The D-10 is a high-velocity gun of 100 mm calibre (bore diameter), with a barrel length of 53.5 calibres. A muzzle velocity of 895 m/s gave it good anti-tank performance by late-war standards. With its original ammunition, it could penetrate about 164 mm of steel armor plate at 1,000 m, which made it superior to the German 75 mm KwK 42 mounted on the Panther tank as well as the Tiger I's 88 mm KwK 36 gun. Testing against Panther tanks at Kubinka showed the D-10T could penetrate the Panther's glacis up to 1500 m. Armor penetration performance increased further with the development of APDS (Armor-Piercing, Discarding Sabot) and other more modern ammunition types after WWII. A more effective high-explosive shell was also developed after the war, taking advantage of the larger 100 mm bore.