LIGHT TANK T-26-4 State created in 1937-38. them. Voroshilova Manufacturer them. Voroshilov Production of a small seriescombat weight, t 9.7 Length, mm: - with a gun forward 4620 - hull 4620 Width, mm 2445 Height on the roof of the tower, mm. 2500Clearance, mm. 380Wed. beats pressure on

LIGHT TANK T-34 Condition created in 1934 Production of prototypesCombat weight, t 4.6Length, mm: - with gun forward. 3600 – hull 3600Width, mm 2000Height along the roof of the tower, mm. 1850Clearance, mm. 300 Wed UD. ground pressure, kg/cm #178; 0.38 Overcoming obstacles: - rise, hail.

LIGHT TANK T-60 State adopted for service in 1941. Design Bureau GAZManufacturer. factories NN 37,38,264, GAZProduction. series 1941-42 Combat weight, t 5.8-6.4 Length, mm: - with gun forward 4100 - hull 4100 Width, mm 2392 Height on the roof of the tower, mm 1750 Clearance, mm 300 Avg. beats ground pressure,

LIGHT TANK T-70 State adopted for service in 1942. Design bureau GAZ Manufacturer. GAZProduction seriesCombat weight, t 9.2Length, mm: - with gun forward 4285 - hull 4285Width, mm 2420Height on the roof of the tower, mm 2040Clearance, mm. 300Wed. beats ground pressure, kg/cm #178;

LIGHT TANK T-70M Condition adopted in 1942. Design bureau GAZ Manufacturer GAZ and other factories Production. series from September 1942. Combat weight, t. 9.8 Length, mm: - with gun forward 4285 - hull. 4285Width, mm 2420Height on the roof of the tower, mm. 2045Clearance, mm. 300Wed. beats pressure on

LIGHT TANK T-80 Condition adopted in 1943. Developer. Mash. zd. MoscowManufacturer Mash. zd. MoscowProduction. series since 1943 Combat weight, t 11.6 Length, mm: - with a gun forward 4285 - hull. 4285Width, mm 2500Height on the roof of the tower, mm 2170Clearance, mm. 300Wed. beats pressure

Light tank Mk VI (A. 5) The three-seat light tank Mk VI was manufactured by Vickers-Armstrong from 1935 to 1940. It was equipped with a Cartman-type suspension. Four of its modifications slightly differed in the design of the turret and undercarriage. The most numerous were Mk VIB: 108 out of 321

Light tank Pz-I By 1933, several German firms designed a light 5-ton tank. Kruppovsky was recognized as the best. 15 pre-production vehicles, still without turrets, were tested in the spring of 1934, and in July the tank went into mass production under the Pz-IA brand. He had a mixed chassis suspension

Light tank Pz-II In July 1934, MAN was entrusted with the development light tank with 20mm cannon. The prototype was ready in October 1935. The Daimler-Benz company was connected to the production, and by the beginning of 1936, 10 pre-production vehicles were handed over for military trials. Soon they were supplemented by a series of 25

Light tank Lt-35 (S-IIA) It was developed by Skoda (factory designation S-IIA or T-11) in 1935 and adopted as an infantry escort tank. It used a lot of innovations that appeared on foreign designs much later. drive wheel

Light tank 7TP After buying the Vickers-bt in England in 1930, the Poles decided to build their own tanks on its basis. The first two prototypes of a double-turreted tank were ready in 1933, at the same time an artillery tractor was constructed on the basis of Vickers-E. A significant difference

LIGHT TANK T-80 Designed in 1940. An experimental batch has been released. Was not in service. It was not used in battles.Tactical and technical characteristicsWeight, tons .. 11.6 Crew size, people 3Overall dimensions (length x width x height), mm.

ENGLISH LIGHT FLOATING TANK "VICKERS-CARDEN-LOYD" Developed in 1930 by Vickers-Armstrong. Serially produced from 1931 was in service with the British Army. It was not used in battles. Tactical and technical characteristics Mass, t 3 Crew size, pers.

ENGLISH LIGHT TANK "VICKERS-ARMSTRONG" Designed in 1936 by Vickers-Armstrong. It was mass-produced since 1937. It was in service with the British army. It was not used in battles.

