BT tank
Encyclopedia
The BT tanks were a series of Soviet
cavalry tanks produced in large numbers between 1932 and 1941. They were lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for their time, and had the best mobility of all contemporary tanks of the world. The BT tanks were known by the nickname Betka from the acronym, or its diminutive Betushka.
The direct successor of the BT tanks would be the famous T-34
medium tank, introduced in 1940, which would replace all of the Soviet fast tanks, infantry tanks, and medium tank
s in service.
to reduce wear of the unreliable tank tracks of the 1930s. In about thirty minutes the crew could remove the tracks and engage a chain drive
to the rearmost road wheel on each side, allowing the tank to travel at very high speeds on road
s. In wheeled mode the tank was steered
by pivoting the front road wheels. However, Soviet tank forces soon found the convertible option of little practical use in a country with few paved roads, and it consumed space and added needless complexity and weight. The feature was dropped from later Soviet designs.
Christie, a race car mechanic from New Jersey
, had tried unsuccessfully to convince the U.S. Army Ordnance Bureau to adopt his Christie tank design. In 1930, Soviet agents at Amtorg, ostensibly a Soviet trade organization, used their New York political contacts to persuade U.S. military and civilian officials to provide plans and specifications of the Christie tank to the Soviet Union. At least two of Christie's M1931 tanks (without turrets
) were later purchased in the United States and sent to the Soviet Union under false documentation in which they were described as "agricultural tractors." Both tanks were successfully delivered to the Kharkov Komintern Locomotive Plant (KhPZ). The original Christie tanks were designated fast tanks by the Soviets, abbreviated BT (later referred to as BT-1). Based both on them and on previously obtained plans, three unarmed BT-2 prototypes were completed in October 1931 and mass production began in 1932. Most BT-2s were equipped with a 37 mm gun and a machine gun, but shortages of 37 mm guns led to some early examples being fitted with three machine guns.
The sloping front hull (glacis
plate) armor design of the Christie M1931 prototype was retained in later Soviet tank hull designs, later adopted for side armor as well.
The BT-5 and later models were equipped with a 45 mm gun.
BT tanks saw service in the Spanish Civil War
, Battle of Khalkhin Gol
(Nomonhan
), the Winter War
in Finland
, the Polish campaign
, and in the entire World War II
.
They first saw action in the Spanish Civil War
. A battalion of BT-5s fought on the Republican side, and their 45 mm guns could easily knock out the opposing German and Italian light tanks.
Incident), which lasted from May to September in 1939, BT tanks were easily attacked by Japan
ese "close quarter" teams (tank killer squads) which were armed with petrol bottles (later called "Molotov Cocktails"). The Soviet BT-5 and BT-7 light tanks, which had been operating in temperatures greater than 100F on the Mongolian
plains, easily caught fire when a molotov cocktail ignited their gasoline
engines. General Georgy Zhukov
made it one of his "points" when briefing Joseph Stalin
, that his "...BT tanks were a bit fireprone...." Conversely, many Japanese tankers held the Soviet 45mm anti-tank/tank guns in high esteem, noting, "...no sooner did they see the flash from a Russian gun, than they'd notice a hole in their tank, adding that the Soviet gunners were accurate too!"
After the Khalkhin Gol War in 1939, the Soviet military had broken into two camps; one side was represented by Spanish Civil War
veterans General P. V. Rychagov of the Soviet Air Force
, Soviet armour expert General Dimitry Pavlov, and Stalin's favorite, Marshal Grigory Kulik
, Chief of Artillery Administration. The other side consisted of the Khalkhin Gol veterans led by Generals Zhukov and G.P. Kravchenko
of the Soviet Air Force. Under this cloud of division, the lessons of Russia's "first real war on a massive scale using tanks, artillery, and airplanes" at Nomonhan (Khalkhin Gol) went unheeded. Consequently, during the Finland
War (Winter War
) the BT-2 and BT-5 tanks were less successful, and it took the Soviet Union three and a half months, and over a million men to do what Zhukov did in just ten days at Nomonhan.
After the German war broke out, the Spanish Civil War faction fell in disfavor, with Marshal Kulik in particular being court-martial
ed and demoted. Gen. Zhukov and the majority of his surviving Nomonhan veterans were appointed to commands throughout European Russia, in time to engage the German armies.
, and in large numbers in the battles of 1941 - during which thousands were abandoned or destroyed. A few remained in use in 1942, but were rare after that time. The Red Army planned to replace the BT tank series with the T-34
, and had just begun doing so when the German invasion (Operation Barbarossa
) took place.
