"Comrade Stalin, I offer you power over the world ..."
Today it has become fashionable to talk about the decline of the prestige of the engineering profession, the low quality of engineering education and the lack of desire among young people to work in the technical field. In this case, most often refer to the experience of the USSR. “It was then that there was quality, that’s when there were many engineers who worked not for fear, but for conscience!” Yes, it was all. However, not always the number of engineers determines their quality! I dare say that talented engineers, inventors and designers have always been and will be, under any system and educational system. And the same thing happened in the USSR, where all the progress in the field of technology was done by singles, but their achievements were artificially “dissolved” in the general mass, which is why the myth of quality engineering education in our country was born in the past. In fact, his average, mass level was almost lower than today, which is proved by a comparative analysis of the military-technical proposals that came to the leaders of the Soviet state during the Great Patriotic War.
While people and cars fought on the margins of the war, and the designers ’war went on война war of minds’, numerous proposals из from the people ’went to the relevant authorities and“ personally to Comrade Stalin ”, went continuously and ... can people be blamed for it? It is clear that the citizens of the USSR wanted to accelerate the defeat of the hated enemy. That's just many of them quite clearly overestimated their strength in the design and offered the device, well, let's say: "at the level of technical nonsense." Moreover, some even understood that their knowledge was not enough for this, but still they continued to “invent” and tear away from the work already truly busy people. Surprisingly, the authors of these projects were by no means simple workers and peasants, which is called “from the machine and from the plow”, for which such naivety would be forgivable, but engineers, military specialists and cadets of military schools, that is, people who had (or received) higher technical education!
So, someone S.E. Buchinsky, the design engineer (!) And the captain of the reserve, that is, a person who, without any doubt, had some experience and knowledge, and at least was able to work with a slide rule, wrote in his letter to the People's Commissar Tymoshenko so directly that he tried to create military vehicles, so to speak, at your leisure. He was drafted into the army in the 1939 year, and there he read a number of works (not so much), 5-8 spent days at the training camp and examined a number of trophies, after which he developed a number of sketches of a number of “projects” (as in the text - V. O.) and here it is that they propose to use to defeat the enemy. One of them is an awesome motobagwagon with three gun turrets, proposed by him in the 1940 year, however, its wheel battery based on the GAZ-A truck with three 45-mm guns in frontal armor looks much more amusing. According to its creator, each of the guns should have a certain angle of rotation to the sides, so that all three could be aimed at one point! The “reservation” (as in the author’s - V.O.) of the cabin is 10 mm, the thickness of the remaining armor is 5-6 mm. But the author of the idea did not even think that all three projectiles simply cannot get into one place, because it is impossible to make all three shots at once. And can the light truck chassis withstand such a heavy weight of armor and three guns?
However, three guns at the official level (!) Were ordered to be put on the T-34 - they say the more guns the better! It must be said that A.A. Morozov, who took the baton from M.I.Koshkin in perfecting the T-34, initially understood the absurdity and bankruptcy of the "multi-gun" tankinvented by the People’s Commissar of Arms, but, of course, not to comply with the order of the People’s Commissar V. A. Malyshev — what kind of engineering thinking and education did this People’s Commissar have? - he could not. There was only one way out: to deliver the project in advance doomed to rejection. That was the “Project of the T-34-3 caterpillar tank”, and only the tower itself, the installation of weapons and the laying of ammunition underwent changes in it. A working group was immediately created and "things went." It immediately turned out that if you put three guns in the T-34 turret (and it was planned to install two 45-mm and one 76-mm guns!), Then there would be no room for crew members and ammunition.
Engaged in the alteration of the body of the machine and install weapons in the wheelhouse on the model of the KV-7 (one 76-mm gun in the center and two "forty-five" on the sides) in the design bureau there was no time, no strength, no desire. Therefore, the location of the guns in the block was changed: the X-NUMX-mm F-76 cannon instead of the central one, made the leftmost (but still located almost along the axis of the tower), and both 34-mm 45K tools were placed to the right of it. The tower acquired a hexagonal shape, which turned out to be very convenient, so that subsequently all further design of the towers for the T-20 was based on its design.
However, before that it was still quite far away, but for now it didn’t look as beautiful as it was later, although the designers managed to place in it not only these three tools, but even a crew of three (!) People: loader, gunner-gunner and commander of the tower. The latter received even a commander's turret for observation, located in the left aft of the roof of the tower of the asymmetric tower, the reservation of which was 52 mm in front, but could even be increased by thickness from 70 to 90 mm. At the same time, the Nizhny Tagil designers managed to shove 90 ammunition with pieces of 76-mm shots into the car and 204-45-mm! Of this number, 14 - 76-mm and 44 - 45-mm shots were located directly in the tower. In addition to the ammunition for guns, there was a place in the case for 16 machine guns to the course machine gun DT - but the designers could not stick another machine gun into the tower. Such a dense layout of weapons and ammunition led to the fact that the horizontal firing angle of the guns was only 50 ° - the tower simply could not turn more than 25 ° to the left and right without the risk of smearing it with the loader shells.
In this form, the design of the T-34-3 tank was ready by the end of December 1941, however, the production of prototypes at plant No. 183 was not going to start, because there was already a “Coti” KV-7 test that revealed the complete unsuitability of the three-gun installation for tank or ACS. Well, and then the military suddenly needed a “powerful flamethrower tank based on the T-34” and the idea of a multi-cannon tank died without having time to incarnate in the metal. And if the fact that such a tank was initially doomed to failure, was not understood even by the People's Commissars (as well as the KV-7 self-propelled guns), then what can be demanded from design engineers who have read “not so many” of the relevant books? !