LIGHT TANK T-IA Developed in 1935 by Krupp. It was mass-produced from 1935 to 1939. He was in service with the army of Nazi Germany. It was used in battles during the war in Spain and in the Second World War.Tactical and technical characteristicsWeight, t.. 6 Crew, pers..

Vickers 6-ton

Vickers 6-ton

Vickers 6-ton". ">
The history of mankind knows many examples when talented, gifted people or outstanding ideas and inventions were recognized all over the world, with the exception of their own homeland. It is amazing, but true - even the history of armored vehicles is replete with similar situations. One such example is the fate of the English tank "Vickers-Armstrong" Mk.E, better known as the "Vickers 6-ton".
It was created on an initiative basis by Vickers-Armstrong in 1930 in two versions: two-tower () and one-tower (B). The first was armed with two water-cooled 7.62 mm Vickers machine guns, and the second with a 47 mm cannon. Neither option aroused any interest in the British military. Probably, this would have put an end to the fate of the new combat vehicle, but ...
At that time, a Soviet commission was in England, headed by the head of the Department of Motorization and Mechanization of the Red Army, Army Commander 1st Rank I. A. Khalepsky. She liked the new one, which very well fit into the "System of tank-tractor-auto-armored weapons of the Red Army" developed in 1929, which provided for the army's need for both long-range tanks and tanks for direct infantry support. As a base model for the former in 1931, the same Khalepsky will choose the Christie M.1930 tank (see "M-K" No. 5 "92), and for the latter, the Vickers-Armstrong Mk.E model A was the best fit : purely machine-gun armament was considered sufficient to support the infantry at that time.From the Soviet Union, the first order for double-turret "Vickers" followed on May 28, 1930. By July 4, 1931, all 15 ordered vehicles left the company's workshop.
In the USSR, the tank was put into service without even waiting for the release of the first domestic sample (the same, however, was done with Christy-BT) - on February 13, 1931. In the motorized troops of the Red Army, he was assigned the T-26 index. Serial production was launched at the Bolshevik plant in Leningrad (formerly the Obukhovsky plant). The tank production of the Bolshevik plant was soon separated into an independent plant No. 174 named after K. E. Voroshilov. The T-26 became the most massive armored vehicle of the Red Army: from 1931 to 1941, about 12 thousand tanks were produced. In terms of the number of modifications, both serial and experimental (23), the "twenty-sixth" also had no equal. This tank took part in almost all the hostilities that the Red Army conducted in the 30s and 40s. Repeatedly undergoing modernization, it was in service until 1945, when several tank brigades on the T-26 took part in the defeat of the Kwantung Army.
The purpose of this article is not a detailed story about the T-26 tank, especially since the "Model Designer" has already covered this topic (see "M-K" No. 9 "81). The story about the fate of the Vickers will be more interesting for the reader in the armies of other countries, although the T-26, willy-nilly, will have to return.
The next order for the "6-ton" was the Greek one. November 20, 1930 Greece acquired two tanks: two- and one-turret. Since there was no new order, it can be assumed that the purchase was for informational purposes.
The only country other than the USSR that launched the production of "Vickers" at its factories was Poland. On September 16, 1931, the Poles ordered 22 double-turret and 16 single-turret vehicles, and in addition, they acquired a license for the production of a tank. The purchased vehicles differed from the basic English version in a slightly modified form of machine-gun turrets, adapted for the installation of Hotchkiss wz.14 machine guns adopted in the Polish army. As for production under license, before it began, the tank underwent significant modernization.
The rather capricious carbureted "Armstrong-Siddle" was replaced by a diesel engine "Saurer" with a capacity of 110 hp. With. The frontal armor of the hull was increased to 17 mm, and the turrets to 15 mm. On March 18, 1935, the Ursus plant received an order for 22 double-turreted tanks armed with Browning wz.30 machine guns, which received the index 7TP (7-tonowy, polski).
However, the need to have a tank with cannon armament had become obvious by that time. The Swedish company "Bofors" has developed a new turret with a 37-mm gun. The first 16 towers were delivered by the company during 1936, and starting from May 1938, their licensed production began in Poland. On September 1, 1939, the Polish Army had 139 7TR tanks, which, together with the TK and TKS tankettes, formed the basis of the tank fleet of the Polish army.
Meanwhile, the "spread" of "Vickers" around the world continued. In October 1932, three machines - two single-turret and one double-turret - were ordered by Bolivia. These turned out to be the first and only "Vickers" on the Latin American continent, and in addition - the first to take part in the hostilities. In 1933 another war broke out between Bolivia and Paraguay. All three Bolivian “Vickers” participated in it. The double-turreted tank was captured by the Paraguayans and erected as a monument in the country's capital, Asuncion.