During the final weeks of World War II, a significant number of BT-7 tanks took part in the invasion of Japanese-occupied Manchuria, in August 1945. This was the last combat action of BT tanks.
The BT tank series was numerous, forming the cavalry tank arm of the Red Army in the 1930s, and had much better mobility than other contemporary tank designs. For these reasons, there were many experiments and derivatives of the design, mostly conducted at the KhPZ factory in Kharkov.
The most important legacy of the BT tank was the T-34
medium tank, arguably the most important tank of the entire World War II
. In 1937, a new design team was formed at the KhPZ to create the next generation of BT tanks. Initially, the chief designer was Mikhail Koshkin
and, after his death, Morozov. The team built two prototypes. The light one was called the A-20. The more heavily armed and armoured BT derivative, the A-32, was a "universal tank" to replace all the T-26
infantry tank
, BT cavalry tanks, and the T-28
medium tanks. Such plan was controversial, but concerns about tank performance under the threat of German blitzkrieg led to the approval for production of a still more heavily-armoured version, the T-34
medium tank.
Along the way, an important technical development was the BT-IS and BT-SW-2 testbed vehicles, concentrating on sloped armour
. This proof-of-concept led directly to the armour layout of the T-34.
BT tank chassis were also used as the basis for engineering support vehicles and mobility testbeds. A bridgelayer variant had a T-38 turret and launched a bridge across small gaps. Standard tanks were fitted as fascine
carriers. The RBT-5 hosted a pair of large artillery rocket launchers, one on each side of the turret. Several designs for extremely wide tracks, including, oddly, wooden 'snowshoes' were tried on BT tanks.
The KBT-7 was a thoroughly modern armoured command vehicle that was in the prototype stage when World War II broke out. The design was not pursued during the war.
In the Kiev maneuvers of 1936, foreign military observers were shown hundreds of BT tanks roll by a reviewing stand. In the audience were British Army
representatives, who returned home to advocate for use of Christie suspension
on British cruiser tanks which they incorporated from the Cruiser Mk III
onwards. Interestingly, the pointed shape of the hull front armor on the BT tank also influenced the design of the British Matilda tank
.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
cavalry tanks produced in large numbers between 1932 and 1941. They were lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for their time, and had the best mobility of all contemporary tanks of the world. The BT tanks were known by the nickname Betka from the acronym, or its diminutive Betushka.
The direct successor of the BT tanks would be the famous T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
medium tank, introduced in 1940, which would replace all of the Soviet fast tanks, infantry tanks, and medium tank
Medium tank
Medium tank was a classification of tanks; the medium being intermediate in size and weight and armament between heavy tanks and light tanks.The medium tank concept has been eclipsed by the main battle tank.-History:...
s in service.
Design
The BT tanks were "convertible tanks". This was a feature designed by J. Walter ChristieJ. Walter Christie
John Walter Christie was an American engineer and inventor. He is best known for developing the Christie suspension system used in a number of World War II-era tank designs, most notably the Soviet BT and T-34 series, and the British Covenanter and Crusader Cruiser tanks, as well as the Comet...
to reduce wear of the unreliable tank tracks of the 1930s. In about thirty minutes the crew could remove the tracks and engage a chain drive
Chain drive
Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles...
to the rearmost road wheel on each side, allowing the tank to travel at very high speeds on road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
s. In wheeled mode the tank was steered
Steering
Steering is the term applied to the collection of components, linkages, etc. which will allow a vessel or vehicle to follow the desired course...
by pivoting the front road wheels. However, Soviet tank forces soon found the convertible option of little practical use in a country with few paved roads, and it consumed space and added needless complexity and weight. The feature was dropped from later Soviet designs.
Christie, a race car mechanic from New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, had tried unsuccessfully to convince the U.S. Army Ordnance Bureau to adopt his Christie tank design. In 1930, Soviet agents at Amtorg, ostensibly a Soviet trade organization, used their New York political contacts to persuade U.S. military and civilian officials to provide plans and specifications of the Christie tank to the Soviet Union. At least two of Christie's M1931 tanks (without turrets
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
) were later purchased in the United States and sent to the Soviet Union under false documentation in which they were described as "agricultural tractors." Both tanks were successfully delivered to the Kharkov Komintern Locomotive Plant (KhPZ). The original Christie tanks were designated fast tanks by the Soviets, abbreviated BT (later referred to as BT-1). Based both on them and on previously obtained plans, three unarmed BT-2 prototypes were completed in October 1931 and mass production began in 1932. Most BT-2s were equipped with a 37 mm gun and a machine gun, but shortages of 37 mm guns led to some early examples being fitted with three machine guns.