However, this is far from the most surprising of all that during the war years our Soviet people offered to crush and destroy the enemy. For example, what kind of car was offered by someone Lyashenko T.I. and Badaev SV, whose project, executed again only at the level of the scheme, was called “Trackless Tank”. Well, in the explanatory note to him they wrote the following:
In a word, we see all the same tanks on skating rinks, very similar to those of Porokhovshchikov tank. So this idea, apparently, at that time constantly visited the minds of the near-inventors, both here and around the world, and excited them with the specter of success and future glory! However, even then there were people who simply laughed at such structures, since they themselves offered combat vehicles capable of ... jumping! In the project, the political officer of Korneev didn’t say a word, then pure nonsense, but he thought he tried to help the Motherland in his own way and was clearly self-righteous, although, alas, he was technically completely illiterate !!!
It only remains to be surprised at how it even occurred to him — one can only assume here that A. Korneev read G.Wells's War of the Worlds — if it were not for a whole bunch of similar letters in the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense, and each of them is exactly the same pearl.
So, if the Korneev’s car was supposed to jump, then the “tank” of the battalion commissar Shchekin M.V.5 had the usual caterpillar drive, but it should have a truly fantastic means of defeating the enemy! Moreover, he offered “to Comrade Stalin” nothing more than power over the world! Moreover, this proposal is striking not even the technical illiteracy of its author, how much touching and truly infinite his belief in the genius of Stalin, who just need to tell just a little, and then he can do everything himself!
Against the background of this proposal, the project “land cruiser” by engineer-colonel P. Osokin (by no means a cadet! - V.O.), was a bundle of four T-34 tanks, between which a tower was installed with two (!) 152-mm, Yes, and an anti-aircraft gun, it looks somehow even corny. Just a “meat hodgepodge”, but this is a good example of the fact that even such people, most likely and quite educated and versed in technology, didn’t understand much at the time, and maybe ... didn’t want to understand! Here the statement is one main thought - “get out to Moscow!” And there, they say, you see and notice!
Another “designer” - an engineer of the 2 rank, Moschevitin, proposed an 13,5-meter two-tower “semi-rigid tank”, which according to his plan could bend like a worm. Thanks to this feature, he not only had weapons from two 76,2 and two 45-mm guns and six machine guns, but also had (in theory, of course - VO) truly phenomenal maneuverability.
But perhaps the most surprising proposal, again made only at the level of a sketch (think about what's inside, think out for yourself! - V.O.) was a hybrid of a tank and a SM ship. Kirillova ZST-KHNUMX from the city of Kazan, who had an “armored screw” for the movement and was armed, respectively, with an “armor-piercing cannon” in the front and a torpedo tube in the back! That's just a pity that it was filed on 18 on April 5 of the year, and by no means the first, and so it could have been taken for an April Fool's rally!
Surprisingly, all these projects came precisely from engineers, that is, people who had a technical education, they received in the universities of the USSR. For example, one such “engineer”, one Botvinenko from Sterlitamak, in February 1943 sent the draft of a jet combat vehicle driven by liquid-propellant rocket engines, and again attached only a “sectional drawing”. The weapon, machine gun and ... torpedoes were supposed to be in service with this "miracle-yuda". Still, the most stunning imagination of the project - although the projects of "land battleships" and liliput tanks were sent in abundance - suggested MM. Voenkov in 1944 year. This is where the true Russian scope manifested in all its splendor! Judge for yourself: a metal pipe was proposed with spikes on the outer surface (well, as without spikes! - VO) along the inner surface of which the squirrels in a wheel should roll ... tanks. And, accordingly, roll this huge "pipe" on the enemy and crush it with a mass!
Only forward, because in what way could it be turned and in addition also blindly ?! Having broken through the enemy's defense, the tanks from this “pipe” drove out and acted already in its operational rear! Well, as a conclusion, it should be noted the extremely low educational level of a significant part of the Soviet population, ranging from cadets of military schools, engineers of the 2 rank to the Stalinist commissar inclusive! Yes, there were talents, there were inventors who created advanced military equipment during the war years. But for the most part, engineers, then and now, were technically simply illiterate. The threat of war made it possible for talents to advance, and for mediocrities it gave the impression that they were necessary, because someone had to count nuts and bolts. Now there is no obvious threat of war, and talents go to where they are paid more, or simply leave from there, where wages do not match their potential. Specialists of the same mediocre level lived then, they still live today, but reoriented to more profitable specialties! And so in our society in this regard almost nothing has changed!
While people and cars fought on the margins of the war, and the designers ’war went on война war of minds’, numerous proposals из from the people ’went to the relevant authorities and“ personally to Comrade Stalin ”, went continuously and ... can people be blamed for it? It is clear that the citizens of the USSR wanted to accelerate the defeat of the hated enemy. That's just many of them quite clearly overestimated their strength in the design and offered the device, well, let's say: "at the level of technical nonsense." Moreover, some even understood that their knowledge was not enough for this, but still they continued to “invent” and tear away from the work already truly busy people. Surprisingly, the authors of these projects were by no means simple workers and peasants, which is called “from the machine and from the plow”, for which such naivety would be forgivable, but engineers, military specialists and cadets of military schools, that is, people who had (or received) higher technical education!
