Soviet heavy tank KV In February 1939, a group of designers of the tank design bureau of the Kirov Plant in Leningrad, headed by N.L. Dukhov, began to develop a single-turret heavy tank KV ("Klim Voroshilov") with a Kharkov diesel engine. In September, its prototype

Soviet light tank T-40 In the 1930s, Soviet industry created a number of good light and small tanks. The most successful was the floating T-38. When the war began in Europe, the Red Army received a new floating T-40. Like the T-38, it was created by a design team during

Soviet light tank T-50 At the beginning of 1940, it was decided to replace the already obsolete T-26 with a similar T-126 SP (SP - infantry escorts). The development of the tank (later renamed T-50) was led by the talented designers of plant No. 174 - Lev Sergeevich Troyanov (1903 - 1984), and on the Kirov

Soviet light tank T-70 At the beginning of 1942, the team of N.A. Astrov developed a light tank, which was the development of the T-60. It was better armored, armed with a 45 mm cannon. Hull and turret - with rational angles of inclination of armor plates, connected by welding or riveting. Later became

Soviet medium tank T-44 In October 1944, the first T-44 tanks (until the end of the year - 25 vehicles) left the shops of the Kharkov plant No. their production (more than 1800 cars in total) was stopped. T-44

Soviet heavy tank IS-2 The need for a more powerful tank than the KV was caused by the increased effectiveness of the German anti-tank defense and the expected appearance of the "Tiger" and "Panther". Work on the new model since the spring of 1942 was carried out by a special group of designers

Soviet heavy tank IS-3 Despite the production of the IS-2 tank, they worked on a more powerful heavy tank, paying special attention to strengthening armor protection. At the end of 1944, specialists led by N.L. Dukhov and M.F. The Balges designed the IS-3 with a completely new hull

Soviet medium tank T-54 In 1945, a prototype of a new tank (object 137) was manufactured, which differs from the T-44 mainly in more powerful weapons (100-mm gun D-10T). It used the T-44 propulsion unit with ridge engagement. Then the refinement of the machine began: they changed

Soviet medium tank T-55 Since 1958, the new T-55 tank, created in 1955 on the basis of the T-54B, began to enter the troops. The combat weight, armament and booking did not change, but by introducing tanks-racks, they increased the ammunition load of the gun and the fuel supply. Anti-aircraft machine gun did not have.

Soviet heavy tank IS-4 Simultaneously with the development of the IS-3, the Chelyabinsk and Kirov plants designed the heavy tank IS-4. The assignment for a machine that was significantly superior to the IS-2 was given back in 1943. For this tank, weighing about 60 tons, a powerful V-12 diesel engine was created.

Soviet heavy tank T-10 The mass of the IS-4 was exceeded, so they decided to create a new heavy tank weighing no more than 50 tons. Its development as a development of the IS-3, IS-4 and IS-7 was carried out in 1949-1950 In 1953, under the brand name T-10 (formerly IS-8), it went into production. Like the IS-3, it

Soviet amphibious tank PT-76 At the end of the 1940s, several design bureaus worked on the creation of a light reconnaissance tank capable of overcoming water obstacles without training. As a mover on the water, they offered permanent and folding propellers.

Soviet medium tank T-62 In 1960, the arsenal of armored vehicles Soviet army replenished T-62. And although the units of the T-55 tank were used in its creation, in a certain respect it was a revolutionary machine, because for the first time in the history of world tank building on it

Soviet main battle tank T-64 This machine, created at the Kharkov plant of transport engineering named after V.A. Malyshev under the leadership of General Designer A.A. Morozov, adopted in December 1966, she became the first tank of the second generation,

The Soviet main battle tank T-72 Created by the team of the tank design bureau of the car-building plant in Nizhny Tagil (chief designer V.N. Venediktov) and adopted by the Soviet Army in 1973. Mass production T-72 started in next year and continues and

Already in October 1941 it became clear that new lightweight the T-60 tank, whose mass production began a month earlier, is almost useless on the battlefield. Its armor was easily penetrated by all Wehrmacht anti-tank weapons, and its own weapons were too weak to deal with enemy tanks. Strengthen both without fundamental change design was not possible The engine and gearbox were already working in an overstressed mode. The increase in the mass of the combat vehicle, inevitable with increased armor and armament, would simply lead to the failure of these units. A different solution was required.

