thought to be the new T-43 and thus German wartime reports made frequent mentions of a "T-43" in direct combat service in numbers along the East Front.
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