So, someone S.E. Buchinsky, the design engineer (!) And the captain of the reserve, that is, a person who, without any doubt, had some experience and knowledge, and at least was able to work with a slide rule, wrote in his letter to the People's Commissar Tymoshenko so directly that he tried to create military vehicles, so to speak, at your leisure. He was drafted into the army in the 1939 year, and there he read a number of works (not so much), 5-8 spent days at the training camp and examined a number of trophies, after which he developed a number of sketches of a number of “projects” (as in the text - V. O.) and here it is that they propose to use to defeat the enemy. One of them is an awesome motobagwagon with three gun turrets, proposed by him in the 1940 year, however, its wheel battery based on the GAZ-A truck with three 45-mm guns in frontal armor looks much more amusing. According to its creator, each of the guns should have a certain angle of rotation to the sides, so that all three could be aimed at one point! The “reservation” (as in the author’s - V.O.) of the cabin is 10 mm, the thickness of the remaining armor is 5-6 mm. But the author of the idea did not even think that all three projectiles simply cannot get into one place, because it is impossible to make all three shots at once. And can the light truck chassis withstand such a heavy weight of armor and three guns?
However, three guns at the official level (!) Were ordered to be put on the T-34 - they say the more guns the better! It must be said that A.A. Morozov, who took the baton from M.I.Koshkin in perfecting the T-34, initially understood the absurdity and bankruptcy of the "multi-gun" tankinvented by the People’s Commissar of Arms, but, of course, not to comply with the order of the People’s Commissar V. A. Malyshev — what kind of engineering thinking and education did this People’s Commissar have? - he could not. There was only one way out: to deliver the project in advance doomed to rejection. That was the “Project of the T-34-3 caterpillar tank”, and only the tower itself, the installation of weapons and the laying of ammunition underwent changes in it. A working group was immediately created and "things went." It immediately turned out that if you put three guns in the T-34 turret (and it was planned to install two 45-mm and one 76-mm guns!), Then there would be no room for crew members and ammunition.
Engaged in the alteration of the body of the machine and install weapons in the wheelhouse on the model of the KV-7 (one 76-mm gun in the center and two "forty-five" on the sides) in the design bureau there was no time, no strength, no desire. Therefore, the location of the guns in the block was changed: the X-NUMX-mm F-76 cannon instead of the central one, made the leftmost (but still located almost along the axis of the tower), and both 34-mm 45K tools were placed to the right of it. The tower acquired a hexagonal shape, which turned out to be very convenient, so that subsequently all further design of the towers for the T-20 was based on its design.
However, before that it was still quite far away, but for now it didn’t look as beautiful as it was later, although the designers managed to place in it not only these three tools, but even a crew of three (!) People: loader, gunner-gunner and commander of the tower. The latter received even a commander's turret for observation, located in the left aft of the roof of the tower of the asymmetric tower, the reservation of which was 52 mm in front, but could even be increased by thickness from 70 to 90 mm. At the same time, the Nizhny Tagil designers managed to shove 90 ammunition with pieces of 76-mm shots into the car and 204-45-mm! Of this number, 14 - 76-mm and 44 - 45-mm shots were located directly in the tower. In addition to the ammunition for guns, there was a place in the case for 16 machine guns to the course machine gun DT - but the designers could not stick another machine gun into the tower. Such a dense layout of weapons and ammunition led to the fact that the horizontal firing angle of the guns was only 50 ° - the tower simply could not turn more than 25 ° to the left and right without the risk of smearing it with the loader shells.
In this form, the design of the T-34-3 tank was ready by the end of December 1941, however, the production of prototypes at plant No. 183 was not going to start, because there was already a “Coti” KV-7 test that revealed the complete unsuitability of the three-gun installation for tank or ACS. Well, and then the military suddenly needed a “powerful flamethrower tank based on the T-34” and the idea of a multi-cannon tank died without having time to incarnate in the metal. And if the fact that such a tank was initially doomed to failure, was not understood even by the People's Commissars (as well as the KV-7 self-propelled guns), then what can be demanded from design engineers who have read “not so many” of the relevant books? !
However, this is far from the most surprising of all that during the war years our Soviet people offered to crush and destroy the enemy. For example, what kind of car was offered by someone Lyashenko T.I. and Badaev SV, whose project, executed again only at the level of the scheme, was called “Trackless Tank”. Well, in the explanatory note to him they wrote the following:
“The experience of ongoing hostilities shows that the most vulnerable places of the modern tank are the tracks. A tank is destroyed not only by an anti-tank weapon, but also by a simple bunch of grenades. Other design flaws allow you to disable the tank even with a bottle of burning gasoline. In order to maximize the survivability and combat effectiveness of the tank, we offer a tank of the device described below.
The tank is an armored welded structure of a cylindrical cabin, resting on the ground by two cylindrical drums enclosing it.
Support cylinders are made of thick armored steel and supplied with pyramidal spikes.
The drums are connected to the cabin by elastic shock absorbers (springs) and can rotate relative to the cabin independently of each other on roller bearings.
The cab houses the engines, weapons in the form of anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, flamethrowers and fuel and lubricant tanks, ammunition compartments, air tanks and seats for the crew ...
The above items are placed in such a way that the center of gravity of the cabin is as low as possible and, in any case, must be much lower than the center of the cabin ... According to the indicative (the phrase touches “according to the indicative”, isn't it ?!? - V.O.) up to 20-25 °. With steeper climbs, the moment of weight of the cabin relative to its geometric center will be insufficient for the movement of the tank upwards along inclined terrain. In such cases, twin tanks should be used, as shown in the drawing. Both mated tanks are exactly the same, why the fire power of the paired tank is twice as high as against a single tank.