The sloping front hull (glacis
Glacis
A glacis in military engineering is an artificial slope of earth used in late European fortresses so constructed as to keep any potential assailant under the fire of the defenders until the last possible moment...
plate) armor design of the Christie M1931 prototype was retained in later Soviet tank hull designs, later adopted for side armor as well.
The BT-5 and later models were equipped with a 45 mm gun.
Variants
- BT-1: Christie prototype with no turret.
- BT-2 Model 1932: M-5-400 engine (copy of U.S. LibertyLiberty L-12The Liberty L-12 was a 27 litre water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine of 400 horsepower designed both for a high power-to-weight ratio and for ease of mass production.-History:...
engine), three modifications of turret produced: with single 37 mm gun; 37 mm gun and one DT machine gun; twin DP machine guns mount and a single machine gun. In late 1932 modified to BT-3 but produced under same designation. - BT-3: same as BT-2, produced according to metric systemMetric systemThe metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
(instead of Imperial system as used for BT-2). In official documentation referred to as BT-2. - BT-4: was a design with welded hull and minor changes in the suspension. 3 prototypes produced (with partially riveted hull)
- BT-5: larger cylindrical turret, 45 mm gun, coaxial DT machine gun.
- BT-5 Model 1933: new turret with twin hatches and larger bustle.
- BT-5PKh: snorkelling variant (prototypes only).
- BT-5A: artillery support version with 76.2 mm howitzer (few made).
- BT-5 flamethrower tank: (prototypes only).
- PT-1A: amphibious variant with new hull (few made).
- BT-7BT-7The BT-7 was the last of the BT tank series of Soviet cavalry tanks that were produced in large numbers between 1935 and 1940. They were lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for their time, and had much better mobility than other contemporary tank designs...
Model 1935: welded hull, redesigned hull front, new Mikulin M-17Mikulin M-17-See also:-External links:* http://avia.russian.ee/air/russia/index.html...
T engine (licensed copy of a BMW engine), enclosed muffler.- BT-7 Model 1937: new turret with sloping armour.
- BT-7TU: command version, with whip antenna instead of earlier frame antenna.
- BT-7A: artillery support version with 76.2 mm howitzer.
- OP-7: flame-thrower version with external fuel panniers (prototype only).
- BT-7MBT-7The BT-7 was the last of the BT tank series of Soviet cavalry tanks that were produced in large numbers between 1935 and 1940. They were lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for their time, and had much better mobility than other contemporary tank designs...
(1938, prototypes designated A-8; sometimes referred to as BT-8): new V-2 diesel engine replacing earlier gasoline engines, three DT machine guns: coaxial, in P-40 AA mount on roof and in a ball-mount on turret rear. - BT-42BT-42The BT-42 was a Finnish assault gun, constructed during the Continuation War. It was constructed from captured Soviet BT-7 light tanks and British 4.5-inch howitzers from 1918, which had been donated during the Winter War...
: Finnish assault gun; captured BT-7s were equipped with British 114 mm howitzers. - BT-IS: Prototype/proof-of-concept platform with heavily sloped armor; forerunner of the armor design on the T-34.
- BT-SW-2 Cherepakha ("turtle"): Another prototype, which took the armour sloping to an extreme.
- A-20: Prototype for a new BT tank, with 20 mm armour, 45mm gun, model V-2 diesel engine, and 8×6-wheel convertible drive. Lost out in trials to the A-32, which was further improved and produced as the T-34 medium tank.
- TTBT-5, TTBT-7: teletankTeletankTeletanks were a series of wireless remotely controlled unmanned robotic tanks produced in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and early 1940s. They saw their first combat use in the Winter war, at the start of World War II. A teletank is controlled by radio from a control tank at a distance of...
s, remote-controlled tanks.
