but only one, which displaced , was able to meet all of the requirements. However, the designers recommended an increase in the main armament caliber to , a strengthened anti-aircraft battery and reductions in the armor protection, speed, and range. The opening of Operation Barbarossa a month later rendered these plans moot as both the Project 82 and the Kronshtadt (Project 69) classes were put on hold. The project was revived in 1943 with a new requirement issued on 15 September. This was basically identical to the original, but added one new requirement: "Protect the operations of aircraft carriers and conduct joint operations with them." Estimated characteristics were a displacement between , nine main guns between , a secondary battery of a dozen dual-purpose guns and thirty-two 37 mm AA guns. The speed, range and aircraft requirements remained the same, although the torpedo tubes were dropped. Over a dozen preliminary designs had been proposed by May 1944, but none were acceptable. A new tactical requirement was issued in November 1944 that envisioned a more realistic displacement of while the speed was dropped to and the range to . Armament was also revised to nine 220 mm guns, sixteen 130 mm guns, thirty-two and twenty AA guns. These last weapons were changed to in 1945. Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov believed that these ships could protect the planned Soviet aircraft carriers in bad weather from American cruisers and pushed to have them built, but the Shipbuilding Commissariat balked. It refused to begin detailed design work pleading the uncertainty of the post-war building situation and the already heavy workload of its design bureau. Undeterred, the Navy continued studying cruiser designs and planned a ten-year construction program for the period 1946–1955. This was based on defensive operations along the periphery of the Soviet Union against Anglo-American carrier groups while submarines would attack their lines of communication. Ten of these large cruisers were envisioned as part of this construction program. When the program was discussed by the Politburo on 29 September 1945 there was no great disagreement on the large cruisers, although Stalin favored increasing the size of their main guns to , but did not push the issue when Admiral Kuznetsov resisted. A bigger problem was the resistance of the Shipbuilding Commissariat which said it would be impossible to lay down any ships of new design until about 1950 and that only incremental changes could