In February - March 1933, 10 Model B cars went to Thailand (then this country was called Siam). In addition, 26 anti-aircraft tanks were manufactured for this country, which were a "6-ton" tank with a trough-shaped, open-top hull mounted on it. On these machines, a 40-mm anti-aircraft "pom-pom" was installed.
In 1938, Thailand ordered another 12 single-turreted tanks, but by September 1939 the company managed to ship only eight vehicles. The rest were requisitioned by the British government in connection with the outbreak of war and were used in England as training. According to some information, these tanks belonged to modification F with a Rolls-Royce engine.
Twenty single-tower machines of the F model were also purchased by China in 1934-1936. These tanks in appearance differed from the standard ones by the presence of a niche in the aft part of the turret - a radio station was installed in it. In 1938, eight single-tower Vickers were purchased by Bulgaria.
"6-ton" vehicles were not delivered to the USA, Japan and Italy, however, one double-turreted vehicle was sent to these countries for demonstration. According to unconfirmed reports, for some time one Vickers A was in Romania and Estonia for the same purpose.
The richest "collection" of "Vickers" was in Finland. The Finns bought one car back in 1933. Five years later, an order for 34 tanks followed immediately. But before the start of the Second World War, only 28 cars were delivered, the remaining six remained in England. Together with four "Thai" tanks, they were the only "6-ton" tanks in service with the British army.
The tanks that arrived in Finland did not have weapons and sights. Their characteristic external feature was a niche in the aft part of the tower, intended for the radio station "" SB-4a. Soon the tanks received 37-mm French SA-17 guns and Hotchkiss machine guns. Both were dismantled from obsolete French Renault FT tanks. However, the armament of new combat vehicles with a deliberately outdated artillery system and a machine gun was recognized as unsatisfactory. Therefore, at the end of 1939, all tanks were rearmed with a 37-mm Bofors mod. 1936, and instead of "Hotchkisses" they installed Suomi submachine guns of 9 mm caliber. It was in this form that the Finnish "Vickers" went into battle against their Soviet "brothers" - the T-26 tanks.
After the "winter war", the 26 vehicles remaining in service were re-equipped with 45-mm cannons taken from wrecked Soviet T-26s; Suomi submachine guns were also replaced by Soviet DTs. In addition, a number of "native" English components and assemblies were replaced by Soviet ones. After all these changes, the tanks received the designation T-26E! Externally modernized in this way, "" really was very similar to the T-26 mod. 1937, with the only difference that the latter was located closer to the left side of the hull, and the T-26E - to the right. In 1945, the Finnish army still had 19 T-26E tanks, the last of which were used until 1959.
The uniqueness of the Finnish tank forces of those years was that they consisted of almost 80% of captured military equipment, and exclusively Soviet: the most massive tank in the Finnish units was the T-26. In the winter of 1939/40, the Finns captured 10 T-26 tanks mod. 1931 - two-tower. And in 1942, they already had 17 tanks of this modification. Two years later, on six vehicles, two towers were replaced by one - with a 45-mm gun. During the "winter war" were captured and 42 tanks mod. 1933 and 1937. In 1942, there were already 65 T-26 mod. 1933 and 32 arr. 1937-1939. By the end of World War II, Finland had 75 T-26 tanks of all the above models. Seven tanks, from which the turrets were removed in 1944, were used as tractors right up to 1961.
As trophies, the Finns also got flamethrower variants of the T-26: four pieces of OT-130 and OT-133. In the spring of 1943, all of them were re-equipped with 45-mm guns, and, in addition to the coaxial one, a second DT machine gun was installed on these tanks - in the hull.
It is thanks to the trophies, among which, of course, were not only the T-26, the Finnish Tank Museum in Parola has the richest collection of Soviet military vehicles after our Kubinka.
Another country that had both Vickers and T-26s in service was Kuomintang China. The supply of "Vickers" has already been mentioned; from the USSR, as part of military assistance, another 82 "twenty-sixth" arrived.
Somewhat earlier, a significant number of T-26 tanks were sent to Spain. Of the 362 tanks supplied to the republican government, about 300 were T-26s.
In 1935, 67 Soviet tanks (including 60 T-26s) and 60 armored vehicles were sold to Turkey. Around the same time period, Afghanistan also received a number of T-26s.
Thus, in the 30s and 40s, Vickers 6-ton tanks of all variants, including licensed ones, were in service with 12 countries of the world. Of these, 153 tanks were manufactured by the Vickers-Armstrong firm, 139 by the Ursus plant in Warsaw, and, finally, by the Bolshevik plant in Leningrad, more than 12,000 tanks.


