On December 19, 1939, the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted Resolution No. 443ss "On the adoption of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery tractors by the Red Army and on their production in 1940". In accordance with this document, several new models of equipment of a number of classes were adopted for the armament and supply of the Red Army. Also, the decree determined the procedure for their production. In fact, Resolution No. 443ss set the directions for the development of the fleet of armored vehicles for the next few years, including the time that will become the time of the Great Patriotic War.
New samples
The Council of People's Commissars decided to adopt 11 new products for the Red Army. For the armored forces were intended "heavy armor tank" KV and medium T-34, made on the basis of the existing T-32. Before the launch of the series, they should have been finalized. They also accepted the BT tank with a V-2 diesel engine, the T-40 amphibious tank and the BA-11 armored car. To ensure the production of new tanks, the V-2 diesel was adopted.
Also, the ZiS-5 truck and the GAZ-61 passenger car were intended for the troops. Artillery tractors Voroshilovets, ST-2 and STZ-5 developed by various factories were accepted for supply.
The decree included requirements for launching the production of new samples. They also adopted instructions for various enterprises of the defense and automotive industries, which were to master the production of equipment and components for it. The production of new combat and auxiliary vehicles was required to start in the next 1940.
It is easy to see that most of the listed models remained in service until June 1941, and then were actively used in the fight against the Nazi invaders. Thus, the decree of the KO under the Council of People's Commissars No. 443ss had a great impact on the defense capability of our country in that difficult period. Let us consider in more detail the main results of the decree from the point of view of the production and operation of equipment.
Tank successes
In the context of tanks, the first thing to consider is the newest B-2 diesel engine. By the time it was put into service, five modifications had been created for different tanks and combat vehicles. During the war, new variants with improved characteristics appeared, and tens of thousands of B-2s of all versions were manufactured for the construction of armored vehicles. After the war, the development of the design continued, resulting in the emergence of a whole family of diesel engines. Later products in this line are still being produced and used.
Fulfilling decree No. 443ss, the Leningrad Kirov Plant in February 1940 launched the production of the KV heavy tank in its current configuration. Until the end of the year, we managed to assemble 139 vehicles. In the middle of 1940, the documentation was transferred to the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, and at the beginning of the next year it released its first KV.
In accordance with the decree, the tank should have been re-equipped, replacing the L-11 cannon with an F-32 product. In the future, new similar upgrades were carried out. The production of the KV (KV-1) continued until August 1942. For the entire time, the Red Army received approx. 3540 heavy tanks. This technique, having high characteristics, for a long time was a serious argument on the battlefield and made a significant contribution to the fight against the advancing enemy.
Work on improving the T-32 tank and creating a new T-34 took several months. March 31, 1940there was an order to start its production at the Kharkov steam locomotive and Stalingrad tractor plants. The launch of the series was associated with numerous difficulties, but by the end of the year the Red Army received 115 new tanks. Already at the beginning of 1941, the situation changed dramatically, and each month more tanks rolled off the assembly line than in the entire 1940th.
During the Great Patriotic War, T-34 medium tanks were produced by several factories. The design was constantly improved, deep modernizations were carried out with a significant increase in characteristics. So, in 1942, Nizhny Tagil, Stalingrad, Gorky, Omsk, Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk gave the army 12, 5 thousand tanks, and in 1943 - almost 15, 7 thousand. Production of the T-34 continued until 1945. the complexity of the army transferred more than 35 thousand vehicles. A successful combination of high combat and operational characteristics, quantity and tactics of use made the T-34 at least one of the best tanks of its time.
Light samples
Less successful and successful was the light tank BT-7M with a V-2 diesel engine, which was also put into service by Resolution No. 443ss. The first such tanks were assembled already in 1939, and in 1940, by order of the Red Army, a series of 700 units was built. In parallel, we made approx. 70 BT-7M tanks with M-17T gasoline engine for the NKVD troops. In 1941 BT-7M were not produced.
BT tanks of all modifications, incl. diesel BT-7M, were actively used in the initial period of the war. They could effectively solve the main combat missions, but enemy opposition led to losses. In addition, over time, the obsolescence of the design was more and more affected. As a result, by the final stage of the Great Patriotic War, only small numbers of BTs of different versions remained in the troops, and often they were transferred to the category of training.
