The SMK was an armored vehicle prototype developed by the Soviet Union prior to the Second World War. It was named after Sergei Mironovich Kirov, a Communist Party official assassinated in 1934. The SMK was discovered and classified by German intelligence as the T-35C, leading to the misunderstanding that the T-35 took part in the Winter War.
The Soviet SMK heavy tank
The T-35 was a Soviet multi-turreted heavy tank of the interwar period and early Second World War that saw limited service with the Red Army. Often called a land battleship, it was the only five-turreted heavy tank in the world to reach production, but proved to be slow and mechanically unreliable. Most of the T-35 tanks still operational at the time of Operation Barbarossa were lost due to mechanical failure rather than enemy action. It was designed to complement the contemporary T-28 medium tank; however, very few were built.
T-35B tank of 1934-35 production series, date unknown
Joseph Stalin and Kliment Voroshilov depicted saluting a military parade in Red Square with T-35 featured.
German troops posing on a captured T-35, unknown date. The impressive size of this tank made it an object of interest to the pursuing German personnel and the tank was frequently photographed.