Specifications
| BT-2 | BT-5 | BT-7 | BT-7A | BT-7M (BT-8) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number built | 620 | 2,108 or 5000 |
4,965 or 2000 |
154 | 790 |
| crew | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| weight | 10.2 t Tonne The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI... |
11.5 t | 14 t | 14.5 t | 14.7 t |
| length | 5.58 m | 5.58 m | 5.66 m | 5.66 m | 5.66 m |
| width | 2.23 m | 2.23 m | 2.29 m | 2.29 m | 2.29 m |
| height | 2.20 m | 2.25 m | 2.42 m | 2.52 m | 2.42 m |
| armour | 6–13 mm | 6–13 mm | 6–13 mm | 6–13 mm | 6–22 mm |
| main gun | 37 mm Model 30 |
45 mm Model 32 |
45 mm Model 35 |
76.2 mm Model 27/32 |
45 mm Model 38 |
| main gun ammunition |
96 rounds | 115 rounds | 146 rounds | 50 rounds | 146 rounds |
| machine guns | DT | DT | DT | 2×DT | 3×DT |
| engine power model |
400 hp Horsepower Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the... Liberty |
400 hp M-5 |
500 hp M-17T |
500 hp M-17T |
450 hp V-2 |
| fuel | 400 l Litre pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre... gasoline |
360 l gasoline |
620 l gasoline |
620 l gasoline |
620+170 l diesel |
| road speed | 100 km/h (62.1 mph) | 72 km/h (44.7 mph) | 86 km/h (53.4 mph) | 86 km/h | 86 km/h |
| power:weight Power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement of actual performance of any engine or power sources... |
39 hp/t | 35 hp/t | 36 hp/t | 34 hp/t | 31 hp/t |
| road range | 300 km | 200 km | 250 km | 250 km | 700 km |
| tactical range | 100 km | 90 km | 120 km | 120 km | 400 km |
Combat history
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, Battle of Khalkhin Gol
Battle of Khalkhin Gol
The Battles of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border Wars fought among the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield...
(Nomonhan
Nomonhan
Nomonhan is a small village near the border between Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China south of the Chinese city of Manzhouli.In the summer of 1939 it was the location of the Nomonhan Incident, as it is termed in Japan, or the Battle of Khalkhin Gol as it is known in Soviet and Mongolian People's...
), the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, the Polish campaign
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
, and in the entire World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
They first saw action in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. A battalion of BT-5s fought on the Republican side, and their 45 mm guns could easily knock out the opposing German and Italian light tanks.
Battle of Khalkhin Gol (Nomonhan)
During the Battles of Khalkhin Gol (also known as the NomonhanNomonhan
Nomonhan is a small village near the border between Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China south of the Chinese city of Manzhouli.In the summer of 1939 it was the location of the Nomonhan Incident, as it is termed in Japan, or the Battle of Khalkhin Gol as it is known in Soviet and Mongolian People's...
Incident), which lasted from May to September in 1939, BT tanks were easily attacked by Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese "close quarter" teams (tank killer squads) which were armed with petrol bottles (later called "Molotov Cocktails"). The Soviet BT-5 and BT-7 light tanks, which had been operating in temperatures greater than 100F on the Mongolian
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
plains, easily caught fire when a molotov cocktail ignited their gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
engines. General Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
made it one of his "points" when briefing Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, that his "...BT tanks were a bit fireprone...." Conversely, many Japanese tankers held the Soviet 45mm anti-tank/tank guns in high esteem, noting, "...no sooner did they see the flash from a Russian gun, than they'd notice a hole in their tank, adding that the Soviet gunners were accurate too!"
After the Khalkhin Gol War in 1939, the Soviet military had broken into two camps; one side was represented by Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
veterans General P. V. Rychagov of the Soviet Air Force
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces...
, Soviet armour expert General Dimitry Pavlov, and Stalin's favorite, Marshal Grigory Kulik
Grigory Kulik
Grigory Ivanovich Kulik was a Soviet military commander and was born into a peasant family near Poltava in Ukraine. A soldier in the army of the Russian Empire in World War I, he joined the Bolshevik Party in 1917 and the Red Army in 1918...
, Chief of Artillery Administration. The other side consisted of the Khalkhin Gol veterans led by Generals Zhukov and G.P. Kravchenko
Kravchenko
Kravchenko, also Krawchenko, Krawczenko or Kravtchenko is a common Ukrainian surname, widely found in the former Soviet Union and respective diasporas abroad...
of the Soviet Air Force. Under this cloud of division, the lessons of Russia's "first real war on a massive scale using tanks, artillery, and airplanes" at Nomonhan (Khalkhin Gol) went unheeded. Consequently, during the Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
War (Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
) the BT-2 and BT-5 tanks were less successful, and it took the Soviet Union three and a half months, and over a million men to do what Zhukov did in just ten days at Nomonhan.
