In October 1941, it became clear that new lightweight the T-60 tank, which was launched in September, is practically useless on the battlefield. The fact is that he had too weak weapons and armor, which was easily pierced by enemy tanks. Correct these shortcomings without fundamental change design was impossible, since its engine and gearbox were already working in an overstressed mode. The increase in the mass of the tank, which is inevitable with the strengthening of armor and weapons, would put these units out of action.

At the end of October 1941, specialists from the design bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant began to develop a new tank, who received the index GAZ-70 or military designation T-70.

The work went very quickly, using the prima adopted in the automotive industry, which is unusual for tank designers. General views combat vehicles were made in full size on special aluminum plates measuring 7 × 3 meters, which were 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, which included all the details and assemblies of the external and internal equipment tank, performed as detailed as possible and in the future they served as the basis for control during the assembly of the prototype.

Construction and description

The T-70 light tank had a classic design, with a front-mounted transmission. 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 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.

A 45-mm tank gun of the 1938 model of the year and a coaxial DT machine gun were installed as weapons on the T-70 tank. 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.

Gun characteristics:

• fire line height - 1540 mm;
• tilt angle of the twin unit vertically - from -6 to +20 degrees;
• effective firing range - 3600 m;
• maximum firing range - 4800 m;
• rate of fire - 12 rds / min.

The GAZ-203 engine was chosen as the power plant, 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. flywheel housing front engine was connected by a rod to the starboard side, which prevented 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 of the T-70 tank consisted of a two-disk semi-centrifugal main clutch of dry friction, 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 note: « Command tanks were equipped with a radio station 9R or 12RT, which was placed in the tower, and an internal intercom TPU-2F. A light signaling device was installed on line tanks for intercom commander with a driver-mechanic and internal intercom TPU-2.

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.

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.

The performance characteristics and overall dimensions of the T-70 tank:

• length - 4285 mm;
• width - 2420 mm;
• height - 2035 mm;
• clearance - 300 mm;
• armament - cannon 20K model 1934 caliber 45 mm, machine gun DT model 1929 caliber 7.62 mm;
• means of communication - intercom TPU-2 and radio station 12RT or 9R on command tanks;
• overcome obstacles - the angle of elevation is 28 degrees, the width of the ditch is 1.0 meters, the height of the wall is 0.6 meters, the depth of the ford is 0.9 meters;
• maximum speed - 45 km / h;
• cruising range - 250 km.

Assembly and testing

At the end of December 1942, a hull was made for the first tank and a turret designed by V. Dedkov was cast. Simultaneously with the cast, a welded version of the tower was also developed. In January 1942, assembly began, which, for a number of reasons, was completed only on February 14. Then the tank was sent to Moscow and shown there to representatives of the Main Armored Directorate. The military reacted rather coolly to the new tank, since in terms of armor protection it only slightly exceeded the T-60 and had an increased mass due to the installation of a 45-mm cannon, and the power of weapons was leveled by only one place for a person in the tower, who should perform the duties of a commander, gunner and loader. However, the chief designer N.A. Astrov promised to eliminate all shortcomings in a short time.

Then, tests were carried out on a prototype of the T-70 tank and trial firing from the main weapon. The new tank, in comparison with its predecessor, had a higher specific power (15.2 hp / t versus 11 hp / t), more powerful weapon(45 mm gun instead of 20 mm) and enhanced armor protection (45 mm armor instead of 20-35 mm).

According to test results new tank By a decree of the State Defense Committee (GKO) dated March 6, 1942, it was adopted by the Red Army. Two days later, the next GKO decree was issued on the production of a tank from April at factories No. 37 and No. 38, as well as the Gorky Automobile Plant. However, the new tank required twice as many parts as the previous tank, while the production of the turret failed, and the Gorky Automobile Plant had to hastily provide documentation for the welded turret to other plants.

The T-70 tank was produced from spring to November 1942, and then it was replaced by a modernized one.

The use of T-70 tanks during the Great Patriotic War

The tank and mechanized corps could include tank brigades consisting of 32 tanks T-34 and 21 T-70 tanks. However, by the spring of 1944, this tank model was excluded from the states. tank units Red Army, but in some brigades they continued to be exploited for quite a long time.

