The T-28 was based on a revolutionary British design (Vickers A1E1). The prototype was built in 1931 and the tank was officially approved in 1933. In the period from 1933 to 1941, the Kirov factory built around 500 units.

The tank had one large gun turret, armed with a 76.2 mm anti-tank gun, and two smaller gun turrets both equipped with a 7.62 mm machine gun. There was also a machine gun mounted on the roof against aircraft attacks and with some variants a gun was also mounted in the back of the main turret. The tank was 7.5 m long, 2.8 m wide and also about that high. The tank had a very large silhouette from the side, so it was easy to hit.

Just before the Second World War, the armor was thickened for extra protection, making it comparable to the Panzer IV in terms of firepower and armor. Unfortunately, the suspension and appearance was no longer modern by the time of the war and, compared to the tanks designed just before or during the war, it formed a poor basis for improvement. Yet the T-28, when it was first produced, was very modern. That was because it was equipped with anti-aircraft guns and a radio (in all tanks) as standard.