The performance characteristics of the tank "Vickers-Armstrong" Mk E
Bibliography:
Modeller-Constructor No. 11 for 1992

Encyclopedia of Tanks. 2010 .

See what "Vickers 6-ton" is in other dictionaries:

Vickers Mk.1 Classification main battle tank Combat weight, t 38.1 Classic layout Crew, pers. 4 History Number of issued, pcs. more ... Wikipedia

Polish Vickers Mk.E (two-turret) Vickers Mk.E (two-turret) Classification light tank Combat weight, t ... Wikipedia

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• Soviet medium tank T-28. The main combat vehicle of the Red Army, Kolomiets Maxim Viktorovich, The history of world tank building knows few examples when designers used a multi-turret scheme (three or more towers) when designing combat vehicles. The most famous of them are ... Series:

September 23rd, 2011

Despite the general T1 index, the T1E4 and T1E6 tanks, produced by Cunningham in the early 1930s, had a very indirect relation to the T1E1-T1E3 models. The new development was obviously influenced by the British Vickers 6 ton (Vickers E) light tank, which was not adopted by the Royal Tank Corps, but found many buyers abroad. Moreover, the 6-ton Vickers served as the prototype for the T-26 series of light tanks produced in the Soviet Union in the thousands, as well as for the Polish 7TR light tank and the Italian M14/41.

As conceived by the creators, this vehicle was intended to support infantry directly on the battlefield and, according to the British classification, the "Vickers" was an "infantry tank", although its armor could hardly withstand shelling from a heavy machine gun. However, in the early 1930s, this was not considered a big drawback, and the appearance in Europe of such a successful tank did not go unnoticed in the United States.

A simple and reliable design, a rational layout and an excellent groundwork for modernization determined the success of the scheme, at least on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Cunningham, which presented a prototype of the T1E4 light tank in 1931, undertook the development of a domestic analogue. The American infantry support tank also had a riveted hull, assembled from armor plates 6-16 mm thick. Only the frontal hull sheet had a small angle of inclination, while the rest were joined for the most part at a right angle. The tank turret was made cylindrical with a partially sloping roof armor plate. The chassis of the T1E4 was in many ways reminiscent of the Vickers. Applied to one side, it consisted of eight small-diameter road wheels interlocked in pairs into four bogies with elliptical leaf springs, four support rollers, a front drive wheel with a tensioning mechanism and a rear idler wheel. The crew of the tank consisted of three people. Armament - 37 mm M1924 cannon and 7.62 mm Browning M1919A4 machine gun.

Tests prototype T1E4, held in 1932, did not bring the desired result. Headquarters ground forces by that time he paid more attention to the T2 tank, which also used the Vickers suspension, so the Cunningham project was not listed as a priority. The prototype T1E6, which appeared soon, was only a slightly improved modification of the T1E4, and therefore the infantry refused to further work on it.

That. this interesting machine fell out of the attention of Soviet specialists. Let's ask the following questions:

• could the procurement commission, led by Innokenty Khalepsky, purchase this tank for arming the Red Army?
• what needs to be changed in order for this tank to be purchased?

Here is what Mikhail Svirin writes about the trip of the purchasing commission:

In 1930, in order to purchase samples of armored vehicles, a procurement commission departed from the USSR under the leadership of the beginning. UMM I. Khalepsky and early. engineering design bureau for tanks S. Ginzburg.

