Re: BT-7 upgrade
From a doctrinal point of view, my understanding is that the Soviet plan was to replace BT "cavalry tanks" with the T-34 tank. Of course by the time Germans started invading there was not enough T-34 tanks produced, and after that the TOEs for armoured units were radically revised several times within a relatively brief period of time.
As for T-50, that was originally designed as a replacement for T-26 infantry tank, but due to manufacturing issues was abandoned in favour of the easier to build (but lightly armed) T-60, which was then replaced by T-70. By which time the Soviets had decided that T-34 (or SU-76) would be a better choice for the infantry support role.
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