BT-2 (Bystrochodnij Tankov)

History

Like many military powers prior to World War II, the Red Army introduced a series of light, fast tanks designed to overwhelm enemy positions with speed and numbers. The Soviet Union began developing this system in the early 1930s, and in 1931, engineer M.N. Toskin began work at the Kharkov Heavy Industries Plant, developing a new light tank based on a design by American engineer John Walter Christie.

The original prototype was Christie's design, without a turret, and was referred to simply as the "BT-1". The design was further developed under the Soviet influence of A. O. Firsov as the "BT-2" and was officially adopted by the Red Army on May 23, 1931.

Turrets will be handled by a separate facility.

The BT-2 is designed with a unique wheel and track system that removes the track section to allow the vehicle to run on its wheels (removal process takes approximately 30 minutes). The fuselage is of a faceted design, angled to deflect simple small arms fire and artillery jets. Construction of the hull involves the use of heavy duty rivets and thicknesses up to 13mm. The general interior layout of the vehicle is very traditional, with the driver in the front center of the hull, the fighting compartment in the center (along with the turret location), and the powertrain in the rear. The turret sits on top of the hull and is cylindrically mounted, allowing unhindered attack from all angles around the vehicle.

The unit was also prominently mounted forward amidships, a design element that would carry over to the T-34 medium tank that would later win the war. The original design called for a two-person crew, in which the commander would be both his own gunner and primary weapons loader. However, this was abandoned in favor of including a third crew member to manage the loading of the main guns, allowing the commander to command his crew and manage the actual main guns. The wheel-rail arrangement consists of four large wheels, with the drive sprocket at the front of the structure and the chain idler at the rear. In "wheel mode", the front wheelset is steerable.

These are locked when the track connection is set up, then turns are done by managing each entire track side as usual. Although tested with on-board radios as early as 1933, the official BT-2 tank did not include communications equipment due to poor test results.

It is powered by a 400 hp Liberty 45V 12-cylinder liquid-cooled gasoline engine of American origin. In Soviet nomenclature this became "Model M-5-400". Maximum road speed peaks at about 62 mph with 75 miles on track and 120 miles on wheels (track removed).

The BT-2 was a Christie design and hung on a Christie suspension system common to several Soviet tanks at the time.

While the main armament of the fast BT-2 tanks revolved around the 37mm B-3 cannon/7.62mm DT coaxial machine gun combination, only 115 of the 180 first series tanks were completed in this way. The rest only use machine guns in the turret. The tower is traversed and raised manually.

The 37mm gun has been approved to fire Armor Piercing (AP) and High Explosive (HE) rounds. AP rounds are used against armored targets (such as enemy tanks), while HE rounds are used against soft targets and infantry. AP rounds had 13mm armor penetration at long range, which was reasonable at the time and was a popular caliber used by other main battle tanks around the world.

Total ammunition counts include 92 x 37mm projectiles and 2,700 x 7.62mm rounds - of course, this may vary based on wartime availability and mission requirements.

The initial 180 BT-2 vehicles were followed by approximately 440 BT-2 light tanks with 2 x 7.62mm DT machine guns in their turrets. Up to 2,500x7.62mm ammunition is provided for the crew.

Although the design of the BT-2 was novel, it could be improved, and work on its successor was already underway in 1931 and 1932, resulting in the successor brand "BT-3". The BT-3 is the BT-2, and unlike the Imperial, the BT-2 is measured in metric and therefore officially recognized as "BT-2". The BT-2 itself was further developed into the BT-2-IS, which was used as a testbed. Other special test platforms are the SBT Bridgelayer and the HBT-2 chemical warfare platform. The BT series of light tanks was truly improved with the arrival of the quantitative 45mm gun-mounted BT-5 fast tank in 1933 (the BT-4 only appeared in three prototypes with welded hull armor and improved suspension).

The final BT tank appeared in the BT-7 in 1935 with its welded hull, Mikulin M-17T engine and jacketed silencer system.

By the time Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the BT-2 was already on the market in large numbers. Despite the official retirement announcement the year before, there are still 594 BT-2 fast tanks available.

Their available numbers and the desperation of the Soviets brought outdated small tanks into service. Many fought a brave - if reckless - unprepared defense with the help of German anti-tank guns. Where possible, damaged vehicles were repaired and returned to service to prevent complete elimination. Others were dug into deep trenches with only the turrets exposed and used for defensive purposes.

Needless to say, the lightly armed and armored BT-2 tank (and its BT successor) did not fare well in the Soviet Union's hasty response to the German attack.

A total of 620 light tanks of the BT-2 series were produced. This series undoubtedly laid the foundation for the subsequent development of the T-34 medium tank, the direct successor to the BT in the Red Army's inventory.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

92 x 37mm bullet

2500 to 2700 x 7.62mm ammo

Changes