In September 1941, the Design Bureau of Plant No. 37, at that time the leader in the production of the T-60, proposed a variant of its modernization, which received the T-45 index. In fact, it was still the same T-60, but with a new turret, in which a 45-mm gun was installed. This vehicle was supposed to use a new 100 hp ZIS-60 engine, which would make it possible to increase the thickness of the tank's frontal armor to 35-45 mm. However, the ZIS plant could not master the production of the engine due to the evacuation from Moscow to the Urals, to the city of Miass. The attempt to install the ZIS-16 engine with a power of 86 hp did not save the situation. With its development, not everything went smoothly either, and time did not wait.

In parallel with the plant number 37, work on the creation of a new light tank deployed at the Gorky Automobile Plant. There was nothing unusual in such a development of events - this enterprise already had experience in the production of armored vehicles, being engaged in the serial production of T-27 tankettes and T-37A small amphibious tanks in the 1930s. A number of prototypes of armored vehicles were also designed and manufactured here. In September In 1941, the plant was given the task of organizing the mass production of the T-60 light tank, for which a separate structural subdivision tank production and the corresponding design bureau In early September, the chief designer of plant No. 37 N.A. Astrov overtook on his own from Moscow to Gorky a prototype of the T-60 tank, which was to be used at GAZ as a standard. N.A. Astrov himself was also left at GAZ to help organize the production of tanks.

It was Astrov who presented to the GABTU of the Red Army a draft of a new light tank with reinforced armor and weapons, created on the basis of the T-60.

As power plant on this machine it was supposed to use a pair of GAZ-202 automobile engines. Prototypes of twin power units, which received the GAZ-203 index, were manufactured by the end of November. However, at the very first tests of the twins, after 6-10 hours of operation, the crankshafts of the second engines began to break, and only thanks to the efforts of the designers under the guidance of A.A. Lipgart, the resource of the twin power unit was brought to the required 100 hours. The design of the new tank at the GAZ Design Bureau began at the end of October 1941. It was carried out very quickly, using the technique adopted in the automotive industry, unusual for tank designers. General views combat vehicles were drawn in full size on special aluminum plates measuring 7 × 3 m, painted with white enamel and divided into squares measuring 200 × 200 mm. To reduce the drawing area and improve its accuracy by main view- longitudinal section - a plan was superimposed, as well as full and partial transverse sections. The drawings were made as detailed as possible and included all the components and parts of the internal and external equipment of the machine. These drawings later served as the basis for control during the assembly of the prototype and even the entire first series of machines.

1 - drive wheel, 2 - 45-mm cannon, 3 - DT machine gun, 4 - MK-4 observation device, 5 - plug of a hole for firing from personal weapons. 6 - carrier roller, 7 - guide wheel, 8 - road wheel, 9 - transmission access hatch, 10 - air intake hatch armor, 11 - hatch cover over the filler neck of the cooling system, 12 - air outlet shutters, 13 - spare support kayuk, 14 - manhole covers over the filler necks of fuel tanks, 15 - commander's hatch cover, 16 - mufflers, 17 - hatch cover for installing a portable blowtorch to start the engine in winter time, 18 - headlight, 19 - driver's hatch cover, 20 - hatch for manual engine start, 21 - emergency exit hatch cover, 22 - towing device

At the end of December 1941, for the tank, which received the factory designation GAZ-70, an armored hull was welded and a turret designed by V. Dedkov was cast. Along with the cast, a version of the welded tower was also developed. The assembly of the tank began in January 1942 and, for a number of reasons, proceeded rather slowly. It was only completed on February 14, after which the tank was sent to Moscow, where it was shown to representatives of the GABTU. The military did not arouse much enthusiasm for the new car. In terms of armor protection, the tank was only slightly superior to the T-60, and the nominally increased, thanks to the installation of a 45-mm gun, the power of weapons was leveled by the placement of one person in the tower, a master of all trades - commander, gunner and loader. However, N. A. Astrov promised to eliminate the shortcomings as soon as possible. Quite quickly, it was possible to increase the armor, bringing the thickness of the lower frontal hull plate to 45 mm, and the upper one to 35 mm. fighting machine was adopted by the Red Army under the symbol T-70. Two days later, the GKO decree on the production of a tank saw the light, according to which plants No. 37 and No. 38 were involved in its production from April. However, reality did not allow these plans to be fully realized. For example, the new tank required twice as many engines as the T-60. It was not possible to establish the production of a cast turret, and GAZ had to hastily provide other plants with documentation for a welded turret. As a result, the April plan for the production of the T-70 was fulfilled only by GAZ, which assembled 50 vehicles. Plant No. 38 in Kirov managed to produce only seven tanks, and plant No. 37 failed to assemble them either by April or later. The layout of the new vehicle did not fundamentally differ from that of the T-60 tank. The tank commander was located in the rotating turret, also shifted to the port side. In the middle part of the hull along the starboard side, two engines were installed in series on a common frame, which made up a single power unit. The transmission and drive wheels were located in front.