The first to receive new tanks were the 157th and 162nd separate tank brigades, which were formed in the city of Murom in the first half of 1942. each of these brigades had 65 such vehicles. Even before the start of hostilities, both brigades were reorganized into a more traditional staff of a mixed organization. The new tanks received their baptism of fire during the fighting in the southwestern direction in June-July 1942, where they suffered significant losses. Already the first battles showed their low combat qualities, insufficient armor protection when using tanks as infantry support and weak weapons, which did not allow them to fight against German medium tanks.

However, in skillful hands the T-70 tank was a formidable weapon. So, on July 6, 1943, in the battles for the village of Pokovka in the Oboyan direction, the tank crew under the command of Lieutenant V.V. Pavlovich from the 49th Guards Tank Brigade was able to knock out three medium German tanks and one Panther.

On August 21, 1943, the tank commander, Lieutenant A.L. Dmitrienko of the 178th Tank Brigade discovered a retreating German tank and began to pursue it. Having caught up with the enemy, Dmitrienko noticed that the hatch in the turret of the enemy tank was open, he got out of his tank, jumped onto the armor of the 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.

Fact: « A large number of T-70 tanks participated in the Battle of Kursk. Thus, on the eve of the battle, the tank troops of the Central Front had 1652 tanks, of which 369 units or 22% were tanks of this model.

Often these tanks were used for ramming. For example, in the combat log of the 150th Tank Brigade, which operated as part of the 40th Army of the Voronezh Front in January 1943, the following entry was preserved:

“Senior lieutenant Zakharchenko and driver-mechanic senior sergeant Krivko, repelling tank counterattacks and having used up shells, went with their company to ram German tanks. Zakharchenko personally rammed two tanks and captured the commander and chief of staff of the 100th Special Purpose Tank Battalion.”

Fact: “During the Second World War, in addition to the Red Army, the T-70 tank was in service with the Polish Army in the amount of 53 copies and the Czechoslovak Corps in the amount of 10 copies.”

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.

As early as October 1941, it became clear that the new light tank T-60, whose serial production began a month earlier, was almost useless on the battlefield. Its armor was easily penetrated by all Wehrmacht anti-tank weapons, and its own armament was too weak to fight enemy tanks. It was not possible to strengthen both without a fundamental change in the design. The engine and gearbox already worked 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 plant number 37, work on the creation of a new light tank was launched at the Gorky Automobile Plant. There was nothing unusual in such a development of events - this enterprise already had experience in the production armored vehicles, 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 1941, the plant received an assignment to organize the mass production of the T-60 light tank, for which at GAZ, a separate structural unit of tank production and the corresponding design bureau was created. 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 a 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 of the combat vehicle 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 area of ​​the drawing and increase its accuracy, a plan was superimposed on the main view - a longitudinal section, 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. The aiming range was 3600 m, the maximum - 4800 m. When using a mechanical sight, only direct fire at a distance of no more than 1000 m was possible. The gun's rate of fire was 12 rounds per minute. settings are on the 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 discs). 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 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. The crankcase of the flywheel of the front engine was connected by a rod to the starboard side to prevent lateral 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-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 the ZIS-5 truck.

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. The commander's tanks were equipped with a 9R or 12RT radio station located in the turret and an internal TPU-2F intercom. Line tanks were equipped with a light signaling device 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 rounds.

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 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-34 and 16 T-70 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 of the tank units of the 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 received their baptism of fire during the battles in the South-Western direction in June-July 1942 and suffered serious losses. vehicles in the Wehrmacht was rapidly declining), and armor protection was insufficient when used as tanks for close 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 turret of a German tank was 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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The hastily developed was clearly not enough firepower and security, and the designers were aware of this. But it was no longer possible to return to the production of a fairly perfect opportunity. A new armored vehicle had to be created on the basis of the T-60. Immediately after its launch in the series, Nikolai Astrov began work on further improving the machine.

The prototype T-70 was assembled at the beginning of 1942, and at the end of February it went for testing and officially entered service in March. From the same year, mass production of the "seventieth" began, which quickly replaced its predecessor from the conveyors.

Design Description

The T-70 layout scheme was inherited from its predecessor. The transmission was in front of the welded hull, in the stern - fuel tanks and a cooling system, the fighting compartment was combined with the engine compartment. But herself power point changed - instead of one six-cylinder automobile engine, two began to be installed. Accordingly, twice - up to 140 hp. - Increased power. The engines were started by electric starters connected in parallel, a preheater boiler was available.

The T-70 four-speed gearbox was manufactured on the basis of components from the gearbox of the ZiS-5 truck. The chassis has changed somewhat due to an increase in the total length - the road wheels were not four, but five. The suspension was kept torsion bar, without shock absorbers.