The decree stipulated the release of the T-40 light amphibious tank. Its production was entrusted to the Moscow plant number 37 with the beginning in 1940. In the first year of production, a plan of 100 cars was set, but the army only handed over 41. In the fall, the modernization of production facilities was completed, which led to an increase in production rates. However, already in the summer of 1941, plant # 37 was ordered to curtail the production of the T-40 in order to prepare for the production of the more advanced T-50. As a result, the enterprise managed to build only 960 light tanks in about two years.
In battles, the serial T-40s showed themselves ambiguously. They coped well with the tasks of reconnaissance of the enemy's rear or guarding columns - for which they were created. However, the use on the front line as a means of supporting the infantry often led to unjustified losses. Moreover, the initial period of the war, with its shortage of armored vehicles, forced the use of the T-40 precisely in non-optimal conditions. As a result, the amphibious tank quickly showed its shortcomings, and they began to replace it with other equipment of similar classes.
The BA-11 armored car can be considered the least successful example from the decree №443ss. It was created on the basis of the ZiS-6 cargo chassis and equipped with protection and weapons that meet the requirements of the Red Army. Tests of an experienced armored car took place in 1939, and in 1940 a small series started. Various problems led to the delay in work, and after the start of the war, production was canceled in favor of more priority projects. In total, they managed to build 17 BA-11s. With all its advantages, such a small number of equipment could not significantly affect the course of battles.
Tractors and transport
At the very end of 1939, KhPZ began assembling the Voroshilovets serial heavy artillery tractors. The next year we released a full-fledged series. Production in Kharkov continued until August 1941, when the production line was evacuated. By this time, they managed to build 1,120 tractors, and about 1,000 were already in operation in the Red Army. After the evacuation of the plant, the production of tractors was not resumed.
In accordance with Resolution No. 443ss, ChTZ received a task to produce ST-2 tractors. Until the beginning of 1940, it was required to assemble 10 experimental vehicles; in 1940 - 1,500 serial. The work faced various problems, which is why the start of the army's supplies was delayed. In addition, the industry failed to meet the customer's requirements for the number of equipment.
The STZ-5 transport tractor has been in series since 1937, and at the end of 1939 it was adopted as a light artillery tractor. Thanks to this, the Stalingrad Tractor Plant was able to expand the production of equipment for the Red Army without much difficulty. Production of STZ-5 continued until September 1942 and was stopped only in connection with the approach of the enemy to the manufacturing plant. In total, almost 9,950 tractors were produced.
Together with the tractors, the ZiS-5 truck with two driving axles was adopted. The car of the three-ton class ZiS-5 in a number of modifications has been produced since the mid-thirties and was one of the main vehicles of the Red Army. The resolution of the Council of People's Commissars No. 443ss ensured the further development of the vehicle fleet at the expense of more advanced technology. In total, several hundred thousand ZiS-5s of all modifications were built.
Simultaneously with the truck, the GAZ-61 off-road passenger car was adopted. Fewer than 240 of these machines were built from 1940 to 1945. But they also made a significant contribution to the victory - this technique happened to be transported by the highest command personnel of the Red Army. Also, light artillery tractors based on an SUV were produced and used in limited quantities.
Artillery tractors, trucks and staff vehicles, which were put into service in December 1939, began service in 1940 and remained in service until the very end of the Great Patriotic War. The technique suffered losses, but the crews and mechanics did everything possible to keep it working, bringing the victory closer.
A landmark document
It is easy to see that in the resolution of the KO under the Council of People's Commissars No. 443ss, several samples of combat and auxiliary equipment were mentioned at once, which were of particular importance for our army during the Great Patriotic War. Some of them not only received high marks, but also became symbols of future victory.
Thus, the decree of the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars "On the adoption of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery tractors by the Red Army and on their production in 1940" was of particular importance for the development of the fleet of equipment of our army and predetermined a lot of further events. Fulfillment of the instructions of the Council of People's Commissars was not easy, and far from all plans were implemented. However, everything possible was done, and this became one of the prerequisites for our victory.
