"State Committee of Defense Decree #4873ss
January 1st, 1944
On installing 85 mm guns on T-34 tanks instead of the 76 mm F-34 gun
To improve the artillery armament of the T-34 tank, the State Committee of Defense orders to:
- Accept the 85 mm tank gun designed by the Central Artillery Design Bureau of the People's Commissar of Armament (comrade Grabin) into service with the Red Army under the name "85 mm tank gun model 1944 (S-53)".
- Starting with January of 1944, equip T-34 tanks with 85 mm model 1944 (S-53) tank guns installed in turrets on the stock turret ring instead of the 76 mm F-34 gun.
- Establish the following plan for transitioning the factories of the People's Commissariat of Tank Production to T-34 tanks
- January: 25 units
- February: 100
- March: 300
- April: 800
Starting with May of 1944 all T-34 tanks are to be produced with 85 mm guns. - The NKO (comrades Yakovlev and Fedorenko) must be supplied with the following amount of 85 mm guns for arming T-34 tanks and SU-85 SPGs on the T-34 tank chassis by the People's Commissar of Armament (comrade Ustinov):
- January: 270 units
- February: 400
- March: 650
- April: 1000
- May: 1650
- To permit T-34 tank and SU-85 SPG production establish the following plan to transition to producing 85 mm guns instead of 76 mm F-34 guns:
Factory
Gun
January
February
March
April
May
92
76 mm divisional gun ZIS-3
1100
1100
1100
1100
1100
57 mm anti-tank gun ZIS-2
200
200
200
200
200
76 mm tank gun F-34
1150
1000
700
400
-
85 mm tank gun model 1944 (S-53)
35
150
300
600
950
13
76 mm tank gun F-34
400
200
-
-
-
85 mm tank gun model 1944 (S-53)
-
50
150
250
400
8
85 mm AA gun
200
200
200
200
200
85 mm tank gun D-5
35
50
100
150
300
9
122 mm howitzer M-30
300
300
300
300
300
85 mm gun D-5
200
150
100
-
-
122 mm tank gun D-25
40
70
125
160
160
152 mm howitzer D-1
15
15
15
15
15
Chairman of the State Committee of Defense,
I. Stalin