Pairing is done with removable devices (a farm with stretch marks) with such a connection device so that they can be quickly separated without leaving the tank. The simplest is the connection rollers, tightened checks. The farm in the form of a closed box serves as a connecting corridor between twin tanks ...
In this case, a tank with a heavily loaded trailer will lose some of its mobility, but the latter will still be sufficient to break through the front and exit to the rear of the enemy. Mobility will gradually increase as fuel and ammunition are consumed. If necessary, a sharp increase in mobility during operations in the rear of the enemy, after the trailer is released from the cargo, the soldiers are transferred to the leading tanks, or they are given a special task and the trailer is left, the leading tanks are connected to each other without a trailer.
With a small power front, the proposed tanks can be used on hilly terrain without mating the two leading tanks. In this case, one and, in some cases, two trailers are attached to each lead tank, which will allow a large number of fighters to be taken. In this form, the tanks can also be used to transfer troops to the rear of the enemy.
In this case, if necessary, tanks with trailers are accompanied by twin motor tanks.
The dimensions of the tank of the proposed device may be different, but the advantages are larger because of with an increase in the diameter of the drums, the supporting surface on the ground increases and, consequently, a greater thickness of armor plates can be taken, as well as more powerful weapons, which is important for fighting against enemy tanks, and the tank's permeability through uneven terrain improves (through ditches, streams).
For this, the most appropriate diameter (overall) of the tank should be considered 4,25 m.
The width of the tank for the sake of its stability on hilly terrain should be maximal, but not more than 8 m, this size ensures the passage of the tank over bridges and under overpasses.
The transfer from the cars to the driving drums should include several speeds, including very low, at which the tangential force on the drum rim should be sufficient to lift one of the paired tanks vertically if its spurs find support, and the rear tank creates enough emphasis
This will allow the tank to overcome not high vertical obstacles and get out of anti-tank ditches, the depth of which is less than the distance between the centers of paired tanks. Transmission from the engine to the supporting cylinders is carried out with the help of shafts and gears to the external sleeves of roller bearings.
A duplicate transmission using Gall chains is provided in case the main transmission is damaged.
The proposed tank system is a heavy high-speed tank. Therefore, he can hit targets not only with his firepower, but also with his own weight, running into enemy tanks, guns, cars, and the like. ...
CLAIM. A cylindrical tank resting on the ground by two cabin-enclosing cylinders rotating relative to the cabin using an engine, independently of each other, while the tank can act in single orders, in the form of two tanks connected together by means of an internal passageway of the two tanks, the same between two motor tanks of a lightweight motorless and unarmed tank (trailer) and in the form of a single motor tank with the attachment to it of one or two trailed tanks.
(LYASHENKO) signature
(Balaev) signature
The tank is an armored welded structure of a cylindrical cabin, resting on the ground by two cylindrical drums enclosing it.
Support cylinders are made of thick armored steel and supplied with pyramidal spikes.
The drums are connected to the cabin by elastic shock absorbers (springs) and can rotate relative to the cabin independently of each other on roller bearings.
The cab houses the engines, weapons in the form of anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, flamethrowers and fuel and lubricant tanks, ammunition compartments, air tanks and seats for the crew ...
The above items are placed in such a way that the center of gravity of the cabin is as low as possible and, in any case, must be much lower than the center of the cabin ... According to the indicative (the phrase touches “according to the indicative”, isn't it ?!? - V.O.) up to 20-25 °. With steeper climbs, the moment of weight of the cabin relative to its geometric center will be insufficient for the movement of the tank upwards along inclined terrain. In such cases, twin tanks should be used, as shown in the drawing. Both mated tanks are exactly the same, why the fire power of the paired tank is twice as high as against a single tank.
Pairing is done with removable devices (a farm with stretch marks) with such a connection device so that they can be quickly separated without leaving the tank. The simplest is the connection rollers, tightened checks. The farm in the form of a closed box serves as a connecting corridor between twin tanks ...
In this case, a tank with a heavily loaded trailer will lose some of its mobility, but the latter will still be sufficient to break through the front and exit to the rear of the enemy. Mobility will gradually increase as fuel and ammunition are consumed. If necessary, a sharp increase in mobility during operations in the rear of the enemy, after the trailer is released from the cargo, the soldiers are transferred to the leading tanks, or they are given a special task and the trailer is left, the leading tanks are connected to each other without a trailer.
With a small power front, the proposed tanks can be used on hilly terrain without mating the two leading tanks. In this case, one and, in some cases, two trailers are attached to each lead tank, which will allow a large number of fighters to be taken. In this form, the tanks can also be used to transfer troops to the rear of the enemy.
In this case, if necessary, tanks with trailers are accompanied by twin motor tanks.
The dimensions of the tank of the proposed device may be different, but the advantages are larger because of with an increase in the diameter of the drums, the supporting surface on the ground increases and, consequently, a greater thickness of armor plates can be taken, as well as more powerful weapons, which is important for fighting against enemy tanks, and the tank's permeability through uneven terrain improves (through ditches, streams).
For this, the most appropriate diameter (overall) of the tank should be considered 4,25 m.
The width of the tank for the sake of its stability on hilly terrain should be maximal, but not more than 8 m, this size ensures the passage of the tank over bridges and under overpasses.
The transfer from the cars to the driving drums should include several speeds, including very low, at which the tangential force on the drum rim should be sufficient to lift one of the paired tanks vertically if its spurs find support, and the rear tank creates enough emphasis
This will allow the tank to overcome not high vertical obstacles and get out of anti-tank ditches, the depth of which is less than the distance between the centers of paired tanks. Transmission from the engine to the supporting cylinders is carried out with the help of shafts and gears to the external sleeves of roller bearings.
