The previous article reviewed the first light and amphibious Soviet tanks developed in the interwar period. Developed on the basis of the French FT17 tank during the First World War, the Soviet light tanks "Russian Renault" and T-18 (MS-1) in the second half of the 20s began to seriously lag behind foreign models. An attempt to continue and improve this line of tanks led to the development in 1929 of the T-19 light tank with somewhat better technical characteristics.
By that time, the Soviet government had purchased documentation and samples of the British six-ton Vickers two-turret tank in 1930, and the development of the T-26 light tank began on its basis. In terms of its characteristics, the T-19 was the same or inferior to the T-26, but in terms of cost it was much higher. In this regard, in 1931, work on the T-19 tank was discontinued, and the T-26 was launched into serial production at the Leningrad Bolshevik plant.
Light tank T-26
Tank T-26 was a copy of the British light tank "Vickers six-ton" and became the most massive tank of the Red Army before the Great Patriotic War, a total of 11,218 of these tanks were produced.
The T-26 tank, depending on the modification, weighed 8, 2-10, 2 tons and had a layout with a transmission compartment in the frontal part of the hull, a combined control compartment with a fighting compartment in the middle of the tank and an engine compartment in the stern. The samples of 1931-1932 had a two-turret layout, and from 1933 they had a single-turret layout. The tank's crew consisted of three people. On two-turret tanks - the driver, the left turret gunner and the tank commander, who also served as the right turret gunner, on the single-turret tanks, the driver, gunner and commander, who also performed the functions of the loader.
The structure of the hull and turret was riveted from rolled armor plates, the armor of the tank protected against small arms. The thickness of the armor of the turret, the forehead and sides of the hull is 15 mm, the roof is 10 mm, and the bottom is 6 mm.
The armament of the two-turret machine-gun tanks consisted of two 7.62 mm DT-29 machine guns, placed in ball mountings in the front of the turrets. On two-turret tanks with cannon and machine-gun armament in the right turret, instead of a machine gun, a 37mm "Hotchkiss" or B-3 rifled cannon was installed. The aiming of the weapon in the vertical plane was carried out using a shoulder rest, in the horizontal plane by turning the turret.
The armament of single-turret tanks consisted of a 45-mm rifled semi-automatic cannon 20-K L / 46 and a coaxial 7.62 mm DT-29 machine gun. To aim the weapon, a PT-1 panoramic periscope sight and a TOP telescopic sight, which had a 2.5-fold increase, were used.
As a power plant, the GAZ T-26 engine was used, which was a copy of the English Armstrong-Sidley Puma, with a capacity of 91 hp. sec., providing a highway speed of 30 km / h and a cruising range of 120 km. In 1938, a forced version of the 95 hp engine was installed on the tank. with.
The undercarriage of the T-26 on each side consisted of eight double rubberized road wheels, four double rubberized carrier rollers, a sloth and a front drive wheel. The suspension of the road wheels was balanced on springs, interlocked in bogies with four wheels each.
Until the end of the 30s, T-26 tanks formed the basis of the tank fleet of the Red Army, and by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War there were about ten thousand of them in the army. Due to poor booking and insufficient mobility, they began to become outdated and inferior to foreign models in terms of basic characteristics. The military leadership decided to develop new, more mobile and protected types of tanks and the modernization of the completely outdated T-26 tanks was practically not carried out.
Light tank T-46
An experienced light wheeled-tracked tank T-46 was developed in 1935 at the Leningrad plant No. 174, four tank samples were made, which were tested in 1937. The tank was developed to replace the T-26 light infantry escort tank, including to increase its mobility by transferring the tank to a wheeled-caterpillar track. It was also planned to install a diesel engine and strengthen weapons and security. In the design of the T-46, the components and assemblies of the T-26 were widely used.
According to the layout of the tank, the transmission was located in the front of the hull, there was also a control compartment with the placement of the driver in the protruding armored wheelhouse on the left side of the hull. The fighting compartment with the turret was in the middle of the hull and the engine compartment in the stern. The weight of the tank was 17.5 tons.
The tank's crew consisted of three people, the mechanic-driver was in the corps, and the commander and gunner were located in the fighting compartment in the tower. The landing of the crew was made through the driver's double hatch and two hatches in the turret roof.
