"To the Deputy Chief of the GBTU, Lieutenant-General of the Technical Service, comrade Lebedev
By your instruction, I present you with a brief summary of new type of vehicles in the German army according to information from prisoners.
- Panther tank. Mass: about 35 tons. Armament: one long 75 mm gun, two MG-42 machineguns. The tank is similar to the T-4 Russian tank. Compared to the T-4, it has stronger front armour and wider tracks.
- Reinforced Tiger tank. Weight: up to 65 tons. Armament: one 88 mm gun, one 20 mm AA gun, installed in the rear of the tank, 4 MG-42 machineguns. An emergency hatch is present at the bottom of the tank. The walls on the front and along the sides are cemented. The armour is up to 120 mm thick. Some tanks have flamethrowers along the right side. Crew: 7 men.
- Ferdinand SPG. A prisoner from the 654th Independent Tank Destroyer Battalion says that the battalion is composed of three companies of 14 Ferdinand type SPGs each. Tactical technical data is unknown.
Engineer Lieutenant-Colonel Andreev
July 14th, 1943"