A duplicate transmission using Gall chains is provided in case the main transmission is damaged.
The proposed tank system is a heavy high-speed tank. Therefore, he can hit targets not only with his firepower, but also with his own weight, running into enemy tanks, guns, cars, and the like. ...
CLAIM. A cylindrical tank resting on the ground by two cabin-enclosing cylinders rotating relative to the cabin using an engine, independently of each other, while the tank can act in single orders, in the form of two tanks connected together by means of an internal passageway of the two tanks, the same between two motor tanks of a lightweight motorless and unarmed tank (trailer) and in the form of a single motor tank with the attachment to it of one or two trailed tanks.
(LYASHENKO) signature
(Balaev) signature
In a word, we see all the same tanks on skating rinks, very similar to those of Porokhovshchikov tank. So this idea, apparently, at that time constantly visited the minds of the near-inventors, both here and around the world, and excited them with the specter of success and future glory! However, even then there were people who simply laughed at such structures, since they themselves offered combat vehicles capable of ... jumping! In the project, the political officer of Korneev didn’t say a word, then pure nonsense, but he thought he tried to help the Motherland in his own way and was clearly self-righteous, although, alas, he was technically completely illiterate !!!
People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Comrade. Stalin
DEAR JOSEPH Vissarionovich!
Wishing to defeat the hated German fascism and its army as soon as possible, I recommend the invention - KARAR - an armored light jumping machine. Constructive, tactical and combat features of Karara are as follows.
DESIGN: Steel ball-shaped tower, reinforced on six legs. The legs are the undercarriage, receiving movement from the motor located in the turret. Moving Karara occurs by jumping from 5 to 20 meters. The jump comes from the work of the motor. Its power is transmitted to the supporting legs through the clutch A and the connecting rod B. The connecting rod, resting on the head of the upper part of the foot, throws the body of Karar forward in the desired direction. Two connecting rods rest simultaneously on two adjacent legs. At the time of the jump the other four legs are selected. Before jumping in the desired direction, the tower turns. The rotation is carried out by the motor. There are six sectors in total.
Managed by Karar by one person sitting inside a tower in a swivel chair. The driver is also a shooter. The height of Karara to 3 meters, the diameter of the tower to 1,5 meters. Six support and mobility of Carara legs, shaped like a six-pointed star with a diameter of up to 3,5 meters.
All constructions of Karara are made of lightweight durable alloys, which results in a total light weight that contributes to the speed of movement and ease of jumping. See the attached diagram for details and general view of Karara. I don’t have the opportunity to provide detailed drawings, since the idea of creating Karara originated in a combat situation, where there is no opportunity to get advice for technical calculations and design design of drawings. It would be desirable to work with an experienced design engineer. This machine can be represented in the drawings and models in a short time. According to my calculations, factory production of Karara is very cheap. Motor for Karar requires low power, consuming a little more fuel than a motorcycle engine. The constructive feature of Karara is the rapid interchangeability of any node (actually you can not read further, because the author’s blatant technical illiteracy is seen in every word, but the author, however, does not understand this and ... demands giving him an answer - V.O.).
Please consider my proposal and give an answer. In the event my personal attendance is required, my address is: Borovichi, 73 / 4 mailbox, cadet Alexander Korneyev.
Zampolitruk (signature) Korneev
November 2.10.42, XNUMX
DEAR JOSEPH Vissarionovich!
Wishing to defeat the hated German fascism and its army as soon as possible, I recommend the invention - KARAR - an armored light jumping machine. Constructive, tactical and combat features of Karara are as follows.
DESIGN: Steel ball-shaped tower, reinforced on six legs. The legs are the undercarriage, receiving movement from the motor located in the turret. Moving Karara occurs by jumping from 5 to 20 meters. The jump comes from the work of the motor. Its power is transmitted to the supporting legs through the clutch A and the connecting rod B. The connecting rod, resting on the head of the upper part of the foot, throws the body of Karar forward in the desired direction. Two connecting rods rest simultaneously on two adjacent legs. At the time of the jump the other four legs are selected. Before jumping in the desired direction, the tower turns. The rotation is carried out by the motor. There are six sectors in total.
Managed by Karar by one person sitting inside a tower in a swivel chair. The driver is also a shooter. The height of Karara to 3 meters, the diameter of the tower to 1,5 meters. Six support and mobility of Carara legs, shaped like a six-pointed star with a diameter of up to 3,5 meters.
All constructions of Karara are made of lightweight durable alloys, which results in a total light weight that contributes to the speed of movement and ease of jumping. See the attached diagram for details and general view of Karara. I don’t have the opportunity to provide detailed drawings, since the idea of creating Karara originated in a combat situation, where there is no opportunity to get advice for technical calculations and design design of drawings. It would be desirable to work with an experienced design engineer. This machine can be represented in the drawings and models in a short time. According to my calculations, factory production of Karara is very cheap. Motor for Karar requires low power, consuming a little more fuel than a motorcycle engine. The constructive feature of Karara is the rapid interchangeability of any node (actually you can not read further, because the author’s blatant technical illiteracy is seen in every word, but the author, however, does not understand this and ... demands giving him an answer - V.O.).
Please consider my proposal and give an answer. In the event my personal attendance is required, my address is: Borovichi, 73 / 4 mailbox, cadet Alexander Korneyev.
Zampolitruk (signature) Korneev
November 2.10.42, XNUMX
It only remains to be surprised at how it even occurred to him — one can only assume here that A. Korneev read G.Wells's War of the Worlds — if it were not for a whole bunch of similar letters in the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense, and each of them is exactly the same pearl.
