T-34-85 (Polish production)
In service 1951 - 1970s in training use
Based onT-34-85 (licensed production of)
Poland's first home-built tank after 1945: a licensed T-34-85 produced at Labedy through the 1950s, with Polish detail changes and a long second life as a training and film vehicle.
Built byZaklady Mechaniczne Bumar-Labedy
Photograph pending. No clearly licensed photograph of this vehicle was found.
Development history
Poland received Soviet T-34-85s during the war and took up licence production in 1951 at the new Labedy works, building roughly 1,380 by 1956. Polish vehicles introduced their own detail fittings, improved air filtration and, later, an infrared driving light and updated radios during rebuild programmes. They equipped Polish armoured divisions until T-54s and T-55s displaced them, after which many became driver trainers, engineering conversions and range targets. Poland's large surviving fleet is the reason so many running T-34s appear in museums and in cinema; a number of Polish-built examples are preserved at Poznan.
Variants
One canonical record, 3 recorded variants.
T-34-85 (1951 Labedy build)
1951First Polish-built series, closely following the Soviet pattern.
T-34-85M
1960sPolish rebuild with improved air filtration, infrared driving light and new radios.
Driver trainer conversion
1960sTurret removed or fixed for use as a training vehicle.
Notable actions
- Cold War service (Warsaw Pact)