The first country where the commission arrived was Great Britain, the world leader in the production of armored vehicles of those years. Of greatest interest to UMM here was the Vickers-Armstrong company, where, according to the program approved in Moscow, it was necessary to buy samples of a tankette, a small tank, a Midium tank (Vickers - 12-ton) and a large tank (Independent). However, in a single copy, especially with documentation, the company categorically refused to sell something. Therefore, as a result of negotiations held by the head of UMM and a representative of the company "Arcos" with the management of "Vickers", tankettes were purchased (in our documents - "tankettes ON") 20 copies with delivery dates: 5 - in May, 4 - in June, 4 - in July, 4 - in August and 3 - in September. Small six-ton ​​tanks Mk A (in our documents "B-26") 15 units were purchased.

The main attention was paid to the small 6-ton Mk A tank, since it basically corresponded to the accepted weapon system of the Red Army. 12-ton tanks were considered by the commission's specialists as an alternative to the T-12 / T-24 (if any problems suddenly arise with their production). After all, the mobility parameters of 12-ton tanks perfectly met the relevant requirements for a maneuverable tank. However, the armor of these British tanks was thinner than was provided by the "System ..." But a very important factor in the acquisition of these particular samples was that the British side was ready to sell them complete with drawings: a) sketch, b) assembly, c) assembly, d) inspection and production and within 3 years - to inform the Soviet side about all the improvements made in the design of these tanks.

In addition, the company undertook to provide all the tanks first in the form of an experimental batch of 3 pcs. of each type, with which the Soviet side could test, and then make changes to the design at its discretion, which should have been taken into account in all other delivered machines, but at the expense of the buyer.

M. Tukhachevsky especially insisted on acquiring a tankette, since all foreign military literature of that time was inclined to think that it was the tankettes that would soon replace the cavalry, and the Vickers tankette was recognized as the best in its class.

With regard to the large Independent tank, the company refused to negotiate the sale. The tank was only shown to our specialists at rest and in motion. The representative of the company voiced its readiness to develop the design of a large tank specifically according to the tactical and technical requirements of the USSR, but the cost of such a service was recognized as too high, especially since the company offered to buy more tankettes and small tanks from 15 to 20 pieces in addition to the project. each denomination.

In addition to Great Britain, the Soviet purchasing commission also visited Czechoslovakia, France and Italy, and in the latter a protocol of intent was signed on the development of a heavy positional tank, but these plans were not further developed. In France and Czechoslovakia, purchases of cars and motorcycles were made. Tanks that met the requirements of tank-tractor-auto-armored weapons were not found in these countries.

Another visit for armored vehicles was coming across the ocean. On December 30, 1929, the commission, headed by the head of the Department of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army, I. Khalepsky, with deputies, left for the North American United States (USA). There, an acquaintance with tanks of the T-1E-1 type was expected from the Cunningham company, which served as a layout prototype for the T-12 / T-24. However, these tanks developed a speed of 6-8 km / h less than stated in the performance characteristics, and lagged far behind the 12-ton vehicles purchased from Vickers. The engines and gearboxes of the American tanks were heating up, and the bulky tracks were making a lot of noise. In addition, their price turned out to be much higher than expected, and the company's requirements - to purchase a minimum lot of 50 cars with a 50% advance payment - turned out to be absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, further negotiations with Cunningham were terminated.

The attention of the chief of MM in America was switched to wheeled-tracked tanks designer J. Walter Christie "M. 1928”, shortly before the visit of our specialists, which showed record speed characteristics.

That is, we have the following obstacles when buying T1E4 instead of "Vickers 6-ton":

1. move the date of arrival of the purchasing commission to 1931, which is unfortunately unrealistic, because by 1931 the tanks were to be in mass production due to the expected Polish invasion,
2. the best commercial offer from Vickers-Armstrong,
3. an attempt to send a commission in 1932 is unrealistic, because the t-26 was already in serial production and the acquisition of a new tank (more promising, but at a given time period not exceeding the characteristics of the t-26) was not economically justified,
4. the purchase of tank elements (engine and transmission) for the modernization of the T-26 - this option results in the creation of a new tank and the next production problems.

Thus, the choice of the T1E4 tank in those conditions seems unlikely.