So, if the Korneev’s car was supposed to jump, then the “tank” of the battalion commissar Shchekin M.V.5 had the usual caterpillar drive, but it should have a truly fantastic means of defeating the enemy! Moreover, he offered “to Comrade Stalin” nothing more than power over the world! Moreover, this proposal is striking not even the technical illiteracy of its author, how much touching and truly infinite his belief in the genius of Stalin, who just need to tell just a little, and then he can do everything himself!
To the Chairman of the USSR State Defense Committee, Comrade STALIN
To the attention of your ingenious mind, I propose a thought and a construction capable of giving the Motherland weapon Unseen, all-conquering power.
A force capable of destroying any number of any tanks, aircraft, guns, ships, fortresses, cavalry and infantry can be gained through the thought and design I proposed.
This force can be localized in one armored all-terrain vehicle and requires only the driver and the "gunner operator" to service.
At this time there is nothing more important in the world than this thought, since in it the possibility of the power of the Motherland over the world.
Your ingenious insight in technology and in all things will easily tell you the need to realize this thought in a super urgent, especially secret, experienced manner.
I do not write a lot and do not delete formal drawings in this letter, because it’s not about the number of words and not the number of drawings.
You will understand me, and everything else will be in the implementation - this is the most important thing.
I hope that you will personally read this and give an indication to whom, under my guidance, to make a sample and conduct experiments.
Think.
The thought is as follows:
Temperatures above 20000 degrees are generated and transmitted at a distance from 0.001 km to 50 km, burning instantly everything in its path (body, cloth, fuel, metal, armor, concrete, stones, ammunition, ships, tools, etc.).
a) Imagine a blowtorch, usually giving a temperature on the tip of the flame tongue of the order of 700-1000 degrees. It is known that with increasing air pressure, constructively strengthening the lamp, we can bring the length of its flame tongue to the length of the flame flamethrower tongue.
b) Imagine now that instead of a blowtorch, we have special nozzles throwing away the tongue of flame.
c) we imagine that such 100 nozzles are placed tightly on one disk in such a way that the tips of the flame of each nozzle tend to one place (roughly speaking, to a point).
d) At such a “point” (location) - there will be 700-1000 degrees from one nozzle ejecting the tongue of the flame, from two - almost 2 times (1100-2000 degrees), from three almost 2,5 times, etc. d.
e) The concentration at the “point” of the 100 flames of the nozzles - the temperature at the “point” of their confluence (as is the case with the fusion of the body collected by the 100 lenses) is greater than that of a single flame tongue minus the loss of heat transfer and dissipation.
f) It is known that a heat beam, passing millions of kilometers, loses very little. It is known that at the point of fusion of heat collected by many lenses, the heat is almost equal to the sum of the heat from all the lenses. It is known that the air itself weakly absorbs heat and at the height of the mountains the sun gives more heat, and the air is cold, because it does not heat from the rays, but from the heated surfaces of the earth by directly touching them with air molecules.
g) All this says that at the “point” of the confluence of the flames 100 nozzles the temperature will be at least 20.000 degrees and maximum at about 100.000 degrees.
(x.100) -y = z,
where x = flame temperature of a single nozzle
100 = 100 nozzles
y = number of losses (0% to 80% heat)
z = 20.000 degrees - 100.000 degrees
Heat transfer over distance to 50 km
a) There is no substance in nature that can not burn at a temperature of 20.000 degrees, but it is possible to concentrate this heat in a metal tube, not allowing it not only to burn, but also to heat up above 100 degrees.
This method is based on the well-known experience, when in paper or thin tin dishes, burning even from a candle flame, it is possible to heat water on a flame in 1000 degrees, if water is poured into this dish.
b) Based on this, I mark the tube that accepts the fusion of the flames of the nozzles to give a stream of water that is rapidly flowing to cooling.
c) The tube is enclosed in a durable ribbed metal casing, inside which cooled water passes quickly.
d) The inner surface of the tube that collects the flame in the tongues is mirror polished to reflect the heat rays.
e) The angle of the narrowing of the tube to direct heat by a beam for tens of kilometers = from 1 / 1000 to 1 / 10000 degrees.
Tube length = 1 meter
Tube diameter = 5 (10) cm
13.11.1941
mountains Moscow, VSHV, OVPO NKVD
Battalion Commissar Shchekin M.V.
To the attention of your ingenious mind, I propose a thought and a construction capable of giving the Motherland weapon Unseen, all-conquering power.
A force capable of destroying any number of any tanks, aircraft, guns, ships, fortresses, cavalry and infantry can be gained through the thought and design I proposed.
This force can be localized in one armored all-terrain vehicle and requires only the driver and the "gunner operator" to service.
At this time there is nothing more important in the world than this thought, since in it the possibility of the power of the Motherland over the world.
Your ingenious insight in technology and in all things will easily tell you the need to realize this thought in a super urgent, especially secret, experienced manner.
I do not write a lot and do not delete formal drawings in this letter, because it’s not about the number of words and not the number of drawings.
You will understand me, and everything else will be in the implementation - this is the most important thing.
I hope that you will personally read this and give an indication to whom, under my guidance, to make a sample and conduct experiments.
Think.
