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A-20 Medium Tank

Created by the team of Plant No. 183, prototypes of A-20 and A-32 tanks, according to the order of the KNSM No. 21ss, dated March 17, 1939, were to be transferred to the Red Army ABTU for conducting field tests no later than June 1, 1939, while prior to transfer to the military, The tanks were to be run-in at the factory - factory tests. According to the results of the ground tests, the leadership of the Red Army had to determine which of the tank variants - wheeled and tracked A-20 or tracked A-32 should be adopted by the Red Army.

In fact, factory tests began on May 26, 1939, when the assembly of the main mechanisms and components of the prototype A-20 tank was completed in the mechanical workshop "530" of the "500" section of plant No. 183. On this day, the A-20 tank went to its first trial run, immediately after it was assembled and "scrolled" on the stand. During the trial run, the newly “born” car passed around the plant on wheels on first and second gear for about one kilometer, and the main weapon had not yet been installed in the turret of the test tank. Over the next five days, the A-20 tank was upgraded and at the end of May 1939 from the mechanical workshop "530" was transferred to the experimental workshop "540", the chief of which at that time was engineer I.I. Kazimirov, and his deputy, engineer P.N. Goryun. The first, as part of the factory tests, the long run of the A-20 tank took place on June 1, 1939, the control of the prototype was entrusted to the test driver of Plant No. 183 I.V. Kuznetsova.