The 7TP light tank was a Polish development of the English Vickers 6-ton, one of the most common pre-war tanks in the world. The development of this tank was carried out in 1933-1934, while during its series production in 1935-1939, 139 of these tanks were assembled in Poland. By the time the Second World War began, it was the 7TP that was the most combat-ready Polish tank, which surpassed the German light ones in its capabilities and characteristics. PzKpfw tanks I and PzKpfw II, however, due to their small numbers, they could not influence the course of hostilities and prevent the capture of Poland. In terms of its combat power, this tank at that time was comparable to the Czechoslovak LT vz.38 tank and the Soviet T-26.

It is worth noting that in the interwar period, few European armies had doubts that tanks would play a decisive role on the battlefield in the war of the future. This was well understood in Poland, for this reason the Polish military leadership made the main bet on the development of its own tank building in the country. However, for this development, at least some kind of base was needed. Therefore, like most states that gained independence as a result of the First World War, Warsaw acquired foreign armored vehicles for quite a long time.

The first tanks in Poland in 1919 were the Renault FT-17 light tanks received from France, which proved themselves quite successfully during the First World War, operating on the Western Front. It was the Renault FT-17 tanks that until 1931 formed the basis of the tank forces of Poland, until there was an urgent need to replace this outdated combat vehicle. To replace the Polish military considered several options, among which in better side stood out american tank M1930 designed by Christie and the British Vickers Mk.E (more commonly known in Russia as the "Vickers 6-ton"). However, it was not possible to agree with the Americans, so the Poles turned to the Vickers company, whose tank had already attracted the USSR delegation, and later served as a prototype for Soviet tank T-26.

In 1930, the Polish military delegation signed a contract for the supply of 50 Vickers Mk.E tanks to the country, of which the Poles had to assemble 12 combat vehicles on the spot with their own hands. The tank made a very favorable impression on the military, but there were also a number of shortcomings - insufficient armor, weak armament (only 2 machine guns), and an unreliable power plant. Among other things, the cost of one "Vickers" reached 180 thousand zlotys, a considerable sum for those times. In this regard, already in 1931, the Polish government decided to create its own light tank based on the English tank. Work on the modernization of the combat vehicle was launched at the end of 1932. The Poles pinned considerable hopes on the new tank - suffice it to say that the contract for the supply of the first batch of new tanks to the army was already signed on January 19, 1933, and design work managed to complete only on June 24 of the same year.

The undercarriage of the tank has not changed, completely moving from the Vickers. The chassis consisted of 4 two-roller bogies, which were interlocked in pairs with leaf spring suspension, 4 support rollers, as well as a front drive and rear guide wheel (on each side). The caterpillar chain was small-link, it consisted of 109 steel tracks with a width of 267 mm. The length of the bearing surface of the tank tracks was 2900 mm. Unlike the undercarriage, the hull of the Polish tank was modified by installing an armored casing located above the engine compartment. At the same time, the armor of the tank was also strengthened: the thickness of the front hull plates was increased by the Poles to 17 mm, and the side plates - to 13 mm.

It was decided to leave the armament of the tank completely machine-gunned, it consisted of two 7.92-mm wz.30 machine guns mounted in two cylindrical towers, which were similar in design to the English ones. For its time, the 7.92 mm Browning wz.30 machine gun had good performance. Its maximum rate of fire was 450 rds / min, starting speed bullets 735 m/s, maximum range shooting - up to 4500 meters. At a distance of 200 meters, this machine gun pierced 8 mm armor, so it could be effectively used to combat lightly armored targets. The ammunition of two tank machine guns consisted of 6 thousand rounds. To protect the barrel with a liquid cooling system, Polish designers used cylindrical casings. Each tank turret could rotate 280°, and the vertical guidance angles of the machine guns ranged from -10° to +20°. At the same time, the Poles completed the design of the machine gun installation in such a way that instead of the Browning it was always possible to install Maxim wz.08 machine guns. or Hotchkiss wz.35.

The British engine, which was considered unreliable and fire hazardous, was also replaced. It was replaced by a Saurer 6-cylinder diesel engine that developed 110 hp. at 1800 rpm. The engine cooling system was liquid. Inside the fighting compartment and the engine compartment, air circulation was provided by two fans. The fuel tanks were in front of the tank. The main tank with a capacity of 110 liters was located next to the driver's seat, a spare capacity of 20 liters - next to the gearbox. When driving on the highway, the tank could spend up to 80 liters per 100 kilometers, and when driving over rough terrain, the consumption increased to 100 liters.