The thought is as follows:
Temperatures above 20000 degrees are generated and transmitted at a distance from 0.001 km to 50 km, burning instantly everything in its path (body, cloth, fuel, metal, armor, concrete, stones, ammunition, ships, tools, etc.).
a) Imagine a blowtorch, usually giving a temperature on the tip of the flame tongue of the order of 700-1000 degrees. It is known that with increasing air pressure, constructively strengthening the lamp, we can bring the length of its flame tongue to the length of the flame flamethrower tongue.
b) Imagine now that instead of a blowtorch, we have special nozzles throwing away the tongue of flame.
c) we imagine that such 100 nozzles are placed tightly on one disk in such a way that the tips of the flame of each nozzle tend to one place (roughly speaking, to a point).
d) At such a “point” (location) - there will be 700-1000 degrees from one nozzle ejecting the tongue of the flame, from two - almost 2 times (1100-2000 degrees), from three almost 2,5 times, etc. d.
e) The concentration at the “point” of the 100 flames of the nozzles - the temperature at the “point” of their confluence (as is the case with the fusion of the body collected by the 100 lenses) is greater than that of a single flame tongue minus the loss of heat transfer and dissipation.
f) It is known that a heat beam, passing millions of kilometers, loses very little. It is known that at the point of fusion of heat collected by many lenses, the heat is almost equal to the sum of the heat from all the lenses. It is known that the air itself weakly absorbs heat and at the height of the mountains the sun gives more heat, and the air is cold, because it does not heat from the rays, but from the heated surfaces of the earth by directly touching them with air molecules.
g) All this says that at the “point” of the confluence of the flames 100 nozzles the temperature will be at least 20.000 degrees and maximum at about 100.000 degrees.
(x.100) -y = z,
where x = flame temperature of a single nozzle
100 = 100 nozzles
y = number of losses (0% to 80% heat)
z = 20.000 degrees - 100.000 degrees
Heat transfer over distance to 50 km
a) There is no substance in nature that can not burn at a temperature of 20.000 degrees, but it is possible to concentrate this heat in a metal tube, not allowing it not only to burn, but also to heat up above 100 degrees.
This method is based on the well-known experience, when in paper or thin tin dishes, burning even from a candle flame, it is possible to heat water on a flame in 1000 degrees, if water is poured into this dish.
b) Based on this, I mark the tube that accepts the fusion of the flames of the nozzles to give a stream of water that is rapidly flowing to cooling.
c) The tube is enclosed in a durable ribbed metal casing, inside which cooled water passes quickly.
d) The inner surface of the tube that collects the flame in the tongues is mirror polished to reflect the heat rays.
e) The angle of the narrowing of the tube to direct heat by a beam for tens of kilometers = from 1 / 1000 to 1 / 10000 degrees.
Tube length = 1 meter
Tube diameter = 5 (10) cm
13.11.1941
mountains Moscow, VSHV, OVPO NKVD
Battalion Commissar Shchekin M.V.
Against the background of this proposal, the project “land cruiser” by engineer-colonel P. Osokin (by no means a cadet! - V.O.), was a bundle of four T-34 tanks, between which a tower was installed with two (!) 152-mm, Yes, and an anti-aircraft gun, it looks somehow even corny. Just a “meat hodgepodge”, but this is a good example of the fact that even such people, most likely and quite educated and versed in technology, didn’t understand much at the time, and maybe ... didn’t want to understand! Here the statement is one main thought - “get out to Moscow!” And there, they say, you see and notice!
Chief of the Main Armored
Management of the Red Army
Copy: To the head of the military department of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) (Moscow)
Desiring to help the beloved Motherland in its struggle against the fascist hordes and deed to respond to the orders of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR SSR No. 55 and 130. Stalin, I developed and bring to your attention a draft of a powerful new type of armament of the Red Army - the “tank cruiser”.
On 11.6.1942, this project was reported to me by the Chief of the Ural Military District Armored Forces Division, Colonel Evdokimov, the engineers of the department entrusted to him and the Deputy Commander of the District Air Force, Major General aviation comrade Sokolov. They recognized my proposal as valuable and interesting in the defense sense, and some technical instructions were made to finalize the project.
Colonel Evdokimov, going to Moscow the next day, promised to personally report to you about my proposal and ask you to call me to Moscow for a personal report.
More than a month has passed since then and all the instructions made to me in the project have been fulfilled. About this, I 2.7.1942 of the year was telegraphically reported to Colonel Evdokimov (UralVO), with a request to speed up my trip to Moscow.
Having no answer to the telegram, 18.7.42 of the year, I turned to my chief of the unit, the divinger, comrade. Andreev, reported to him on his project and proposals, and received permission to apply in this case to the relevant, higher authorities.
Convinced of the expediency and great military significance of the tank cruiser I propose, I consider any further delay in advancing the project highly undesirable. Therefore, I ask you to call me as soon as possible to Moscow in order to personally report this project to you, or the authoritative commission of specialists and engineers of tactical armies appointed by your order.
Considering my proposal serious, I, having already experience in design work, give myself at the same time a full account of the possible difficulties in the practical implementation of the project, but I firmly believe that these difficulties will fully pay off the fighting qualities of the new machines.
I spent on the development of the “tank cruiser” project, mainly during off-duty hours, over 500 hours, and this circumstance also requires bringing the matter to its logical end.
In the case of a favorable decision on the implementation of the project, my practical suggestions related to this, I ask permission to report in person.
Currently, I am a representative of the Leningrad Aviation and Technical Courses for Improving the Air Force named after K.E. Voroshilov (address: Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk region, 2-I dam, mailbox 529). If necessary, on the question of my business trip to Moscow, I ask you to write off with Major General Aviation Comrade. Ivanov - Head of the University of the Main Directorate of the Air Force of the Red Army or with his deputies.