Two tankers sat one behind the other, to the left of the engines. The commander remained overloaded with duties - he also performed the tasks of a gunner and loader. On the T-70, unlike its predecessor, the intercom for crew members was included in the standard equipment of linear light tanks. Only command vehicles were still equipped with radio stations.

To ensure the operation of the radios on the commander's T-70, more powerful generators were installed.

The thickness of the upper frontal sheet of the T-70 was brought up to 35 mm (it had an angle of inclination of 62⁰), the lower one (with a smaller angle of inclination) - up to 45 mm. Such armor could protect against 37 mm and 50 mm shells. The thickness of the vertical sides is 15 mm, sufficient to protect against bullets. The driver's cabin disappeared from the front sheet, now it only had a hatch with a viewing slot.

The octagonal tower was welded from 35 mm armor plates, instead of 25 mm for the T-60. It was covered in front by a 50 mm cast mask. In the turret hatch cover there was one rotary viewing device for the commander. As with the T-60, during the production of the T-70, its security improved somewhat due to the change from homogeneous armor to surface-hardened.

Armament

The 20 mm TNSh automatic cannon on the T-70 was replaced by a 45 mm 20K gun. Developed in the early 30s, this gun was successfully used on many pre-war Soviet tanks and armored vehicles.

The main ammunition was unitary shots with armor-piercing shells BR-240.

At a short distance, they pierced a vertical sheet of armor about 50 mm thick, and 18-19 grams of hexal provided an armor action.

The solid BR-240SP projectile did not have an explosive charge, but its penetration was slightly better - up to 60 mm of armor. In 1942, to destroy new German tanks with the best protection, developed the BR-240P sub-caliber projectile with a tungsten core. It could also penetrate 90 mm armor plates, although only from short distances.

To combat groups of infantry and unarmored vehicles, the O-240 fragmentation projectile could be used. Its use was associated with some difficulties - due to less initial speed projectile automation of the gun did not work, and the sleeve had to be removed manually. On other machines, this could only mean a loss of rate of fire. For the T-70, this meant that the sleeve, in the conditions of a cramped turret, would be “picked out” by the commander, who completely loses control over the situation at such moments.

In an attempt to improve the combat qualities of the T-70, they tried to re-equip it with a more powerful gun of the same caliber, and replace the tower with a double one. From this project in the end.

Technical characteristics in comparison with analogues

In 1942, light tanks began to fall out of wide use. The American "Stuart" was becoming obsolete, and he was actively looking for a replacement. The German Pz.II was transferred to training units. The latest American and British light tanks were specialized vehicles for airborne troops.

The American light tank, developed before the war, was superior to the T-70 both in size and weight. At the same time, its 37 mm gun was inferior to the Soviet "forty-five", and the voracious engines "provided" a small power reserve. The German light tank won in terms of communications and surveillance, but could not boast of anything else.

It should be noted that more modern american tank The M24, which began production in 1944, was almost twice as heavy as the T-70 and was equipped with a more powerful 75 mm gun. That is, although it was considered “light”, it was actually a car of a slightly different class.

Combat use

According to the state, each tank brigade of the Red Army was supposed to have two companies of light tanks armed with T-70s. One company each was to be part of separate tank regiments and battalions.

Service T-70 in the Red Army began in the summer of 1942.

The first light tanks delivered to the 4th Panzer Corps were completely lost when the German offensive was repulsed. It soon became obvious that despite the enhanced armament, the "seventieth" did not surpass its predecessor in terms of combat effectiveness. Of course, experienced and talented crews acted quite effectively in the "seventies".

The light weight of the light tank made it possible to use it effectively in forests and swamps, while its maneuverability and small size played into the hands of urban battles. In the Battle of Kursk, the T-70 suffered heavy losses, but the high manufacturability of the design contributed to a lower percentage of irretrievable losses compared to even the T-34. However, in the same 1943, the T-70 was decided to be discontinued.

Not everyone supported this decision - for example, Lieutenant General Bogdanov reported that the T-70 is great for chasing retreating units and acting from ambushes. However, the release was stopped, and the "seventies" began to go to training units. Companies of light tanks were removed from the states.

Light tanks T-70 were transferred to the Polish and Czechoslovak armies formed in the USSR.

