By the year 1943, the Wehrmacht already possessed a noticeable number of heavy tanks, which were superior in firepower and armor plating to the Soviet 1940-1942 T-34 tanks. These included not only the new Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger and Panzerkampfwagen V Panther, but also modernized Panzer IV late series. The improvement of the combat qualities of the T-34 rose particularly sharp at the beginning of the 1943 Summer offensive. In that period the longer barreled 76 mm F-34 gun was mounted on the T-34, which was unmatched until end of 1942. In 1943, a series of massive improvements of the T-34 went forward, starting with the cast turret. However, only few of these tanks can be found in army museums today.