When I call, I ask for your instructions about issuing me travel documents for transportation on the Magnitogorsk-Sverdlovsk-Moscow airlines, as this will shorten the trip time by 5-7 and will facilitate the speedy resolution of the issue.
I would like to telegraphically inform me about the decision you made at the above service address for courses.
Constructor
Colonel engineer (Osokin)
July 27, 1942
Management of the Red Army
Copy: To the head of the military department of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) (Moscow)
Desiring to help the beloved Motherland in its struggle against the fascist hordes and deed to respond to the orders of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR SSR No. 55 and 130. Stalin, I developed and bring to your attention a draft of a powerful new type of armament of the Red Army - the “tank cruiser”.
On 11.6.1942, this project was reported to me by the Chief of the Ural Military District Armored Forces Division, Colonel Evdokimov, the engineers of the department entrusted to him and the Deputy Commander of the District Air Force, Major General aviation comrade Sokolov. They recognized my proposal as valuable and interesting in the defense sense, and some technical instructions were made to finalize the project.
Colonel Evdokimov, going to Moscow the next day, promised to personally report to you about my proposal and ask you to call me to Moscow for a personal report.
More than a month has passed since then and all the instructions made to me in the project have been fulfilled. About this, I 2.7.1942 of the year was telegraphically reported to Colonel Evdokimov (UralVO), with a request to speed up my trip to Moscow.
Having no answer to the telegram, 18.7.42 of the year, I turned to my chief of the unit, the divinger, comrade. Andreev, reported to him on his project and proposals, and received permission to apply in this case to the relevant, higher authorities.
Convinced of the expediency and great military significance of the tank cruiser I propose, I consider any further delay in advancing the project highly undesirable. Therefore, I ask you to call me as soon as possible to Moscow in order to personally report this project to you, or the authoritative commission of specialists and engineers of tactical armies appointed by your order.
Considering my proposal serious, I, having already experience in design work, give myself at the same time a full account of the possible difficulties in the practical implementation of the project, but I firmly believe that these difficulties will fully pay off the fighting qualities of the new machines.
I spent on the development of the “tank cruiser” project, mainly during off-duty hours, over 500 hours, and this circumstance also requires bringing the matter to its logical end.
In the case of a favorable decision on the implementation of the project, my practical suggestions related to this, I ask permission to report in person.
Currently, I am a representative of the Leningrad Aviation and Technical Courses for Improving the Air Force named after K.E. Voroshilov (address: Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk region, 2-I dam, mailbox 529). If necessary, on the question of my business trip to Moscow, I ask you to write off with Major General Aviation Comrade. Ivanov - Head of the University of the Main Directorate of the Air Force of the Red Army or with his deputies.
When I call, I ask for your instructions about issuing me travel documents for transportation on the Magnitogorsk-Sverdlovsk-Moscow airlines, as this will shorten the trip time by 5-7 and will facilitate the speedy resolution of the issue.
I would like to telegraphically inform me about the decision you made at the above service address for courses.
Constructor
Colonel engineer (Osokin)
July 27, 1942
Another “designer” - an engineer of the 2 rank, Moschevitin, proposed an 13,5-meter two-tower “semi-rigid tank”, which according to his plan could bend like a worm. Thanks to this feature, he not only had weapons from two 76,2 and two 45-mm guns and six machine guns, but also had (in theory, of course - VO) truly phenomenal maneuverability.
But perhaps the most surprising proposal, again made only at the level of a sketch (think about what's inside, think out for yourself! - V.O.) was a hybrid of a tank and a SM ship. Kirillova ZST-KHNUMX from the city of Kazan, who had an “armored screw” for the movement and was armed, respectively, with an “armor-piercing cannon” in the front and a torpedo tube in the back! That's just a pity that it was filed on 18 on April 5 of the year, and by no means the first, and so it could have been taken for an April Fool's rally!
Surprisingly, all these projects came precisely from engineers, that is, people who had a technical education, they received in the universities of the USSR. For example, one such “engineer”, one Botvinenko from Sterlitamak, in February 1943 sent the draft of a jet combat vehicle driven by liquid-propellant rocket engines, and again attached only a “sectional drawing”. The weapon, machine gun and ... torpedoes were supposed to be in service with this "miracle-yuda". Still, the most stunning imagination of the project - although the projects of "land battleships" and liliput tanks were sent in abundance - suggested MM. Voenkov in 1944 year. This is where the true Russian scope manifested in all its splendor! Judge for yourself: a metal pipe was proposed with spikes on the outer surface (well, as without spikes! - VO) along the inner surface of which the squirrels in a wheel should roll ... tanks. And, accordingly, roll this huge "pipe" on the enemy and crush it with a mass!
Only forward, because in what way could it be turned and in addition also blindly ?! Having broken through the enemy's defense, the tanks from this “pipe” drove out and acted already in its operational rear! Well, as a conclusion, it should be noted the extremely low educational level of a significant part of the Soviet population, ranging from cadets of military schools, engineers of the 2 rank to the Stalinist commissar inclusive! Yes, there were talents, there were inventors who created advanced military equipment during the war years. But for the most part, engineers, then and now, were technically simply illiterate. The threat of war made it possible for talents to advance, and for mediocrities it gave the impression that they were necessary, because someone had to count nuts and bolts. Now there is no obvious threat of war, and talents go to where they are paid more, or simply leave from there, where wages do not match their potential. Specialists of the same mediocre level lived then, they still live today, but reoriented to more profitable specialties! And so in our society in this regard almost nothing has changed!
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