Tuesday 11 February 2014

T-60 Armour Upgrade

"Minutes of a technical meeting with the director of factory #37

Present:
Chief of the NKSM tank department, comrade Gnesin.
Director of the Podolsk ZIO, comrade Zasulskiy
Director of factory #37, comrade Levitanskiy
Chief engineer of factory #37, comrade Kozyrev
Chief of the New Design Bureau at factory #37, comrade Astrov
Chief of the Podolsk ZIO SKB, comrade Karapetyants
Chief of the 3rd department of BTU KA, military engineer 1st grade, comrade Afonin
Senior engineer of the 3rd department of BTU KA, military engineer 3rd grade, comrade Kulikov
Military representative of the GABTU KA, military engineer 2nd grade, comrade Kospov
Military representative of the GABTU KA, military engineer 3rd grade, comrade Minin
ZIO deputy chief engineer, comrade Svet
  1. According to the Government's decision , the cemented armour of the T-60 needs to be replaced with homogeneous armour, maintaining the levels of protection from 7.62 mm armour piercing bullets. Podolsk ZIO representatives estimate that 13 mm of cemented armour is equivalent to 15 mm of homogeneous armour. Based on this, the commission established the following sized of armour plates:
    1. Front plate 01-7 at 30 degrees: 15 mm
    2. Side plates 01-1, 01-2, 01-5, 01-6 at 0 degrees: 15 mm
    3. Rear plates 01-10, 02-19, at 30 and 35 degrees: 13 mm
    4. Driver's compartment plates 02-1, 02-2, 02-3 at 25 degrees: 20 mm
    5. Driver's hatch 08-1 at 25 degrees: 20 mm
    6. Side bay plates 02-17, 02-4, at 23 degrees: 15 mm
    7. Turret cheeks 10-1, 10-4 at 0 degrees: 15 mm
    8. Gun mantlet 10-67 at 0 degrees: 20 mm
    9. Plate above the air intake at 71 degrees: 9 mm
    10. Plate above the gas tank at 71 degrees: 9 mm
    11. Turret ring 10-16, 10-17 at 25 degrees: 15 mm
    12. Air intake plates 03-22, 03-23, 03-1, 03-2: 13 mm
    13. Air intake grille plates (rear) 04-2 at 35 degrees: 13 mm
    14. Air intake grill plates (side) 04-11: 9 mm
  2. In order to expend the cemented armour that has already been produced at the Podolsk ZIO, the commission deems it acceptable to produce up to 100 hulls with both cemented and homogeneous components. The increase in mass needs to be no more than 50 kg. As soon as the 100 hulls are used up, the Podolsk ZIO is to produce T-60 tanks with armour as described in the first section of these minutes, without the propeller bay.
  3. In order to simplify the hull, the Podolsk ZIO is allowed to produce air intake grilles that do not close, and further produce a simpler air intake instead of the mushroom shaped one.
  4. On the T-60 tank:
    1. Increases of armour thickness must occur outwards, except in the cases of the lower rear plate, where it must occur inwards.
    2. Simplify the gas tank cover.
    3. Remove the wave deflector cover and the opening for it.
    4. Leave room for an opening for an ignition mechanism with an armoured cover, like on the Komosomolets tractor.
    5. The rivets that hold the DShK armour plate on must be bulletproof.
Chief of the NKSM tank department, comrade Gnesin.
Director of the Podolsk ZIO, comrade Zasulskiy
Director of factory #37, comrade Levitanskiy
Chief engineer of factory #37, comrade Kozyrev
Chief of the New Design Bureau at factory #37, comrade Astrov
Chief of the Podolsk ZIO SKB, comrade Karapetyants
Chief of the 3rd department of BTU KA, military engineer 1st grade, comrade Afonin
Senior engineer of the 3rd department of BTU KA, military engineer 3rd grade, comrade Kulikov
Military representative of the GABTU KA, military engineer 2nd grade, comrade Kospov
Military representative of the GABTU KA, military engineer 3rd grade, comrade Minin
ZIO deputy chief engineer, comrade Svet"
CAMD RF 38-11355-251

Eagle-eyed readers would have figured out by the mentions of various amphibious devices and the DShK that the tank in question is not a T-60. It is a T-30, a simplified T-40, which was released as an intermediate measure until T-60 production got off the ground.

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