Immediately after the war, they were withdrawn from service. A small number of the "seventies" captured by the Nazis were officially adopted by the Wehrmacht, and were used in police units. More than four thousand tanks were produced, and up to today about two dozen survived.

conclusions

The light tank T-70 inherited from the T-60 simplicity and manufacturability in production and operation. But all the negative aspects of the design also came from there. In addition, despite the enhanced armament, the real firepower increased slightly - the Germans in 1942 began to receive armored vehicles with enhanced protection. Using the T-70 in open battles was fraught with high losses.

A light tank could still make a good reconnaissance vehicle - but primitive observation devices and crew congestion interfered. Contributed a mite and low-power engine. But it was precisely the “reconnaissance” qualities that helped the obviously outdated “Stuart” to serve until the end of the war.

Of course, the designers tried to solve these problems, but the T-80 with a two-man turret immediately lost its remarkable reliability. To ensure the mobility of the heavier structure, the motors had to be forced - and this had a deplorable effect on their motor resource. Probably, if the T-50 with diesel engine- the conclusion about the uselessness of light tanks would not have been made.

The T-70 developed the ideas laid down in its predecessor to create a simple and reliable armored vehicle, the mass production of which could be deployed as soon as possible.

And the designers succeeded in this to the fullest. side effect this approach has become a very low potential for modernization.

By 1943, there was no longer any need to ensure the production of "at least some" tanks, and, unfortunately, the T-70 was not suitable for the tasks that arose before the new generation of light tanks.

Video

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet light tanks had to play a much more significant role than the one that was originally intended for them. Back in December 1939, the light (according to the then classification - “small”) T-40 tank was adopted by the Red Army. It was a small car with a crew of two, armed with two machine guns ( large-caliber DShK and conventional diesel). The T-40 was floating, had good mobility, and the armor protected it from fire. small arms. The purpose of the tank was reconnaissance, and no serious combat functions were assigned to it. However, the war decreed otherwise.

A column of T-70 tanks on the outskirts of Krasnoye Selo. 1944 (author's collection)

Three days after the German attack, plant number 37, which produced the T-40, was ordered to curtail the production of these machines. Reconnaissance tanks, of course, are always needed, but at that moment the country needed conventional, linear tanks more. Now plant No. 37 was instructed to use the freed capacity for the production of the T-50 infantry escort tank. The chief designer of the plant, Nikolai Alexandrovich Astrov, raised an objection - the T-50 was fundamentally different in design from the T-40 and was much more difficult to manufacture. The plant, which had previously dealt only with light floating machines, would have taken an unacceptably long time to master it. Instead, Astrov proposed an alternative course of action - to improve the T-40, making it more suitable for the battlefield, and to maximize its output. This, of course, was a half-measure - a light machine-gun reconnaissance, no matter how you improve it, will not become a full-fledged replacement for a normal tank - but anyone understands that in a desperate situation, at least some tanks are better right now than good ones, but someday later, in indefinitely distant future.

Astrov's proposal was given the green light, and the production of the tank began, which initially had the designation T-60, but later became known as the T-30 (from the factory designation of the project - "030"). The T-30 differed from the T-40 in a number of simplifications that made it possible to speed up and reduce the cost of its production. The most significant of these were the abandonment of the ability to swim and the transition to a more easy-to-manufacture homogeneous (uniformly hardened) armor instead of surface hardened armor. Subsequently, the armament also changed - the DShK machine gun turned out to be in short supply in the summer of 1941, since it was produced in the amount of only a few hundred per month. Instead, the T-30 received a 20-mm TNSh automatic gun, created on the basis of aircraft gun SHVAK. Contrary to popular belief, this almost did not increase the firepower of the tank, but it solved the problem with the lack of weapons.

Tankers rest near the T-70 (author's collection)

The next logical step was to simplify the shape of the tank. The T-30 hull carried the heritage of the floating T-40 - it had excessive volume to ensure positive buoyancy, high sides for stability, and its front end had a rather complex shape to reduce resistance when moving in water. All this increased the mass of the tank, its dimensions (which means visibility and vulnerability) and, most importantly, complicated production. A tank with a simplified hull and reduced dimensions was designated T-60M, in some documents it is called T-70, but in the end the name T-60 stuck, under which it went down in history.

It was the T-60 that shouldered the brunt of the fighting at the end of the forty-first and the beginning of the forty-second. The catastrophic losses of the summer campaign led to the fact that there were practically no medium and heavy tanks left in the troops, and due to the evacuation of industry, it was not possible to make up for this shortage in the foreseeable future. It was the “sixties” who had to plug the gap with themselves. In some cases, they amounted to a third or even half of the tank fleet of the Red Army in certain sectors of the front.

