PPG tankette
Encyclopedia
The PPG tankette also known by the prototype name Obiekt 217, was a Soviet tankette
produced for fighting in Finland. This vehicle never saw combat.
Soviet infantry took huge losses attacking Finnish fortifications in the Winter War
. To compensate, they sometimes assaulted them in armoured sledges towed by tanks. The PPG tankette was an attempt to create an infantry carrier to fulfil this role. About a hundred were produced at the Kirov Factory in Leningrad in 1940 and rushed to the front, but didn't make it to Finland
in time to be used in combat.
The PPG tankette had partial armoured cover of 5 to 8 mm thickness protecting the front and sides, for two infantrymen riding in a prone position. It was armed with two 7.62mm DT machine guns. The tankette was powered by a twenty-five horsepower motorcycle engine allowing it to reach a speed of about 25 km/h, and weighed about 2.5 tonnes.
Tankette
A tankette is a tracked combat vehicle resembling a small tank roughly the size of a car, mainly intended for light infantry support or reconnaissance. Colloquially it may also simply mean a "small tank"....
produced for fighting in Finland. This vehicle never saw combat.
Soviet infantry took huge losses attacking Finnish fortifications in 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...
. To compensate, they sometimes assaulted them in armoured sledges towed by tanks. The PPG tankette was an attempt to create an infantry carrier to fulfil this role. About a hundred were produced at the Kirov Factory in Leningrad in 1940 and rushed to the front, but didn't make it to 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...
in time to be used in combat.
The PPG tankette had partial armoured cover of 5 to 8 mm thickness protecting the front and sides, for two infantrymen riding in a prone position. It was armed with two 7.62mm DT machine guns. The tankette was powered by a twenty-five horsepower motorcycle engine allowing it to reach a speed of about 25 km/h, and weighed about 2.5 tonnes.