The hull of the tank was welded from rolled armor plates 6,10,15,25,35 and 45 mm thick. Welded seams were reinforced with riveting. The frontal and stern hull sheets had rational angles of inclination. In the upper frontal sheet there was a driver's hatch, in the lid of which the tanks of the first releases had a viewing slot with a triplex, and then a rotary periscope observation device was installed.

The welded faceted turret, made of armor plates 35 mm thick, was mounted on a ball bearing in the middle part of the hull and had the shape of a truncated pyramid. The welded joints of the turret walls were reinforced with armor corners. An entrance hatch for the tank commander was made in the roof of the tower. A periscope mirror observation device was installed in the armored cover of the hatch, which provided the commander with a circular view. In addition, there was a hatch for flag signaling in the cover.

On the T-70 tank, a 45-mm tank gun mod 1938 was installed and, to the left of it, a coaxial DT machine gun. For the convenience of the tank commander, the gun was shifted to the right of the longitudinal axis of the turret. The length of the gun barrel was 46 calibers, the height of the line of fire was 1540 mm. The aiming angles of the twin installation along the vertical ranged from -6 ° to + 20 °. Telescopic sights TMFP were used for firing (a TOP sight was installed on some of the tanks) and a mechanical one as a backup. Sighting range firing was 3600 m, maximum - 4800 m. When using a mechanical sight, only direct fire at a distance of no more than 1000 m was possible. The rate of fire of the gun was 12 rounds per minute. on right. The trigger mechanism of the gun was foot, the gun was lowered by pressing the right pedal, and the machine gun - by pressing the left one. The ammunition included 90 shots with armor-piercing and fragmentation shells for the cannon (of which 20 shots were in the store) and 945 rounds for the DT machine gun (15 disks). starting speed armor-piercing projectile weighing 1.42 kg was 760 m / s, fragmentation weighing 2.13 kg - 335 m / s. After firing an armor-piercing projectile, the cartridge case was ejected automatically. When firing a fragmentation projectile, due to the shorter recoil length of the gun, the shutter was opened and the cartridge case was removed manually. The power plant GAZ-203 (70-6000) consisted of two four-stroke 6-cylinder carburetor engines GAZ-202 (GAZ 70-6004 - front and GAZ 70-6005 - rear) with a total power of 140 hp. The crankshafts of the engines were connected by a coupling with elastic bushings. flywheel housing front engine to prevent transverse vibrations of the power unit, they were connected by a rod to the starboard side. The battery ignition system, lubrication system and fuel (except tanks) system for each engine were independent. Two gas tanks with a total capacity of 440 liters were located on the left side of the aft compartment of the hull in a compartment isolated by armored partitions.

The transmission consisted of a two-disc semi-centrifugal dry friction main clutch (ferrodo steel), a four-speed automotive-type gearbox (4 + 1), a main gear with a bevel gear, two side clutches with band brakes and two simple single-row final drives. The main clutch and gearbox were assembled from parts borrowed from truck ZIS-5.

The composition of the tank propulsion unit for one side included a drive wheel with a removable lantern gear ring, five single-sided rubber-coated track rollers and three all-metal support rollers, a steering wheel with a crank track tensioning mechanism and a small-link caterpillar of 91 tracks. The design of the guide wheel and the track roller were unified. The width of the cast track track was 260 mm. Suspension - individual torsion. Command tanks equipped with a radio station 9R or 12RT, located in the tower, and an internal intercom TPU-2F. On linear tanks a light signaling device was installed for internal communication between the commander and the driver and an internal intercom TPU-2.