After the German war broke out, the Spanish Civil War faction fell in disfavor, with Marshal Kulik in particular being court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
ed and demoted. Gen. Zhukov and the majority of his surviving Nomonhan veterans were appointed to commands throughout European Russia, in time to engage the German armies.
World War II
During the Second World War, BT-5 and BT-7 tanks were used in the 1939 Soviet invasion of PolandSoviet invasion of Poland
Soviet invasion of Poland can refer to:* the second phase of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 when Soviet armies marched on Warsaw, Poland* Soviet invasion of Poland of 1939 when Soviet Union allied with Nazi Germany attacked Second Polish Republic...
, and in large numbers in the battles of 1941 - during which thousands were abandoned or destroyed. A few remained in use in 1942, but were rare after that time. The Red Army planned to replace the BT tank series with the T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
, and had just begun doing so when the German invasion (Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
) took place.
During the final weeks of World War II, a significant number of BT-7 tanks took part in the invasion of Japanese-occupied Manchuria, in August 1945. This was the last combat action of BT tanks.
Technical legacy
The most important legacy of the BT tank was the T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
medium tank, arguably the most important tank of the entire World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In 1937, a new design team was formed at the KhPZ to create the next generation of BT tanks. Initially, the chief designer was Mikhail Koshkin
Mikhail Koshkin
Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin was a Soviet tank designer, chief designer of the famous T-34 medium tank. The T-34 was the most effective and most produced tank of World War II. He started out in life as a candy maker, but then studied engineering...
and, after his death, Morozov. The team built two prototypes. The light one was called the A-20. The more heavily armed and armoured BT derivative, the A-32, was a "universal tank" to replace all the T-26
T-26
The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many conflicts of the 1930s as well as during World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and is widely considered one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s....
infantry tank
Infantry tank
The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British and French in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were tanks designed to support the infantry in the attack. To achieve this they were generally heavily armoured compared to the cruiser tanks, to allow them to operate in...
, BT cavalry tanks, and the T-28
T-28
The Soviet T-28 was among the world's first medium tanks. The prototype was completed in 1931 and production began in late 1932. It was an infantry-support tank intended to break through fortified defences...
medium tanks. Such plan was controversial, but concerns about tank performance under the threat of German blitzkrieg led to the approval for production of a still more heavily-armoured version, the T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
medium tank.
Along the way, an important technical development was the BT-IS and BT-SW-2 testbed vehicles, concentrating on sloped armour
Sloped armour
Sloped armour is armour that is neither in a vertical nor a horizontal position. Such "angled" armour is often mounted on tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles...
. This proof-of-concept led directly to the armour layout of the T-34.
BT tank chassis were also used as the basis for engineering support vehicles and mobility testbeds. A bridgelayer variant had a T-38 turret and launched a bridge across small gaps. Standard tanks were fitted as fascine
Fascine
A fascine is a rough bundle of brushwood used for strengthening an earthen structure, or making a path across uneven or wet terrain. Typical uses are protecting the banks of streams from erosion, covering marshy ground and so on.-Early military use:...
carriers. The RBT-5 hosted a pair of large artillery rocket launchers, one on each side of the turret. Several designs for extremely wide tracks, including, oddly, wooden 'snowshoes' were tried on BT tanks.
The KBT-7 was a thoroughly modern armoured command vehicle that was in the prototype stage when World War II broke out. The design was not pursued during the war.
In the Kiev maneuvers of 1936, foreign military observers were shown hundreds of BT tanks roll by a reviewing stand. In the audience were British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
representatives, who returned home to advocate for use of Christie suspension
Christie suspension
The Christie suspension is a suspension system developed by American engineer Walter Christie for his tank designs. It allowed considerably longer movement than conventional leaf spring systems then in common use, which allowed his tanks to have considerably greater cross-country speed and a lower...
on British cruiser tanks which they incorporated from the Cruiser Mk III
Cruiser Mk III
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk III was a British cruiser tank of the Second World War. It was the first British cruiser tank to use the Christie suspension system which gave higher speeds and better cross-country performance, previous models of cruiser tanks having used triple wheeled bogie...
onwards. Interestingly, the pointed shape of the hull front armor on the BT tank also influenced the design of the British Matilda tank
Matilda tank
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12....
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External links
- BT-2 Tank at the Russian Battlefield
- BT-5 Tank at the Russian Battlefield
- BT-7 Tank at the Russian Battlefield
- BT tanks and their variants at Henk of Holland
- Salvage of BT-7 tank from Neva river
- BT tanks, BT tanks in museum and monuments
- Detailed article about early history of BT tanks automatically translated from Russian