The structure of the hull and turret was riveted and assembled from armor plates, the turret was increased in size and was intended to accommodate a cannon and two machine guns. The armor was differentiated, the thickness of the turret armor was 16 mm, the hull forehead was 15-22 mm, the hull sides were 15 mm, and the roof and bottom were 8 mm.
The armament of the tank consisted of a 45-mm 20K L / 46 cannon and two 7.6-2mm DT-29 machine guns, one coaxial with a cannon, the second in the aft niche in a ball mount. It was planned to install the 76, 2-mm PS-3 cannon, but it was not mastered by the industry.
As a power plant, a 330 hp engine was used, providing a highway speed on tracks of 58 km / h and on wheels of 80 km / h. The diesel engine was not installed, since they did not manage to master it in production.
The chassis had the strongest differences; the Christie's chassis was used in the tank. Instead of bogies, four double large-diameter road wheels with rubber tires and a blocked spring suspension, two supporting rollers and a front drive wheel were installed on each side. When driving on wheels, only two rear pairs of wheels were driving, and turning was carried out using a conventional differential with a transmission to the front pair of wheels.
Tests of the T-46 were quite successful, the tank had significantly higher speed and mobility than the T-26, and the controllability of the tank was also simplified through the use of a new transmission.
The tank as a whole received a positive assessment, while the lack of reliability of the power plant and the unacceptably high cost of the vehicle were noted. This led to the fact that in 1937 it was decided to stop further work on the T-46 and the main work on wheeled-tracked tanks was focused on improving the wheeled-tracked tanks of the BT series.
In 1938, an attempt was made to create a T-46-5 medium tank with anti-cannon armor on the basis of the T-46, which did not lead to a positive result.
Cruising tank BT-2
At the end of the 1920s, the military doctrine of using cruising high-speed tanks to make deep breakthroughs in enemy defenses and to operate in the operational rear at a great distance was widely spread. Under this doctrine, cruiser tanks began to be developed in the West, in the USSR there was no such experience, and in the United States in 1930 a license was acquired for the production of the Christie M1931 cruiser wheeled-tracked tank.
The BT-2 wheeled-tracked fast tank was a copy of the American M1931 tank. The design documentation for the tank was transferred with a license and two tanks without turrets were delivered. The development of documentation for the BT-2 and its production was entrusted to the Kharkov steam locomotive plant, where a tank design bureau and production facilities for the production of tanks were created. In 1932, serial production of BT-2 tanks began at KhPZ. So in the Soviet Union, two schools of tank building were formed, in Kharkov and the one that was formed earlier in Leningrad, which for many decades determined the direction of the development of Soviet tank building.
The BT-2 tank was a light wheeled-tracked tank with a classic layout, a control compartment in front, a fighting compartment with a turret in the middle and a power-transmission compartment in the stern.
The design of the hull and cylindrical turret was riveted from rolled armor, the angles of inclination were only at the frontal part of the hull, which looked like a truncated pyramid to ensure the rotation of the front driving wheels. The crew of the tank was two people, weight 11.05 tons. In the upper frontal sheet there was a hatch for the driver's landing, and in the roof of the tower there was a hatch for the commander.
The armament of the tank included a 37 mm B-3 (5K) L / 45 cannon and a 7, 62 mm DT machine gun in a ball mount to the right of the cannon. Due to the lack of cannons, some of the tanks had a coaxial machine-gun mount with two 7.62-mm DT tank machine guns instead of a cannon.
Armor protection was only from small arms and shell fragments. The thickness of the armor of the turret, forehead and sides of the hull is 13 mm, the roof is 10 mm, and the bottom is 6 mm.
The aircraft engine "Liberty" M-5-400 with a capacity of 400 hp was used as a power plant. sec., providing speed on the highway on tracks of 51.6 km / h, on wheels 72 km / h and a cruising range of 160 km. It should be noted that the average technical speed of the tank was significantly lower than the maximum.
The tank had an individual coil spring suspension, commonly known as the Christie suspension. Three vertical springs relative to each side of the hull were located between the outer armor plate and the inner wall of the hull side, and one was located horizontally inside the hull in the fighting compartment. Vertical springs were connected through balancers with rear and middle road wheels, and horizontal springs with front steerable rollers.
The tank had a combined wheeled-tracked propeller, consisting of a rear drive wheel, a front idler wheel and 4 large-diameter road wheels with rubber tires. When switching to wheel drive, the caterpillar chains were removed, disassembled into 4 parts and placed on the fenders. In this case, the drive was carried out on the rear pair of road wheels, the tank was controlled by turning the front rollers.