The transmission of the combat vehicle was in front of the hull. It included a cardan shaft, main and side clutches, control drives, final drives and a gearbox. Max speed traffic on the highway was 37 km / h. At the same time, the speed when driving in 1st gear was 7 km/h, in 2nd - 13 km/h, in 3rd - 22 km/h and in 4th - 37 km/h.

The crew of a light tank included 3 people. In front of the hull on the right was the driver's seat, the commander of the combat vehicle occupied the right turret, the second gunner occupied the left turret. The observation devices installed on the tank were simple and few. Two viewing slots were made on the sides of each tower, which were covered with armored glass, and telescopic sights were installed next to the machine guns. For the driver, only a front double-leaf hatch was provided, in which an additional viewing slot was cut out. Periscopic observation devices were not installed on the twin-turret 7TP light tanks. At the same time, a version of a single-turret tank armed with a 37 mm Bofors tank gun and a coaxial 7.92 mm wz.30 machine gun was under development.

The first prototype of the 7TP light tank entered testing in August 1934. Although there was enough time to create a full-fledged prototype, it was partially made of non-armored steel. Sea trials of the tank were carried out from August 16 to September 1, 1934, during this time period the tank covered 1100 km. The second prototype of the tank in iron was delivered for field testing on August 13, 1935.

Comparison of the new light Polish tank with the British Mk.E leaves no doubt that the Polish engineers managed to optimize the design of the combat vehicle, making the tank more reliable. But the most significant changes concerned the improvement of engine cooling, the replacement of weapons and the strengthening of the suspension. After the production of prototypes and their inspection by the military, the army issued an order for the construction of light tanks 7TP (7-Tonowy Polsky).

At the same time, already in 1935, it was quite obvious that the two-turreted version of the 7TP light tank did not have any reserves for further modernization. For this reason, the main focus was on a single-turret version of the tank with cannon armament. However, enough for a long time the Poles could not decide which gun to put on the tank. From 1934 to 1936, they managed to consider 6 different variants of guns with a caliber from 37 mm to 55 mm. At the same time, the requirements for a tank gun were quite standard. The gun had to have a high rate of fire, compact dimensions, the ability to fight enemy armored vehicles, and also have good performance characteristics. Going through everything possible options, the Polish military opted for a 37-mm cannon from the Swedish company Bofors. Having learned about the desire of the Polish side to place the Bofors gun together with the Polish machine gun, the representatives of the company offered Poland free help in the creation of a twin design of the turret armament of the 7TR light tank. In addition, the Swedes equipped the Polish tank with Zeiss sights. Eventually Swedish side made the tower according to the drawings provided from Poland. In many ways, it was similar to the Vickers tank turret.

Light tank 7TP with Bofors turret

Work on the turret was carried out in Sweden from December 1935 to November 1936, when Bofors presented the finished turret to the Poles, with a 37 mm gun installed in it. At the same time, the Polish side refused further deliveries of towers from Sweden. Instead, with the help of engineer Fabrikovsky, a new "adapted" design was designed, which was intended to be installed on the first prototype of the 7TP tank. The changes affected only the turret box and the placement of batteries, which were moved from the fighting compartment to the transmission. The tank turret was made in the form of a truncated cone and had differentiated armor. The frontal part, sides, stern and mask of the gun were made of the same armor plates 15 mm thick, the roof of the tower had a thickness of 8-10 mm. Due to the layout of the tank hull, the turret had to be placed on a combat vehicle with an offset to the port side.

In the period from 3 to 7 February 1937, tests were carried out that showed the suitability of the towers for installation on 7TP light tanks. Serial production was distinguished by a hatch on the roof of the tower, and not in the stern armor plate, as well as the presence of a stern niche. The niche was both a counterweight for a tank gun and a place to install N2C or RKBc radios, which began to be installed on Polish tanks in the autumn of 1938. In total, before the start of World War II, only 38 radio stations were assembled. As a result, they appeared on the tanks of platoon, company and battalion commanders.

