The reason for the low design of Russian tanks is just that- a low, hard to spot profile . The draw back is the crew compartment is cramped and the ammo is stored all around that compartment. In the days of the ‘’workers paradise’’ Russians didn’t give a crap what quality they put into anything. “The State pretends to pay us so we pretend to work’’. If your quota is fifty tanks today, tomorrow its sixty. So you just slap something together. Never mind you have to use a hammer to change gears, never mind if the gear-box falls out, “Glory to the Socialist State, we will win the battle of production’’. ‘’And if you don’t fill your quota comrade we haul your ass off to the gulag.’’ And my wife is standing three f**king hours in line to maybe get a loaf of bread or a pair of shoes that don’t fit.’’ You think a system like that is going to produce quality equipment? I don’t imagine things are quite like that today in Russia but one thing hasn’t changed about Russians and that is human life in Russia is next to worthless and that’s the reason American soldiers wouldn’t want to go to war in the crap Russians make because we value human life.
The Soviets built tanks according to their philosophy - attack! attack! attack! and “There is a certain quality to be found in quantity.”
The Soviets also had huge areas, east and west, to defend (or attack). They had to have lots of tanks and they had to be highly mobile. That’s why they’re such lightweights.
Yes, the Soviet economy sucked (i.e. standing in line for lousy bread and crummy shoes) so they couldn’t afford all all the bells and lights and gizmos we mounted on our tanks. And their QA sucked, too.
But the darn things are ubiquitous. They’re all over the place and they seem to last forever.