German prisoners of war pass by the T-70 tank, which changed hands twice - it was captured by the Germans and used by them, then the Soviet troops recaptured it. Kyiv, 1944 (author's collection)

Of course, the T-60, like any emergency improvisation, had significant drawbacks. The most significant of these were the weakness of weapons and insufficient armor. The TNSh gun in terms of real combat value, in fact, was not much different from heavy machine gun- armor penetration was enough for her only to fight with weakly armored vehicles, such as armored personnel carriers and light armored vehicles. The high-explosive action of the shells was practically zero, so destroy the infantry and field fortifications it was difficult for them. It was necessary to install a more powerful gun with a caliber of at least 37 mm. Booking, although it was brought to 30-35 millimeters in the frontal part of the hull, was still insufficient - according to the experience of using the military, they noted that the T-60 is extremely vulnerable and is affected by almost any anti-tank weapons at actual combat distances.

Back in October 1941, in parallel with the deployment of T-60 production, Astrov, sent to the Gorky Automobile Plant, together with a number of other local designers, began work on an improved version of the tank, which received the designation "070" or GAZ-70. The main advantage was enhanced armament - a 45-mm 20-K cannon, which was used on most tanks and cannon armored vehicles of the Red Army, was installed in a new cast streamlined turret. Also, instead of the GAZ-202 engine, a significantly more powerful GAZ-203 was installed - in fact, it was two GAZ-202 engines connected in series. The last change required an increase in the hull - it was lengthened, and in undercarriage added another pair of road wheels.

An echelon with T-70 tanks is preparing to be sent to Stalingrad. 1942 (author's collection)

The work of modernization dragged on despite repeated demands to speed it up from the top leadership, including Stalin personally. The prototype GAZ-70 was submitted for testing only at the end of February 1942. The new tank, however, did not make much of an impression on the military. They noted that the armor of the GAZ-70 is the same as that of the T-60, that is, clearly insufficient, and the crew is still insufficient for a full-fledged combat vehicle. The GAZ-70 was driven by two tankers - this was the legacy of its ancestor T-40, not affected by any of the previous alterations and remained so on both the T-30 and T-60. Two people were enough for a reconnaissance tank: the driver drove the vehicle, and the commander, located in the tower, played the role, in fact, of an observer - he had to use weapons only in those few cases when reconnaissance came into fire contact with the enemy. For a combat vehicle, a single turret was a big minus: the commander had to actively participate in the battle - to detect the enemy, make decisions about moving the tank and transfer them to the driver, fire from weapons and reload it. This load was too great for one person, as a result, the effectiveness of the tank was significantly reduced. It was required to increase the crew to three people and, accordingly, to expand the tower to a double one in order to remove at least the duties of a loader from the commander.

Astrov promised to eliminate the noted shortcomings as quickly as possible. The thickness of the armor was increased to 35 mm in the upper part of the forehead and up to 45 mm (as in the medium T-34 tank) in the lower part, where, according to statistics, the largest number of hits falls. The turret was replaced with a welded octahedral turret - the original cast one showed too low resistance (even a 20-mm German tank gun easily pierced it) and, moreover, had no reserves for strengthening the armor. With the expansion of the crew to three people, however, unforeseen difficulties arose. The enlarged tower, according to calculations, was supposed to increase the mass of the machine from nine tons to eleven and a half. The designers had doubts that the undercarriage elements would withstand such a load - after all, they were originally created for the T-40, which weighed half as much. As a result, the tank was decided to be put into service in current form, and on March 6, 1942, this was done - the GAZ-70 went to the troops under the designation T-70.

The development of a three-seater version of the tank began immediately after the adoption of a two-seater. Having tested a serial vehicle, weighted with special loads to the expected mass of the new tank (11.5 tons), the designers were convinced that their fears were not in vain - the chassis really could not cope with the increased mass. Tracks broke, torsion bars burst, the transmission wore out abnormally quickly. The work to strengthen the chassis was successful, but by the time they were completed, the management decided that the creation and production of the three-seat version should be entrusted to another plant so as not to distract GAZ from the production of SU-76 self-propelled guns, which the troops needed in all large quantities. As a result, the three-seater T-70, after making several more improvements, went into production at factory No. 40 in Mytishchi under the name T-80. GAZ, in order not to be lost, made the developed changes to the chassis of the T-70, and the tank was produced with the designation T-70M from October 1942. At the cost of a slight (about six hundred kilograms) increase in weight, the T-70M received noticeably better throughput due to wider tracks and a significantly longer suspension and transmission resource. In the end, though, it turned out to be more bad than good. It was technically impossible to upgrade the existing T-70s to the T-70M, so the troops ended up with two almost identical tanks with incompatible chassis parts. At service personnel and repairmen, for obvious reasons, did not cause joy.