During production, the mass of the tank increased from 9.2 to 9.8 tons, and the cruising range on the highway decreased from 360 to 320 km.

At the beginning of October 1942, GAZ, and since November, Plant No. 38 switched to the production of T-70M tanks with an improved chassis. The width (from 260 to 300 mm) and the pitch of the tracks, the width of the road wheels, as well as the diameter of the torsion bars (from 33.5 to 36 mm) of the suspension and gear rims of the drive wheels were increased. The number of tracks in the caterpillar was reduced from 91 to 80 pieces. In addition, the support rollers, stopping brakes and final drives have been reinforced. The mass of the tank increased to 10 tons, and the cruising range along the highway decreased to 250 m. The gun ammunition was reduced to 70 shots.

From the end of December 1942, Plant No. 38 stopped producing tanks and switched to the production of self-propelled units SU-76 As a result, starting from 1943, light tanks for the Red Army were produced only at GAZ. At the same time, in the second half of 1943, the production was accompanied by great difficulties. From June 5 to June 14, the plant was subjected to German air raids. 2170 bombs were dropped on the Avtozavodsky district of Gorky, of which 1540 were dropped directly on the territory of the plant. More than 50 buildings and structures were completely destroyed or badly damaged. In particular, the chassis workshops, wheel, assembly and thermal No. 2, the main conveyor, the locomotive depot burned down, and many other workshops of the plant were seriously damaged. As a result, the production of BA-64 armored vehicles and cars had to be stopped. However, the production of tanks did not stop, although it slightly decreased - only in August was it possible to block the May production volume. But the age of the light tank had already been measured out - on August 28, 1943, a GKO decree was issued, according to which, from October 1 of the same year, GAZ switched to the production of self-propelled guns SU-76M. In total, in 1942-1943, 8226 tanks of the T-70 and T-70M modifications were produced.

The light tank T-70 and its improved version T-70M were in service with tank brigades and regiments of the so-called mixed organization, together with the medium tank T-34. The brigade had 32 T-34 tanks and 21 T-70 tanks. Such brigades could be part of the composition of tank and mechanized corps or be separate The tank regiment was armed with 23 T-34s and 16 T-70s At the same time, the regiments could be part of mechanized brigades or be separate By the spring of 1944, light T-70 tanks were expelled from the states tank units Red Army. Nevertheless, in some brigades they continued to be used for quite a long time. In addition, some tanks of this type were used in self-propelled artillery battalions, regiments and brigades of the SU-76 as command vehicles. Often they were equipped with tank units in motorcycle units. Patriotic War.

The T-70 tanks were baptized by fire during the battles in the South-Western direction in June-July 1942 and suffered serious losses. The first battles revealed low fighting qualities new light tanks, whose armament did not allow them to fight German medium tanks (the share of light combat vehicles in the Wehrmacht was rapidly declining), and armor protection was insufficient when used as tanks for direct infantry support. In addition, the presence of only two tankers in the crew, one of which was extremely overloaded with numerous duties, as well as the lack of communications equipment on combat vehicles, made it extremely difficult to use them as part of units and led to increased losses. The final point in the combat career of these tanks was put Battle of Kursk- the ability to survive, not to mention come out victorious, in an open battle with new German heavy tanks, the T-70 was close to zero. At the same time, the troops also noted the positive advantages of the "seventies". 70 was the best suited for pursuing the retreating enemy, which became relevant in 1943. The reliability of the power plant and chassis of the T-70 was higher than that of the T-34, which made it possible to make long marches. The "Seventy" was quiet, which again differed sharply from the roaring engine and the "thirty-four" rattling with caterpillars, which at night, for example, could be heard for 1.5 km.

