The Russian T-28 Medium Tank was the first indigenous design of this class. Much like the British Cruiser types, it was designed for the role of  breaking through and causing havoc behind the enemy’s lines, such as attack communication equipment and supplies.

It entered production in 1933 at the Leningrad Kirov Plant and 600 vehicles were built when production ended in 1940.

It had a rather interesting turret array, which appeared to be popular during this time, where the main gun was housed in the top turret (with a further machine gun in the back of it) and a machine gun was mounted in each of the two bow turrets, giving the vehicle an impressive forward facing level of lethality.

Like all tanks of its class it lacked serious armoured protection, which was exploited by the Finnish During the Russian invasion of Finland, who nicknamed the vehicle “The Mail Train”.

The vehicle also served in the defence of Russia when the Germans invaded during World War 2, where despite an increase in armour thickness, it still proved very susceptible to anti-tank weapons of that time.

The Russian T-28 Medium Tank Spec’s

Armament: Main Gun 76.2mm / 3x 7.62mm Machine Guns
Armour: Steel 10 – 30mm thick
Crew: 6
Dimensions: Length 7.44m / Width 2.8m / Height 2.8m
Weight: 28 tonne
Engine: M-17 12-cylinder 500bhp petrol
Top road speed: 37km/h
Operational range: 190km