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T-70

1942 WORLD WAR 2

History

In October 1941 - four months after Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union through Operation Barbarossa - engineers at the GAZ Automobile Factory began working on improving the performance of the Red Army's T-60 series of light tanks. The overall design remained largely unchanged to expedite production and meet wartime demands, and precise plans were made to take full advantage of subsequent prototypes. Decided to combine a pair of petrol engines for more power, replace the outdated 20mm main gun with a 45mm product, increase armor protection from 35mm to 45mm, strengthen the torsion bar suspension and add a pair of additional wheels to each chain side. Other elements will include the T-60 system already in circulation.

The first prototype appeared in December 1941, and after completing the necessary tests (no doubt out of the desperation of war), the T-70 was officially commissioned by the Red Army in January 1942, with mass production scheduled to begin in March.

The T-70 had an acutely angled fuselage with well-inclined forward sloping panels and associated superstructure on which a flat turret was mounted along the roofline. The crew consisted of two (based on the original T-60 design), including the driver and the commander, who doubled as his own gunner/loader.

The driver sits near the front center of the forward fuselage (offset slightly to the left), followed by a small, narrow fighting compartment. In the center of the hull, the coupled engine assembly is also mounted on the right side, moving the fighting compartment and turret to the left of the centerline. Five tandem wheels are mounted on one side of the track, with the drive sprocket at the front and the idler at the rear. Three track return rollers guided the tracks along the upper part of the sides of the fuselage, and no further side armor ("skirts") was provided.

The drivetrain is embedded in the bottom of the front hull. Basic T-70 MBTs do not have radios as these are only used in the final T-70 command vehicle.

The T-70's fully welded one-man turret (35mm armor thickness) houses a 45mm Type 1938 main gun and a 7.62mm DT coaxial machine gun - both operated by the commander. The rate of fire is about 12 rounds per minute. It initially carried 90x45mm projectiles (eventually reduced to 70 rounds in the upcoming T-70M), which came in two basic variants - AP (armor-piercing) and HE-FRAG (high-explosive fragmentation). Armor penetration of the main gun reaches 50 mm at 500 m. The machine gun is fed from the onboard 945 rounds (over 15 individual magazines). The front of the turret is well protected by a thick, curved steel casing.

The turret is manually moved 360 degrees to attack enemies on all sides of the vehicle. In April 1942, a new faceted welded turret replaced the old tapered turret.

The T-70 series is powered by GAZ-203 series engines, which are essentially two coupled GAZ-202 automotive 6-cylinder systems, each rated at 70 hp (140 hp combined). The power unit is fed from two internal fuel depots located on the left side of the fuselage aft. The engine is connected to a multi-speed drivetrain with four forward and one reverse gears, with hull suspension, via a basic twist.

Road speeds may reach 28 mph and operating range is up to 220 miles.

In practice, the T-70 proved to be a competent artillery platform against German and Italian light tanks. It was also capable of knocking out intermediate tanks, but this proved elusive as German tanks developed in the middle and final years of the war.

One of the main shortcomings of the original T-70 design was that the commander had to manage the tactical situation, the driver, weapons and his own reloading - diverting his attention from important developments at critical moments. As the war progressed, its light armor protection became apparent, as did the small-caliber main gun (the powerful Soviet 76mm gun eventually proved to be the accepted standard for the Red Army).

From September 1942, the production of the basic T-70 was transferred to the "T-70M", a modernized and improved version with improved landing gear and reduced ammunition load (down to 70 rounds) . The T-70M became the most produced Soviet light tank in WWII, and helped strengthen the corps dwindled by general attritionespecially the heavy casualties suffered during the first German offensive in 1941.

However, by the end of 1942, even the newer T-70Ms were rapidly becoming obsolete, which led to the development of the short-lived "T-80". The T-80 represents a slightly improved form of the T-70M, but with a two-man turret (now full of three) to reduce the commander's workload and increase armor protection. However, due to the overall decline in the light tank category, with only 120 examples of this type produced, the improvements were minimal and are now abandoned in favor of more powerful medium and heavy designs or coming online.

As a result, the T-80 became the last Soviet-produced light tank of World War II, serving alongside its T-70 counterparts until 1945.

As the T-70 met its fate on the modern battlefield of the day, the chassis took on a greater role as a carrier for the SU-76 family of self-propelled guns (SPGs) that carried powerful 76mm guns. Body installation. To accommodate the extra weight and new role, the hull was lengthened and widened, while an extra pair of wheels was added. The SU-76 entered service in 1942 and a staggering 14,292 prototypes were produced.

The post-war ZSU-37 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun platform followed. It was built on the existing chassis of the T-70 light tank, and there were 75 prototypes of which only a few were available until the end of the war.

The T-70 tank is often deployed alongside the T-34 medium tank and SU-76 SPG, and is also used for rapid reconnaissance missions by other mechanized units. Total production of the T-70 tank reached 8,226 units, including all mentioned variants, and production continued until 1943.

At least 53 were used by Poland and another 10 by Czechoslovakia. Like other Soviet WWII tank developments, the T-70 remained in various experimental forms, including the 1942 T-90 Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun (SPAAG).

The last T-70 tank was in service until 1948.