1st Guards Tank Army (Russia) 1st Guards Tank Army (Russia) The 1st Guards Tank Army is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces. The army traces its heritage back to the 1st Tank Army, formed twice in July 1942 and in January 1943 and converted into the 1st Guards Tank Army in January 1944. The army fought as part of the Red Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. The army was commanded throughout most of the war by Mikhail Katukov. It fought in the early defense during the Battle of Stalingrad, and Operation Uranus, also participating at the Battle of Kursk.
German tanks in World War II keep pace with Soviet T-34 and KV tanks, which respectively, either had sloped armor or relatively thick armor and both shared 76 mm guns. By 1941, the Panzer III was the most numerous of German tank designs, however, during the later parts of 1943, it was largely replaced by later versions of the Panzer IV and Panzer V "Panther". Its assault gun chassis variant, the Sturmgeschütz III was, with just over 9,400 units built, the most widely produced German armored fighting vehicle of World War II. The Panzer IV was the workhorse of the German tank force during World War