In clashes with enemy tanks T-70 crews had to show miracles of ingenuity. Much also depended on the crew's knowledge of the features of their car, its advantages and disadvantages. In the hands of skilled tankers, the T-70 was a formidable weapon. For example, on July 6, 1943, in the battles for the village of Pokrovka in the Oboyan direction, the crew of the T-70 tank from the 49th Guards Tank Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant B.V. Pavlovich, managed to knock out three medium German tanks and one Panther1. A completely exceptional case occurred on August 21, 1943 in the 178th tank brigade. When repulsing an enemy counterattack, the commander of the T-70 tank, Lieutenant A.L. Dmitrienko noticed a retreating German tank. Having caught up with the enemy, the lieutenant ordered his driver to move next to him (apparently, in the "dead zone"). It was possible to shoot at point-blank range, but when he saw that the hatch in the tower German tank open ( German tankers almost always went into battle with open turret hatches), Dmitrienko got out of the T-70, jumped onto the armor of an enemy vehicle and threw a grenade into the hatch. The crew of the German tank was destroyed, and the tank itself was towed to our location and, after minor repairs, was used in battles.

M. BARYATINSKY

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Second in mass after the T-34 Soviet tank during the Great Patriotic War was a light tank T-70.

As early as October 1941, it became clear that the new T-60 light tank, whose serial production had begun a month earlier, was almost useless on the battlefield. His armor was easily penetrated by all Wehrmacht anti-tank weapons, and his own weapons were too weak to deal with enemy tanks. It was not possible to strengthen both without a fundamental change in the design. The engine and gearbox were already overworked. The increase in the mass of the combat vehicle, inevitable with increased armor and armament, would simply lead to the failure of these units. A different solution was required.

CREATION

The design of the new tank at the GAZ Design Bureau began at the end of October 1941. At the end of December 1941, for the tank, which received the factory designation GAZ-70, an armored hull was welded and a turret designed by V. Dedkov was cast. Along with the cast, a version of the welded tower was also developed. The assembly of the tank began in January 1942 and, for a number of reasons, proceeded rather slowly. It was only completed on February 14, after which the tank was sent to Moscow, where it was shown to representatives of the GABTU. The military did not arouse much enthusiasm for the new car. In terms of armor protection, the tank was only slightly superior to the T-60, and the nominally increased, thanks to the installation of a 45-mm cannon, the power of weapons was leveled by the location in the tower of one person - a jack of all trades, both pointing and loading, - the commander. The chief designer N. A. Astrov promised to eliminate the shortcomings as soon as possible. Quite quickly, it was possible to increase the armor, bringing the thickness of the lower frontal hull plate to 45 mm, and the upper to 35 mm. As a result, by a GKO decree of March 6, 1942, the new combat vehicle was adopted by the Red Army under the symbol T-70. Two days later, the GKO decree on the production of the tank saw the light, according to which plants No. 37 and No. 38 were involved in its production since April. However, reality did not allow these plans to be fully realized. So, for example, the new tank required twice as many engines as the T-60. It was not possible to establish the production of a cast tower and GAZ had to hastily provide other plants with documentation for a welded tower. As a result, the April plan for the production of the T-70 was fulfilled only by GAZ, which assembled 50 vehicles. Plant No. 38 in Kirov managed to produce only seven tanks, while Plant No. 37 failed to assemble them either by April or later.

PRODUCTION

At the beginning of October 1942, GAZ, and since November, Plant No. 38 switched to the production of T-70M tanks with an improved chassis. The width (from 260 to 300 mm) and the pitch of the tracks, the width of the track rollers, as well as the diameter of the torsion bars (from 33.5 to 36 mm) of the suspension and gear rims of the drive wheels were also increased. The number of tracks in the caterpillar was reduced from 91 to 80 units. In addition, the support rollers, stopping brakes and final drives have been reinforced. The mass of the tank increased to 10 tons, and the cruising range on the highway decreased to 250 km. Gun ammunition was reduced to 70 shots.

From the end of December 1942, Plant No. 38 stopped producing tanks and switched to the production of SU-76 self-propelled guns. As a result, starting from 1943, light tanks for the Red Army were produced only at GAZ. At the same time, in the second half of 1943, the release was accompanied by great difficulties. From June 5 to June 14, the plant was subjected to concentrated German air strikes. 2170 bombs were dropped on the Avtozavodsky district of Gorky, of which 1540 were dropped directly on the territory of the plant. More than 50 buildings and structures were completely destroyed or seriously damaged. In particular, the chassis workshops, wheel, assembly and thermal No. 2, the main conveyor, the locomotive depot burned down, and many other workshops of the plant were seriously damaged. As a result, the production of BA-64 armored vehicles and cars had to be stopped. However, the production of tanks did not stop, although it slightly decreased - only in August was it possible to block the May production volume. But the age of the light tank was already measured out - on August 28, 1943, a GKO decree was issued, according to which, from October 1 of the same year, GAZ switched to the production of SU-76M self-propelled guns. In total, in 1942-1943, 8226 tanks of the T-70 and T-70M modifications were produced.

