• The_v@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        A lot of the old Soviet stuff works poorly with lots of relatively easy repairs, but didn’t give a fuck about the health and safety of the people operating them.

      • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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        8 days ago

        when the soviets valued reliability they meant they valued field serviceability. yeah, the t-34 broke down a lot, but it could also be back in service after breaking down quickly because it was simple to fix by a field mechanic. this ethos shows up throughout their entire weapons development process. basically of the powers in wwii,

        1. the americans valued quantity and quality
        2. the soviets valued quantity
        3. the germans valued quality
        4. the japanese started valuing quality but eventually had to embrace quantity due to a lack of quantity
        5. the british started valuing quantity due to lack of quantity and eventually got to embrace quality due to backing from allies and their own manufacturing capacity
        6. the italians never had either quantity or quality
        • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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          8 days ago

          I think you crossed up quantity/quality in several places, because your comment reads very confusingly.

          Tangentially, my favorite part of the T-34 is the track striker plate

          For instance, the tracks on most of the German tanks were connected by pins with locking mechanisms that required special tools for field maintenance. The T-34 tracks were connected with pins without locking mechanisms. Instead, the pins stayed in place using the track’s motion and a welded striker plate on the tank’s hull. If a pin was lost, it was replaced by using the most basic tool, a hammer. Naturally, this was very time and cost-efficient.

          This is absolutely one of the most hilariously simple - and at the same time logically pragmatic - solutions I think I’ve ever come across in the field of mechanical design.

    • orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 days ago

      I mean, dig on Russian shit, sure… but I drive a 50 year old car and it’s not dying anytime soon. Of course, it’s German, so there’s that.

    • invertedspear@lemm.ee
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      8 days ago

      Same initial thought, but then I considered that I trust a Cold War era jeep that’s been stored for decades to still work with a bit of quick off-the-shelf maintenance items than I would any Hummer era military vehicles to work after even a short span in storage.