T-70 of the 1st Ukrainian Front crossing the Spree River. 1945 (author's collection)

The combat career of the T-70 was bright, but short-lived. For the first time they went into battle on the Southwestern Front in June 1942. It immediately became clear that, despite all the efforts of the designers to improve the characteristics of the vehicle, the combat value of light tanks was not great. In the year that has passed since the beginning of the war, light tanks PzKpfw.I and PzKpfw.II have practically disappeared from the ranks of the Panzerwaffe, and medium tanks have significantly increased in armor thickness. As a result, the 45-mm 20-K cannon, which was quite enough to fight enemy armored vehicles in the summer of 1941, became largely useless by the summer of 1942. Also, the T-70 turned out to be too vulnerable - although the tank’s forehead was well booked and the armor plates in it were located with a large slope, which increased protection, the armor on the sides was only 15 mm thick and was located vertically, so it was only able to protect against bullets. In addition, both new modifications of the PzKpfw.III and PzKpfw.IV tanks, armed with long-barreled guns, and powerful 75-mm anti-tank guns PaK.40 - it was not difficult for them to break through the armor of the T-70 from any angle at the entire range of aimed fire. It was noted, however, that on average, other things being equal, the survival rate of the T-70 is slightly higher than that of the T-34 and KV due to its smaller size. Positive feedback was given to the good reliability of the tank, ease of use and low weight. The latter not only facilitated the evacuation of wrecked tanks from the battlefield, but also allowed the "seventies" to pass where other tanks could not pass, and take the enemy by surprise with strikes from unexpected directions. This was facilitated by the low noise level of the T-70 in motion - according to eyewitnesses, it was no more noisy than a truck, which made it easier to covertly move into position and approach the enemy.

The most massive was the use of the T-70 in the Battle of Kursk - for example, the tank forces of the Central Front consisted of almost a quarter of it (369 vehicles out of 1487 available on July 4, 1943). As a result of the operation, it was concluded that, due to the rapid development of armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons, the T-70 finally lost even the small combat value that it had at the time of creation. In addition, the situation with the production of full-fledged, non-ersatz tanks was no longer as acute as two years ago, so in October the forty-third T-70 was removed from production, and the freed resources were directed to the production of self-propelled artillery mounts SU-76M based on its chassis. The vehicles that remained in service went to training units, or were used as commanders in units armed with SU-76M. Some returned to the original role of their distant ancestors, taking up exploration. Many of them survived until the end of the war - at the beginning of 1946, the Soviet armed forces had 1502 T-70 and T-70M tanks (out of 8231 produced).

T-70 in winter camouflage. Leningrad Front, 1944 (author's collection)

T-70 became the most massive lung tank Soviet Union in World War II. Despite the fact that he most often had to be used in a role that was completely inappropriate for his characteristics, he honestly performed the task to the best of his ability. For open combat, it was of little use even at the time of its appearance, not to mention the later stages of the war, but with proper use it could still be useful, especially in the absence of a strong anti-tank defense of the enemy. There are also cases of successful combat of the T-70 with enemy armored vehicles. For example, in January 1943, the crew of Senior Lieutenant Zakharchenko, having used up ammunition, went to ram and rammed two German tanks out of action. The type of tanks is not indicated in the documents, but since the 100th Special Purpose Tank Battalion acted as the enemy, these were, with all evidence, PzKpfw.II - conventional or flamethrower. As a result of the battle, the commander and chief of staff of the German battalion were captured by the crew. There is a known case when the T-70 of the 3rd Guards Tank Army destroyed two heavy tank"Panther". The story may seem incredible, but the side armor of the Panther was relatively weak, and immediately behind it was an ammunition rack - at close range, even a 45-mm cannon had every chance of coping. In the skillful hands of a trained and cold-blooded crew, the T-70 could be extremely formidable - which once again confirms the validity of the old truth: "It's not weapons that fight - people fight."