Wednesday 20 June 2018

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.
...
Tactical-technical requirements
  1. Mass: 29-29.5 tons
  2. Armour:
    1. Front: 75 mm thick at an angle of 60 +/-10 degrees
    2. Side (vertical plates): 60 mm thick at an angle of 0 degrees
    3. Side (sloped plates): 55 mm thick at an angle of 35-45 degrees
    4. Floor: 20-25 mm
    5. Roof: 30 mm
    6. Final drive armour must be equivalent to the armour of the rest of the tank
    7. Turret: 75 mm at an angle of at least 25 degrees and at least a 15 degree sloped rear
    8. Turret roof: 30 mm
    9. Gun mantlet: 60 mm
  3. Armament:
    1. One 76 mm ZIS-5 or 57 mm ZIS-4 gun with two coaxial machineguns in the turret of the tank.
    2. Maximum gun elevation: 30 degrees
    3. Minimum gun depression: -5 degrees
    4. Horizontal arc: 360 degrees
    5. 2 DT machineguns in the front with a horizontal arc of 30 degrees
    6. Vertical range at least from +15 to -7 degrees
    7. The ability to install a 10 L ATO type flamethrower with capacity for 10-15 shots in place of the machineguns must be provided
  4. Ammunition:
    1. 76 mm or 57 mm shells: 100 in a tank with a radio, 90 in a tank with a flamethrower
    2. DT rounds in a tank with a radio: 6000
    3. DT rounds in a tank with a flamethrower: 4500
    4. PPSh rounds: 450
    5. Grenades: 25
  5. Crew: 4-5 men
  6. Mobility:
    1. Climbing and descending a slope of at least 42 degrees
    2. Climbing over a vertical wall 0.8-1 meters tall
    3. Clearance: no less than 450 mm
    4. Ground pressure without sinking: no greater than 0.7 cm/kg²
    5. Top speed on a highway: 55-60 kph
    6. Minimum speed: 5-7 kph
  7. Engine: 
    1. 600 hp diesel with an inertial starter
    2. Combined total of fuel tanks must be at least 600 L, and total of oil must be 80 L.
  8. Suspension:
    1. Individual, torsion bar
    2. Road wheels with internal dampening
    3. Drive sprocket with a pin gear
  9. Hull:
    1. The hull must be solid and rigid, without any vibration and skew when driving on cross-country terrain.
    2. The floor must have an escape hatch for the crew.
  10. Turret and armament mounting:
    1. The turret must fit the crew comfortably and have an observation cupola. The turret ring diameter must be no less than 1600 mm.
    2. The observation cupola must give the commander all-round vision.
    3. Pistol ports on the side of the turret must allow for precise fire with a PPSh.
    4. Sights consist of a periscopic PT and a telescopic TOD
  11. Communication:
    1. Install a KRSTB radio station in the front of the hull for external communication. Tanks with flamethrowers will have receivers only.
      For internal communication install a TPU-3 device (commander-driver-radio operator) and a light indicator (commander-driver).
    2. The antenna will be a whip antenna that can be collapsed along the side of the hull either by hand or automatically when the turret traverses."

4 comments:

  1. That's a remarkable set of requirements for mid-1941.

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  2. Its more remarkable that they think they can have torsion bars AND a floor escape hatch.

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    Replies
    1. Sort of depends. My M-60 had a driver floor escape hatch in front of the torsion bars. If the main gun was not elevated I could slide back and forth between the turret and driver compartment. Perhaps this is what they were talking about.

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  3. The T-55, T-10, Leopard had both torsion bars and floor escape hatch. Probably plenty of others.

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