The T-34/85 was merely an up-gunned T-34/76. The Soviets realized with the advent of the German Panther and Tiger (Pzkpfw. V and VI, respectively) that a tank with greater firepower was necessary. The 85mm gun was placed in a larger, redesigned turret that was set on a late model T-34 chassis. They had also placed this gun in a redesigned turret on the heavy tank KV-I, and they named this variant the KV-85. This tank had much better protection, yet it was much slower and more costly than the T-34/85. The T-34/85 went into production at about the end of 1943 and saw a lot of action in the later years of the war. The tank proved successful, yet was still inferior in protection and to a degree in firepower to its German counterparts. It is still in service today by a few Third-World countries.