Tank A-44: Merkava of the 1941 model

The past twentieth century was marked by rapid development of technology, including military. On the creation of new samples worked and enthusiastic loners, and whole teams of designers. Some developments are far ahead of their time. That's about one of these unique machines and this article will tell.

History of creation

The design of the new tank A-44 began to be developed in the design bureau at the Kharkov locomotive plant under the leadership of Alexander Morozov in the first quarter of 1941. According to the conspiracy theory of one of our compatriots now living in the UK, the "A" index in the car's name means "Motorway", but this is not so. In the pre-war Kharkov, there were three design bureaus working for the defense industry. For the projects developed by these design bureaus, three indices were identified: "A", "B" and "B". The design bureau of the Barrikady plant, which designed artillery guns, was assigned the letter "B", and the KB of the Kharkov Tractor Plant, which was responsible for diesel engines, was the "B" index. Therefore, until now most of the tank diesels carry this letter in their name. The leading designer of the A-44 was A. Behr, who in May 1941 presented a sketch layout of the tank. Work on this machine was planned to continue in the second half of the year, and by early 1942 to produce a prototype for testing. However, the outbreak of war and the subsequent evacuation of these plans were canceled.

Device and construction

The layout of the A-44 tank, with the engine ahead, formed after Morozov's analysis of the result of the bombardment of an experienced T-34 tank from anti-tank artillery from different sides. The most safe for the crew was the penetration of armor from the rear. Even after the destruction of the transmission and ignition of the engine crew could leave the car, not injured. Also, turning the car "back to front" allowed to save a fairly long barrel of F-42 or ZiS-4 guns, which it was planned to install on the sample, from grazing the ground when overcoming obstacles and performing maneuvers on rough terrain. The combat compartment, respectively, was located at the rear of the machine. The ammunition capacity of the tank was, depending on the design and type of the gun, up to 100 armor-piercing, sub-caliber and high-explosive shells. In this compartment were three crew members: a commander, a gunner and a loader. Periscope and telescopic sights were used to monitor the terrain and conduct firing. In the front part of the hull (on the left) there was a control room. It housed a radio operator and a driver-mechanic. The power plant consisted of a diesel engine V-6 and was in the middle of the machine. The armor is homogeneous, antisupplied with a tower and hull made of rolled sheets made by welding. For its time, the design of the car was truly revolutionary, for example, the first serial tank of this layout was adopted for service only in 1979. It was the Israeli Merkava (chariot).

Revival of the forgotten project

In connection with the tragic events in the early 40s of the last century, works on the revolutionary project were closed, and almost no one, except historians of the national tank building, remembered it for 70 years. Second life A-44 gained thanks to the company "Vargeiming", which in August 2010 presented the game "World of tanks", dedicated to armored combat vehicles of the mid-twentieth century. In 2013, in one of the branches of development of Soviet armored vehicles was our hero. According to the accepted classification, the A-44-ST (medium tank), although as a result of numerous improvements to the project, the increase in the caliber of the gun and the reservation, the mass was exceeded, and it went into the category of heavy tanks. Next, we will review the modules and equipment for a comfortable game on the A-44. Hyde for this tank will also be useful for beginning gamers.

A-44: Overview

After the opening and purchase of the A-44, the crew must first be retrained. The application of camouflage on the tank will also not be superfluous, as it will reduce the visibility of the technique, which in combination with a low silhouette will significantly help in virtual battles and increase survival. The top gun will provide a good penetration and causing a significant damage to the enemy. The investigated tower will increase the viewing range and the speed of rotation. Will not be redundant and an additional 15 millimeters of circular armor. The top-of-the-range walkie-talkies and the engine will be taken from the previous tank, so they can be purchased immediately. We will investigate and buy the transmission in the first place, which will make it possible to install additional equipment without serious consequences. Based on the characteristics of the ZiS-6 gun, we need enhanced intelligence and a gunsigner. Improved ventilation will not be superfluous either.

Tactics of application

And now we will conduct a guide on the tactics of applying A-44 in the game. The design features of the tank both make it difficult to play under certain conditions, and open up certain new possibilities. This is the first ST in the game, characterized by the rear location of the tower, which will quite successfully play "reverse diamond" on maps with urban buildings and single buildings. A powerful front projection reservation will help in playing at medium and long distances. Roll out and do a shot undesirable, since you have to open a large part of the body, which is fraught with a quick death in combat. The ability to rotate the tower by 360 degrees allows you to fight backwards, but do not forget that from this perspective - the weakest booking of the case. As a result, it can be noted that this unit is a good medium tank, which has good speed, dynamics and powerful tools. Therefore - forward, successful rash and reliable dafov!