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The Battle of the Kursk (German code name: Operation Zitadelle) is widely recognized - not quite accurately - as the largest armored battle in World War II and the largest armored battle on the Eastern Front. It happened after the German defeat at Stalingrad in February 1943, but also after the successful German counter-offensive at Kharkiv in March of the same year. The German side, joining the battle, counted on the full acquisition of the strategic initiative, on the task of the Soviet side with the greatest possible losses, as well as on the nipple of the Soviet offensive expected in the summer of 1943. The Red Army adopted a defensive stance, trying to bleed the attacking Germans out of the blood in the initial phase of the operation, and then proceed to a counter-offensive. The battle on the Kursk arc began on July 5, 1943, and along with the Soviet Orłowo and Belgorod operations it lasted until August 23 of the same year. In its course, despite the involvement of significant forces by the German army and the newest Tiger and Panther tanks as well as the Ferdinand tank destroyers, the Soviets achieved victory, who prepared themselves very well for this battle, and despite suffering huge losses - they were able to go to the counteroffensive. The Battle of the Kursk region turned out to be one of the turning points in World War II. It is estimated that as a result (from July 5 to August 23), the German army lost approx. 240,000 soldiers - killed, wounded and captured, approx. 1,300 tanks and approx. 1,000 aircraft. The losses of the Red Army were undoubtedly greater.
The M3 Lee or Grant was an American heavyweight medium of the Second World War. The first prototypes were built in 1941, and serial production was carried out in the period 1941-1942. In total, about 6,300 copies of this tank of all versions were built. The M3 Lee was powered by a single engine Continental R 975 EC2 340 HP or two engines General Motors 6-71 with a total power of 375 HP. It was armed with a single 75mm M2 or M3 gun in the hull, a single M5 or M6 37 gun mounted in the turret, and two or three 7.62mm Browning1919A machine guns.
The French campaign of 1940 made a great impression on the command of the US Army and made them realize that the M2 tank being put into production at that time did not meet the requirements of the battlefield. While waiting for the target structure, which turned out to be the M 4 Sherman, the project was commissioned to develop a transitional structure that would enable fairly equal combat with the Pz.Kpfw III and Pz.Kpfw IV vehicles. Yes, in 1941, the first prototype of the M3 Lee tank - called the Grant by the British - was created. The new tank had several advantages (nice armor when introduced to the line, high reliability and strong armament), but it had many disadvantages: low ability to negotiate obstacles, a very high silhouette that made camouflage difficult - especially in desert conditions - and low susceptibility to modernization. As a result of this, from 1943 it was systematically withdrawn from the linear units in favor of the M4 Sherman. However, it was used after 1943 by the Red Army in secondary combat directions and during the fighting in the Pacific by the Americans. Several versions of the car were created in the course of serial production M3 Lee. Chronologically, the first one was marked as M3 and still had riveted armor. A cast-armor version of the M3A1 followed shortly after, followed by the M3A2 with a welded armor. The last version was the M3A5 with riveted armor, but an elongated 37mm barrel.