Design description

The layout of the T-70 light tank repeated the layout schemes of almost all the predecessor tanks of the light class and did not fundamentally differ from that of the T-60 tank.

The driver was located in the bow of the hull at the left side. The rotating turret, also shifted to the port side, housed the tank commander. In the middle part of the hull along the starboard side on a common frame, two engines coupled in series were installed, which made up a single power unit. The transmission and drive wheels were located in front.

HULL TOWER, RESERVATION

The hull of the tank was welded from rolled armor plates 6, 10, 15, 25, 35 and 45 mm thick. Welded seams were reinforced with riveting. The frontal and stern hull sheets had rational angles of inclination. In the upper frontal sheet of the hull there was a driver's hatch, in the lid of which the tanks of the first releases had a viewing slot with a triplex, and then a rotary periscope observation device was installed.

The welded faceted tower, made of armor plates 35 mm thick, was mounted on a ball bearing in the middle part of the hull and had the shape of a truncated pyramid. The welded joints of the tower walls were reinforced with armor squares. The frontal part had a cast swinging mask with loopholes for the installation of a gun, machine gun and sight. An entrance hatch for the tank commander was made in the roof of the turret. A periscopic mirror observation device was installed in the armored hatch cover, which provided the commander with a circular view. In addition, the lid had a hatch for flag signaling.

WEAPONS

On the T-70 tank, a 45-mm tank gun mod. 1938 and to the left of her coaxial machine gun DT. For the convenience of the tank commander, the gun was shifted to the right of the longitudinal axis of the turret. The length of the gun barrel was 46 calibers, the height of the line of fire was 1540 mm. The aiming angles of the twin installation along the vertical ranged from -6° to +20°. Sights were used for firing: telescopic TMFP (a TOP sight was installed on some of the tanks) and a mechanical one as a backup. Sighting range was 3600 m, maximum - 4800 m.

When using a mechanical sight, only direct fire was possible at a distance of no more than 1000 m. The rate of fire of the gun was 12 rds / min. The gear mechanism for turning the turret was mounted to the left of the commander, and the screw lifting mechanism of the twin installation was mounted to the right. The trigger mechanism of the gun was foot, the gun was lowered by pressing the right pedal, and the machine gun - on the left. The ammunition included 90 shots with armor-piercing and fragmentation shells for the cannon (of which 20 shots were in the store) and 945 rounds for the DT machine gun (15 disks). The initial speed of an armor-piercing projectile weighing 1.42 kg was 760 m/s, a fragmentation projectile weighing 2.13 kg was 335 m/s. After firing an armor-piercing projectile, the spent cartridge case was ejected automatically. When firing a fragmentation projectile, due to the shorter recoil length of the gun, the shutter was opened and the cartridge case was removed manually.

ENGINE, TRANSMISSION, UNDERCARRIAGE

The power plant GAZ-203 (70-6000) consisted of two four-stroke 6-cylinder carburetor engines GAZ-202 (GAZ 70-6004 - front and GAZ 70-6005 - rear) with a total capacity of 140 hp. With. The crankshafts of the engines were connected by a coupling with elastic bushings. The crankcase of the flywheel of the front engine was connected by a rod to the starboard side to prevent transverse vibrations of the power unit. The battery ignition system, lubrication system and fuel (except tanks) system for each engine were independent. Two gas tanks with a total capacity of 440 liters were located on the left side of the aft compartment of the hull in a compartment isolated by armored partitions.

The transmission consisted of a two-disk semi-centrifugal main clutch of dry friction (steel over ferrodo); four-speed automotive-type gearbox (4 + 1), final drive with bevel gear; two side clutches with belt brakes and two simple single-row final drives. The main clutch and gearbox were assembled from parts borrowed from the ZIS-5 truck.

The tank propulsion unit for one side included: a drive wheel with a removable lantern gear, five single-sided rubber-coated track rollers and three all-metal support rollers, a steering wheel with a crank track tensioning mechanism and a small-link caterpillar of 91 tracks. The design of the guide wheel and track roller were unified. The width of the cast track track was 260 mm. Suspension - individual torsion bar.

PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE T-70 TANK

Combat weight, t: 9.2
Crew, people: 2
Overall dimensions, mm:
length: 4285
width: 2420
height: 2035
ground clearance: 300
Armament: 1 x 45 mm 20K cannon and 1 x 7.62 mm DT machine gun
Booking, mm:
hull forehead (top): 35 mm
hull forehead (bottom): 45 mm
hull side: 15 mm
hull feed: 25 mm
tower: 35 mm
roof: 10 mm
bottom: 10 mm
Engine: 2 x GAZ-202, gasoline, 6-cylinder, liquid-cooled, with a total capacity of 140 liters. With.
Max speed, km/h: 45
Power reserve, km: 250

In the fall of 1942, specialists from the Gorky Automobile Plant developed a deeply modernized version light tank, which received a new designation T-70M, and began preparations for its production.

Fact: "Initially, when designing, the tank received the designation T-70B."

The modernized tank was distinguished by a thoroughly modified chassis, increased width (from 260 to 300 mm) and step of the tracks, the width of the road wheels, an increased diameter of the suspension torsion bars and gear rims of the drive wheels, as well as a modified final drive. In addition, the support rollers, stop rollers and final drives were reinforced, the number of tracks in the caterpillar was reduced from 91 to 80, and the gun ammunition load was reduced to 70 rounds.

The place of the driver-mechanic was located in the bow of the hull at the left side, and the place of the tank commander was in a rotating turret shifted to the left side. In the middle part of the hull along the starboard side on a common frame, two engines coupled in series were installed, which made up a single power unit. The transmission and drive wheels were in front.

The body of the T-70M tank was welded from rolled armor plates, which had a thickness of 6, 10, 15, 25, 35 and 45 mm. In especially critical places, the welds were reinforced with riveting. The frontal and stern sheets of the armored hull had rational angles of inclination. A welded faceted turret made of armor plates 35 mm thick was mounted on a ball bearing in the middle part of the hull. The welded joints of the tower were reinforced with armor squares. The frontal part of the tower had a cast swinging mask with loopholes for the installation of a gun, a machine gun and a telescopic sight. An entrance hatch for the tank commander was made in the roof of the turret. A periscope mirror observation device was installed in the armored hatch cover, which provided the commander with an all-round view. Also in the lid there was a hatch for a flag alarm.

As armament, a 45-mm tank gun of the 1938 model was installed and to the left of it a coaxial DT machine gun. The gun was shifted to the right of the longitudinal axis of the turret, which provided greater convenience for the commander. The gear turret traverse mechanism was mounted to the left of the commander, and the twin-mount screw hoist to the right. The gun had a trigger foot mechanism, which was carried out by pressing the right pedal, and the machine gun - on the left. The ammunition load consisted of 90 shots with armor-piercing and fragmentation shells for the cannon and 945 rounds for the DT machine gun.

The GAZ-203 engine was chosen as the power plant of the T-70M tank, which consisted of two four-stroke six-cylinder GAZ-202 carburetor engines with a total power of 140 hp. The crankshafts of the engines were connected by means of a coupling with elastic bushings. The flywheel crankcase of the front engine was connected by a link to the starboard side, which made it possible to prevent lateral vibrations. For each engine, the battery ignition system, lubrication system and fuel system were independent. The tank was equipped with two fuel tanks with a total capacity of 440 liters, which were located on the left side of the aft compartment of the hull in a compartment isolated by armored partitions.

The transmission consisted of a two-disc semi-centrifugal dry-friction main clutch, a four-speed automotive-type gearbox, a bevel gear final drive, two side clutches with band brakes, and two simple single-row final drives. The main clutch and gearbox were assembled from parts borrowed from the ZIS-5 truck.

The propeller on each side included: drive wheels with a removable lantern gear ring, five single-sided rubber-coated road wheels and three all-metal support rollers, a guide wheel with a crank track tensioning mechanism and a small-link caterpillar of 91 tracks with a pitch of 98 mm. The design of the guide wheel and track roller were unified. The width of the cast track track was 260 mm. Suspension - individual torsion bar.

From 1942 to 1943, 8231 T-70M tanks were manufactured, of which 6847 were assembled by the Gorky Automobile Plant.