The BT-2 tank was a milestone for the Soviet tank industry, serial production of complex tank units was organized, technical and technological support of production was organized, a powerful engine was put into production and a "candle" suspension of the tank was introduced, which was later successfully used on the T-34.
In 1932-1933, 620 BT-2 tanks were manufactured at the KhPZ, of which 350 did not have guns due to their shortage. On June 1, 1941, the troops had 580 BT-2 tanks.
Cruising tank BT-5
The BT-5 wheeled-tracked tank was a modification of the BT-2 tank and externally did not differ from its prototype. The difference was in the new elliptical turret, 45mm 20K L / 46 cannon and a number of design improvements aimed at increasing the reliability and simplifying the serial production of the tank.
The weight of the tank increased to 11.6 tons, and the crew was up to three people, the commander and the gunner were housed in the turret.
The tank turned out to be not difficult to learn, it was distinguished by its unpretentious maintenance and high mobility, thanks to which it was popular with tankers. BT-5 was one of the main tanks of the pre-war period, it was produced in 1933-1934, a total of 1884 tanks were produced.
Cruising tank BT-7
The BT-7 wheeled-tracked tank was a continuation of the line of BT-2 and BT-5 tanks. It was distinguished by a welded modified hull of increased armor protection and a new engine, the armament of the tank was similar to that of the BT-5.
The tower had the shape of a truncated elliptical cone. The armor of the hull and turret has been increased. The thickness of the turret armor is 15 mm, the hull forehead is 15-20 mm, the hull sides are 15 mm, the roof is 10 mm, and the bottom is 6 mm. The weight of the tank increased to 13.7 tons.
A new 400 hp M-17T aircraft engine was installed, providing a speed of up to 50 km / h on tracks and up to 72 km / h on wheels and a cruising range of 375 km.
The main problems on the tank were caused by the engine. It was often ignited due to its unreliability and its use of high-octane aviation fuel.
The tank was produced in 1935-1940, a total of 5328 BT-7 tanks were produced.
Cruising tank BT-7M
The BT-7M tank was a modification of the BT-7 tank, the main difference was the installation of a 500hp V-2 diesel engine on the tank instead of the M-17T aircraft engine. The rigidity of the tank hull increased due to the installation of braces, design changes were made in connection with the installation of a diesel engine, the weight of the tank increased to 14.56 tons. The speed of the tank increased up to 62 km / h on tracks and up to 86 km / h on wheels and a power reserve of up to 600 km.
The installation of a diesel engine made it possible to reduce the transportable fuel supply and to eliminate the need for additional tanks on the fenders. However, the main fundamental advantage of a diesel engine over a gasoline engine was its low flammability, and tanks with this engine were much safer than their gasoline counterparts.
The BT-7M tank was developed in 1938, serially produced in 1939-1940, a total of 788 BT-7M tanks were produced.
Light tank T-50
The reason for the development of the T-50 was the lag in the second half of the 30s of Soviet light tanks in firepower, protection and mobility from foreign models. The main Soviet light tank T-26 was hopelessly outdated and needed to be replaced.
According to the results of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, the need for a significant increase in the reservation of Soviet tanks was revealed, and in 1939 the development of a light tank with armor protection up to 40mm, a V-3 diesel engine and a torsion bar suspension began. The tank was supposed to weigh up to 14 tons.
The development of the T-50 was also influenced by the test results of the PzKpfw III Ausf F medium tank purchased in Germany. According to its characteristics, it was recognized in the USSR as the best foreign tank in its class. The new Soviet tank should be massive and replace the T-26 infantry support tank and high-speed BT series tanks. The T-34 tank was not yet suitable for this role of a mass tank due to the high cost of its production at that stage.
The light tank T-50 was developed in 1939 in Leningrad at the factory # 174. At the beginning of 1941, prototypes of the tank were manufactured and successfully tested, it was put into service, but before the start of the Great Patriotic War, serial production was not launched.
The layout of the T-50 tank was classic, with a command compartment in front, a fighting compartment with a turret in the middle of the tank, and an engine-transmission compartment in the stern. The hull and turret of the tank had significant tilt angles, so the appearance of the T-50 was similar to the T-34 medium tank.
