Chapter 306： A-32 tank

"Their tank is a 20-ton, 50-millimeter tank gun. It has very good performance, especially its protection capabilities. Our existing tanks cannot penetrate them at all. We must have new tanks. "Major Belotov said first.

As a tank soldier commander who returned from the Spanish Civil War, and has not been cleansed, Belotov naturally received high attention. In the Spanish Civil War, the Soviet tanks were simply defeated, the high command of the entire Soviet Union. The officials were quite shaken.

"Therefore, we suggest that our tank must resist the direct fire of 50 mm artillery at close range, and resist the oblique fire of 75 mm artillery at medium and long distances." Belotov continued.

The short distance is within 500 meters, and the medium and long distance is 500 meters away. The opponent is equipped with 50mm tank guns and a small number of 75mm guns. Therefore, your own tank must follow these indicators. Only by developing new tanks can tank soldiers have confidence.

"It seems that we have to develop a new tank." Stalin, who was holding the big smoke pot, his face was gloomy: "Do you have a good plan?"

At this meeting, designers from the tank industry also arrived.

In the 1930s, the Soviet Union had two tank production bases, both under the leadership of the Red Army Automobile Armored Tanks General Administration, and the person in charge was I.A. Halevsky.

One of them is located in Leningrad, which is a production base composed of Kirov Factory and Red October Factory; the other is Kharkiv Locomotive Factory.

The former is responsible for the production of T-28, T-35 and T-26 tanks, and the latter is responsible for the production of BT series fast tanks.

Hearing Stalin's question, Kotin spoke first.

Joseph Yakovlevich Kotin, whose current title is the chief designer of the Leningrad Kirov factory. There are three factories in Leningrad, namely the Voroshilov factory, the Bolshevik factory and the Kirov factory, and the leader is the Kirov factory.

"We believe that if we want to increase the protection of our tanks, we must increase armor protection." Kotin said: "So, we decided to replace the existing T-28 tank with a new engine, and at the same time Increase our armor protection."

Kotin talked freely, as a famous tank designer, his advantages are unique, for example, he is the son-in-law of the Soviet Marshal Voroshilov! He often met with Stalin and was highly regarded by Stalin.

Now, after hearing Kotin's plan, Stalin also nodded aside, increasing armor protection, increasing the weight of the car, and replacing it with a new engine. These are all the right way.

Kejing reported for two full hours. He had three plans in total, each of which was introduced in great detail.

It was not until he had finished his introduction that it was the Kharkov factory's turn.

Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin became the chief designer of the tank design office of the Kharkov factory last year. His thinking is very different from that of Kotin.

"We believe that simply increasing the weight will cause other problems. For example, our current T-35 tank weighs 52 tons. However, various mechanical failures are endless. We believe that the weight of the tank should be controlled within three. Within ten tons, it is in line with our current technical level."

This made Kotin quite dissatisfied.

In fact, Koshkin is not wrong. The T-35, a heavy multi-turret tank, is the pride of the Soviets. Every military parade in Moscow causes a sensation in Red Square.

However, that's all, the total output of this tank is less than 100. Except for attracting attention during the military parade, it has no combat capability and has many breakdowns. It can be said that this kind of tank is just for putting on airs, showing the advanced nature of the Soviet tank, almost similar to the Pei-8.

Koshkin is still relatively young, and he doesn't know what he does in the officialdom. He doesn't know it. His remarks have already been blacklisted by Kotin.

"So, our design plan is to increase protection by using a bulletproof shape and using inclined armor. We have observed that the German tanks use inclined decks. In the case of the same weight, the inclined armor can have better protection. Ability, we plan to do the same, and we want to use casting to get a better bulletproof appearance."

Koshkin submitted his own design plan, code-named A-32. After Major Belotov got the design plan, he agreed with him in his heart. It was just because of Kotin's face that it was not convenient to express his opinions immediately. .

It is definitely better to change the shape just by increasing the weight!

"Our tank is a general-purpose tank. It combines the high speed of BT series tanks, the firepower of T-28 and the compactness of T-26. The emergence of general-purpose tanks can completely save the cost of troops." Koshkin continued Said.

"This tank you designed doesn't seem to be dual-purpose?" Kotin suddenly found something and asked Koshkin.

In this era, dual-use wheel and track are still advocated. The Soviet BT fast tanks are all like this. When the tracks are removed, they are wheels. They can walk on the road and can cross-country with the tracks. It seems to be an all-rounder, but in reality On top, it is tasteless.

The army rarely uses the wheel mode of the BT tank, which is too troublesome. At the same time, this design will increase the complexity of production and its own weight.

Koshkin said all his thoughts: "We have observed that German tanks have given up wheel-track dual-use and all use crawler chassis. We think this is our development direction."

People listening to the side shook their headsMember of the People’s Committee of the Soviet Union, Marshal Voroshilov, firmly opposed the pure track type: "We must not give up wheeled high-speed travel, which will make us The troops have lost the ability to move quickly!"

Stalin held the big smoking pot in his mouth, and remained silent.

In all fairness, Stalin was not particularly in favor of the pure track type. However, since all Germans are now crawler, it shows that this method is beneficial. How else would the Germans use it like this?

However, what is suitable for Germany is not necessarily suitable for the Soviet Union. After all, the Soviet Union's territory is too vast. Before entering the war zone, a high-speed wheeled solution is also indispensable.

"Comrade Koshkin, I need you to prove the superiority of the pure track solution." Stalin said: "Wheel and track combination can be manufactured at the same time. Compare the two."

In this way, Stalin made the final decision, and Koshkin frowned. There is no space reserved for this part of your tank at all! Such improvement is meaningless.

You can agree to it first, but the key point is still to put it on the crawler!