Alternative Heavy Tank

Factory #183 in Kharkov was the center of Soviet heavy tank development in the interwar period. The T-35 powerful (heavy) tank developed in Leningrad by N.V. Barykov was produced here. Production was set up with the participation of I.S. Ber, who was appointed as the head of HPZ (factory #183) Diesel Department design bureau T-35K. Iosif Solomonovich Ber played a key role in the fate of the T-35 tank. It was he who produced the technical documentation for the tank and further development of the design was done under his direction. Work to replace the T-35 moved to Leningrad in 1938 and Ber was promoted to the position of deputy chief of the KB-520 design bureau. Work on heavy tanks in Kharkov ended, but not for long.

I.S. Ber, a key player in the creation of T-35, T-34M, and T-44 tanks.

New Turret

"November 15th, 1942

#SO4899

To the chief of the BTU, Colonel comrade Afonin

Moscow, Red Square, 2nd NKO house

People's Commissar of Tank Production, comrade I.M. Zaltasmann

Moscow, 11 Sadovo-Sukharevskaya street

Director of factory #183, comrade Yu.Ye. Maksarev

RE: review of T-43 and T-44 tank projects 

In addition to my letter #SO-4698 from November 2nd, 1942, sent to you and copied to the Deputy People's Commissar Zh.Ya. Kotin, the following must be said about the results of review of T-43 and T-44 tank projects.

Pre-War Potential

As worldwide tank building practice shows, it takes about five years to develop a new tank in peace time from the development of the requirements to the final product. The tank often changes significantly between envisioning and production, as happened with the T-34. The initial requirements for the BT-20 tank composed in mid-October of 1937 described a convertible drive tank weighing 13-14 tons with 20-25 mm of armour and armed with a 45 mm gun or 76 mm L-10 gun. Three years later, the tank that went into production was fully tracked, weighed 25.6 tons, had an L-11 gun and 45 mm thick armour.

The mass grew gradually during development along with the improvement of the tank's characteristics. However, the T-34 was supposed to change significantly by the summer of 1941. This T-34M was the result of changing requirements. The start of the Great Patriotic War got in the way of developing even a prototype, but the T-34M became the starting point for a whole series of tanks and had an effect on the production T-34.

T-34 Improvements

"Decree #1873ss of the State Committee of Defense

June 5th, 1942

On improvement of the T-34 tank

The State Committee of Defense decrees that the T-34 tank, having sufficient armour for a medium tank (45 mm), good power to weight ratio (18.2 hp/ton), needs improvements in gearbox mechanisms and vision. The most important task of the People's Commissariat of Tank Production and directors of tank factories that produce the T-34 is the rapid development of improved gearbox mechanisms and vision devices.

T-44 (A-44) Requirements

"Order of the People's Commissariat of Medium Machinebuilding #192s

May 10th, 1941

Moscow

"On the production of the T-34 tank in 1941

...

6. Factory #183 director Maksarev must:

1. Produce two experimental T-44 tanks by October 15th, 1941, according to tactical-technical requirements in attachment #1.
2. Sign a contract with the Mariupol factory by July 1st, 1941, to receive two sets of armour parts for the T-44, for which the Mariupol factory must be provided with armour blueprints of the T-44 by July 1st.
3. During the month of November, perform trials jointly with the GABTU, and present me with the results of the trials for presentation to the Committee of Defense.

Unlucky KV

Cases where vehicles that never reached mass production become milestones are common in tank building history. The Soviet KV-13 tank is one of those cases. This tank is often referred to as a "heavily armoured medium tank", which is incorrect. The KV-13 was designed as a heavy tank from the very beginning. The revolutionary vehicle satisfied the requirements of the Soviet military completely. This was the first maneuverable heavy tank that combined impressive armour with small mass, and, most importantly, high mobility.

The KV-13 appeared at a difficult time, which is a part of the reason why it did not enter production. Nevertheless, further Soviet tank development was influenced by the last design of the talented Nikolai Valentinovich Tseits.

Big Gun for a Small Turret

In June of 1940, the Red Army GABTU began working on modernizing the KV-1 heavy tank. Even though production had not yet fully began, the military already had issues with the tank. This is a fairly ordinary scenario, especially considering the fact that tank development sped up with the start of WWII. According to the GABTU, the KV-1 needed more armour and, more importantly, a more powerful gun. It's hard to argue with the latter, since the Red Army's heavy and medium tanks, KV-1 and T-34, ended up with the same gun.

ZIS-5, Take One

"May 30th, 1941
To the Central Committee of the VKP(b)
Comrade Zhdanov

According to USSR SNK and Central Committee Decree #1216-502 issued on May 5th, 1941, two experimental T-44 tanks built by factory #183 are supporsed to be armed with the 76 mm ZIS-5 or 57 mm ZIS-4 gun. The main characteristics of these guns is shown in the following table:

Gun model	Caliber in mm	Muzzle velocity, m/s	Shell mass, kg	Penetrates armour
				At 0 degrees		At 30 degrees
				Thickness in mm	Distance in m	Thickness in mm	Distance in m
F-34	76.2	662	6.3	60	Up to 1000	50	Up to 1000
ZIS-5	76.2	813	6.5	90	Up to 1000	70	Up to 1000
ZIS-4	57	992	3.14	90	Up to 1000	70	Up to 1000

Heavy Tanks and Lightening

"To the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, Lieutenant-General of the Tank Forces, comrade Fedorenko

Report.