The tank's crew consisted of four people. A driver-mechanic was located in the control compartment with an offset from the center to the left side, the rest of the crew (gunner, loader and commander) were in a three-seat turret. The gunner's workplace was located to the left of the cannon, the loader to the right, the commander in the rear of the tower to the right.
A fixed commander's cupola with eight triplex viewing devices and a hinged hatch for flag signaling were installed in the roof of the tower. The landing of the commander, gunner and loader was carried out through two hatches on the turret roof in front of the commander's cupola. In the rear of the tower there was also a hatch for loading ammunition and ejecting spent cartridges, through which the commander could leave the tank in an emergency. The hatch for the driver's landing was located on the frontal armor plate. Due to stringent weight requirements, the layout of the tank was very tight, which led to problems with the comfort of the crew.
The tower had a complex geometric shape, the sides of the tower were located at an angle of inclination of 20 degrees. The frontal part of the tower was protected by a cylindrical armored mask with a thickness of 37 mm, in which there were loopholes for installing a cannon, machine guns and a sight.
The hull and turret of the tank were welded from rolled armor plates. Frontal, upper side and stern armor plates had rational angles of inclination of 40-50 °, the lower part of the side was vertical. The weight of the tank reached 13.8 tons. Armor protection was projectile and differentiated. The thickness of the armor of the upper frontal plate is 37mm, the lower 45mm, the tower is 37mm, the roof is 15mm, the bottom is (12-15) mm, which significantly exceeded the protection of other light tanks.
The tank's armament consisted of a 45mm 20-K L / 46 semi-automatic cannon and two 7.62mm DT machine guns paired with it, which were mounted on trunnions in the front of the turret.
As a power plant, a V-3 diesel engine with a power of 300 hp was used, providing a road speed of 60 km / h and a cruising range of 344 km.
The chassis of the tank was new for Soviet light tanks. The vehicle had an individual torsion bar suspension, on each side there were 6 gable road wheels of small diameter. Opposite each road roller, suspension balancer travel stops were welded to the body. The upper branch of the track was supported by three small carrier rollers.
The light tank T-50 turned out to be the best tank in its class in the world at that time and was fundamentally different from its "counterparts" in class. The vehicle was maneuverable and dynamic, with a reliable suspension and good armor protection against anti-tank and tank gun fire.
The main weakness of the tank was its armament, the 45mm 20-K cannon no longer provided sufficient firepower. As a result, the T-34 medium tank, which had much more powerful armament, turned out to be more promising in Soviet tank building.
After the evacuation of the plant from Leningrad to Omsk, due to a lack of engines and organizational problems, the serial production of the tank could not be established, in total, according to various sources, 65-75 T-50 tanks were produced.
They did not begin to develop its serial production at the evacuated factories, since the production of the V-3 diesel engine was not organized and the factories were reoriented to the production of T-34 tanks.
In 1942, they tried to establish mass production of the T-50, but objective factors prevented this. After a heavy defeat in the summer of 1942, it was necessary to urgently replenish the losses in tanks, all forces were thrown into expanding the production of the T-34 and engines for it, in addition, a number of enterprises launched widespread production of a simple and cheap light tank T-70, which in its own characteristics were seriously inferior to the T-50. Serial production of the tank was never organized, and later, even the T-34-76 was not suitable for its armament, and tanks with much more powerful weapons were required.
The development of light tanks in the USSR, which had neither experience nor a production base for creating tanks, began with copying foreign samples. Tanks "Russian Renault", MS-1 and T-19 were a copy of the French light tank FT17, tankette T-27 and amphibious tanks T-37A, T-38 and T-40 a copy of the light amphibious British tankette Carden-Loyd Mk. I and the Vickers-Carden-Loyd amphibious tank, the T-26 and T-46 tanks were a copy of the British six-ton Vickers light tank, the line of BT series tanks was a copy of the American Christie M1931 tank. None of these copied light tanks were a breakthrough in world tank construction. Having studied the advantages and disadvantages of foreign prototypes and gained experience in the development of tanks, Soviet tank builders were able to create in the 30s such masterpieces of world tank construction as the T-50 light tank and the T-34 medium tank. If the T-34 became famous all over the world, then the T-50 faced a difficult fate and undeserved oblivion.
In the interwar period, 21,658 light and amphibious tanks were produced in the USSR, but they were all outdated designs and did not shine with their characteristics. Only the T-50 light tank seriously stood out from this series, but it did not work out to launch it into mass production.
