The T-54 an T-55 tank series were main battle tanks designed by the Soviet Union. The first prototype T-54 appeared in 1946 shortly after the end of the Second World War. It was the successor to the T-44 and a direct descendant of the T-34, considered by many to have been the "finest all around tank of the war". The tank entered full production in 1947 and became a mainstay of Red Army armored units, the Warsaw Pact countries and many other armies as well. T-54s and T-55s were involved in many of the world's armed conflicts.