It is worth noting the fact that at that time the 37 mm Bofors gun was enough. The gun had excellent performance and combat qualities, it was enough to destroy all the tanks available at that time. At a distance of up to 300 meters, a projectile fired from such a gun pierced armor up to 60 mm thick, from a distance of up to 500 meters - 48 mm, up to 1000 meters - 30 mm, up to 2000 meters - 20 mm. In this case, the rate of fire of the gun was 10 rds / min. The ammunition load of the gun consisted of 80 shells and was located inside the tank as follows: 76 shots were stored in the lower part of the fighting compartment, and another 4 in the tank turret. The ammunition load of the 7.92-mm wz.30 machine gun paired with the gun was 3960 rounds.

First combat firing new tank took place in 1937 at the base of the Center for Ballistic Research, located in the town of Zelenka near the Polish capital. At the same time, the price of one tank with artillery weapons increased to PLN 231 thousand. The main place of production of light tanks 7TR from 1935 to 1939 was a factory located in Chekhovitsy. In total, 139 such tanks were produced here, of which 24 were double-turret and were armed only with machine guns. However, subsequently all double-turreted tanks underwent modernization, one gun turret was installed on them.

Before the start of World War II, the 1st and 2nd battalions of light tanks of the Polish army (49 combat vehicles each) were armed with 7TR tanks. Shortly after the start of the war, already on September 4, 1939 in training center tank troops, located in Modlin, the formation of the 1st tank company of the defense command of Warsaw ended. The company consisted of 11 7TR tanks. Another 11 tanks of this type were part of the 2nd company of light tanks of the Warsaw Defense Command, which was formed a little later.

It is worth noting that the Polish light tanks 7TR had the best weapons than numerous German light tanks Pz.I and Pz.II and better maneuverability, not inferior to German tanks in armor protection. As a result, the 7TP tanks managed to take part in the hostilities, destroying and damaging approximately 200 German tanks. In particular, these Polish tanks took part in the counterattack of the Polish army near Piotrkow Trybunalski, where on September 5, 1939, one 7TP tank from the 2nd battalion of light tanks knocked out 5 German light tanks Pz.I. Longest since German troops fought tanks from the 2nd tank company, which defended Warsaw, they took part in street battles in the city until September 26, 1939.

Most of these combat vehicles were lost in battle, some were blown up by their crews or even drowned in the Vistula. But a certain number of tanks (up to 20) were captured by the Nazis, who then used them during World War II. At least 4 more wrecked 7TP tanks and one tractor based on it were captured by the Red Army in the process of joining Western Belarus and Western Ukraine to the USSR in September 1939. Soviet engineers paid close attention to these Polish tanks. All the tanks captured by the Soviet units were damaged, so they were first repaired at Repair Base No. 7, located in the capital of Ukraine, as well as at the Scientific Testing Armored Range in Kubinka.

After that, the tanks went through a series of tests in the Soviet Union. Based on the results of the tests, the designers noted that the following elements of the Polish Vickers were of interest to the tank industry of the USSR: the armor protection of the mask of the gun-machine gun installation in the tank turret, the diesel engine manufactured by the Saurer company, as well as viewing devices. AT last case it was about the 1934 circular view device, which was created by engineer Rudolf Gundlach. Starting from 1936, similar devices were produced in Lviv, the Poles put them on TKS wedges and light tanks 7TR. The patent for the production of this tank periscope was later sold to the British company Vickers Armstrong. During the Second World War, all English tanks. Soviet engineers also copied the Polish periscope, then using it in their combat vehicles.

Tactical and technical characteristics tank 7TP:

Overall dimensions: length - 4.56 m, width - 2.43 m, height - 2.3 m.
Combat weight - 9900 kg.
Reservation: hull forehead - 17 mm, hull sides - 13 mm, turret - 15 mm, hull roof and bottom - 5 mm.
Armament - 37 mm Bofors cannon (80 rounds) and 7.92 mm WZ machine gun. 30 (3960 rounds).
The power plant is a 6-cylinder Saurer CT1D diesel engine with an HP 110 power.
The maximum speed is 37 km / h (on the highway).
Power reserve - 160 km (on the highway), 130 km (cross country)
Fuel supply - 130 l.
Crew - 3 people (driver, commander-loader, gunner).

Sources of information:
http://www.aviarmor.net/tww2/tanks/poland/7tp.htm
http://www.istpravda.ru/research/5110
http://szhaman.com/polskie-tanki-7tr
http://www.opoccuu.com/7tp.htm
Materials from open sources