On the issue of design and production of experimental heavy tanks, I report that:

The current heavy KV tank fielded by the Red Army demonstrates superiority in battle over fascist tanks with its powerful armour and armament. It can be successfully used to destroy the enemy defences, crushing them with its tracks and gun. The Patriotic war, combining in its nature a positional war with a maneuver war requires much of a heavy tank, and the KV does not fully meet those requirements. The KV lacks mobility for the following reasons:

1. A low maximum speed limits its ability to move between flanks to counter-attack.
2. Insufficient visibility from the tank makes orienting on the battlefield difficult.
3. The tank's mobility is decreased by its number of gears: five forward gears is not enough for a heavy tank.
4. The force required to shift gears is large. Momentum acquired on lower gears is wasted, and the tank must slowly accelerate in a higher gear.
5. The brake ribbons are insufficiently reliable and lead to the tank stopping on the battlefield and requiring repairs.

The usage characteristics of the KV are limited by:

1. The requirement for robust bridges or other means of crossing ravines or water hazards.
2. The requirement for powerful tractors for rapid evacuation from the battlefield, dragging out of ravines, traps, etc, or the use of more of these expensive vehicles.
3. The requirement of units to have powerful repair tools.

Based on the above, the government must task the People's Commissariat of Tank Production to order the Kirov factory and factory #183 to produce two experimental prototypes of heavy tanks with the following characteristics"

1. Combat mass: 30 tons
2. Crew: 4 (3 in the turret)
3. Armour:
1. front and turret: 90 mm
2. side and rear: 75 mm
3. roof and bottom: 25 mm
4. Armament:
1. 76 mm gun: 1
2. DT machineguns: 2 (one coaxial and one in the hull)
3. SMGs: 2 (PPSh)
4. Flamethrower: 1 (attachable instead of the hull machinegun)
5. Gun range:
1. vertical: -5 to +25 degrees
2. horizontal: 360 degrees
6. Hull machinegun range:
1. vertical: -5 to +15 degrees
2. horizontal: +/- 10 degrees
7. Ammunition capacity:
1. Shells: 50
2. Machinegun rounds: 2520
3. PPSh rounds: 1000
4. Flamethrower fluid: 20 shots
8. Engine: V-2 or V-2K diesel, 500-600 hp
9. Maximum speed:
1. Highway: 60 kph
2. Off-road: 25 kph
10. Off-road range, non-stop: 10 hours
11. Transmission: planetary
12. View: 360 degrees, provided to the commander with an observation hatch in the turret roof, optical sights (with exit eyepiece 10-12 mm and field of vision no less than 60 degrees), and doubled observation devices (in the roof) for the driver.
13. Communications:
1. External: quartz radio station
2. Internal: TPU-3 with throat microphone
14. The side reductors must be protected by main armour.
15. The coolant system and air filters should provide 10 hours of uninterrupted movement off-road in 45 degree heat.
16. The engine must be able to start without external heating at a temperature of -45 degrees.

A tank produced in accordance with the above requirements will be fully equipped for modern war and will be an even more deadly weapon against fascist tanks.

BTU Chief, Major-General of Tank Forces Korobkov

Representing the BTU Military Commissar, Engineer-Lieutenant-Colonel Kovalev

June 1st, 1942"

CAMD RF 38-11355-935

Seems that the "medium tank with heavy armour" concept surfaced again, two years later. If you look at the characteristics of the A-44, it matches these requirements exactly!

As for the products of Kirov factory and factory #183, those were, of course, the KV-13 and T-43. Neither vehicle ended up in production, but the KV-13 influenced the IS series and the T-43's turret migrated to the T-34-85. 

Proposed Soviet Heavy Tanks, Spring 1941

The USSR was developing tons of heavy tanks before the start of the war, with very many variations on possible designs of the KV-4 and KV-5. The characteristics of the final designs are summarized in this table.

Tank Name		T-44	KV-3	KV-4	KV-5
Mass (tons)		29.5	68	75	90
Armour (mm)	Front	75	120	130	170
	Side	60	90	125	150
	Top and bottom	30 and 23	40 and 30	50	50
Armament	Gun	1 76 mm or	1 107 mm	1 107 mm	1 107 mm
	Gun	1 57 mm
	Machineguns	3	2	2	2
Ammunition	Shells	100	50	100	100
	Bullets	6000
Engine power (hp)		600	850	1200	1200
Maximum speed (kph)		55-60	30	30	30
Fuel capacity (hours)		10	10	10	10
Crew		4-5	6	6-8	6-8

CAMD RF 38-11355-949

The T-44 is, of course, not the late-war medium tank, but the pre-war medium/heavy tank, more commonly known as the A-44. 

Eagle-eyed readers may detect some mystery in this table. Take a look at the KV-4 column. One gun, 90 tons, 170 mm of front armour, 35 kph top speed? This isn't Shashmurin's project, the one he claimed won the tender in his memoirs!