The role of the t 70 tank in WWII. The most massive of the lungs

First fighting in 1941 they showed the Soviet military command the imperfection of the T-60 tank. The anti-tank weapons of Nazi Germany easily pierced the armor of this combat vehicle. In addition, the T-60 was not equipped with the weapons with which you can resist the enemy. The Red Army needed a more powerful and at the same time sufficiently mobile combat vehicle. She became light tank T-70. It entered the history of the Great Patriotic War as one of the most popular types of weapons. This article provides an overview of the T-70 tank.

Start of creation

Light tank T-70 was assembled by the masters of Gorky car factory(GAS). This enterprise specialized in the manufacture of armored vehicles: the plant mass-produced tankettes T-27 and small amphibious tanks T-34A. The well-known military engineer Astrov Nikolai Aleksandrovich became the chief designer and developer of the combat vehicle. In the Great Patriotic War, under his leadership, a whole line of light tanks was created.

The developers did not rule out that after strengthening the armor and armament of the T-70 (tank), in the future it would need more fundamental design changes. There was a concern that an increase in the mass and size of a combat vehicle could adversely affect the operation of its engine and gearbox, which would have to function in an enhanced mode.

It was decided to equip the Soviet T-70 tank with a ZIS-60 engine, the power of which reached 100 hp. With. Such engines were produced in Moscow by the masters of the Stalin plant. Due to the forced evacuation of the ZIS and its employees from Moscow to the city of Miass (Ural), work on the creation of such an engine was somewhat suspended. It was decided to equip new tank engine ZIS-16. Its power was 86 liters. With. Since December 1941, the T-70 tank (the photo below shows the external design features of this combat vehicle) was listed under the factory designation GAZ-70.

Design

In 1941, Astrov N.A. provided his design developments for the T-70 to the Main Armored Directorate of the Red Army. The tank was an armored vehicle based on the T-60, but with significantly enhanced armor and weapons. It was decided to make the power plant by pairing car engines. The first model of the installation (index GAZ-203) was ready by the fall of 1941.

The design process was carried out using a technique typical for the automotive industry: using special aluminum plates, the dimensions of which were 300x700 cm. They, in turn, were divided into squares 20x20 cm. Drawings of all components and parts of internal and appearance T-70. The tank due to the use of this technique was going to quickly enough. All of its components are highly accurate. Using these drawings, both an experimental model of the T-70 tank and the entire first series of these combat vehicles were assembled.

Result

In 1942, the assembly of the T-70 was started. The tank was fully constructed only in February. In the same year he was sent to Moscow. When viewed by representatives of the Main Armored Directorate, shortcomings of the T-70 were revealed. The tank, the characteristics of which slightly exceeded the basic T-60, did not arouse enthusiasm among the members of the commission. In terms of armor protection, it slightly surpassed the T-60, and the presence of a 45-mm gun was leveled, since the tank turret was designed for only one person, who was forced to simultaneously perform the duties of commander, gunner and loader. Astrov N.A. assured the commission that this worthlessness of the T-70 tank would be corrected by March.

Final stage

In March 1942, a modified T-70 tank was sent to Moscow. Photos of this combat vehicle are presented later in the article. As a result of the increase in armor, the lower frontal hull plate was thickened to 0.45 cm, the upper one had a thickness of 0.35 cm. As a result, the design of the tank was approved by the Main Defense Committee, and it was adopted by the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army as the T-70 - light tank. The photo shows the external design of the tank.

Production

According to the decision of the Main Committee of Defense, the manufacture of the T-70 should be carried out by GAZ and factories No. 37 and 38. However, at first these enterprises did not start producing cast towers. They were made in other factories. According to the April T-70 production plan, GAZ workers assembled 50 tanks. At the Kirov plant No. 38, only 7 were assembled. In Sverdlovsk, at the enterprise No. 37 lung assembly the tank was never set up. The body of the tank was made by the workers of the locomotive plant in Murmansk.

Housing device

In the manufacture of a welded faceted tower T-70, rolled sheets are used. Their thickness is 3.5 and 4.5 cm. They provided differentiated bulletproof armor protection. Rivets are used to reinforce welds. For a welded faceted turret, steel sheets 3.5 cm thick are used. The tank turret was in the form of a truncated pyramid, for installation of which a ball bearing is used. Its location is the middle part in the tank hull. To strengthen the tower, the designers used armor squares. They were intended specifically for welded joints between the rolled sheets of the tower. Armored plates were used for manufacturing. In the tank, they were connected to each other by welding.

In the upper part of the hull was a hatch, which was used by the driver. Boarding and disembarking was carried out through the hatch. The bottom of the tank was equipped with an emergency hatch - a manhole. In the first version of the tank, the manhole cover was equipped with a special viewing slot. In the future, it was decided to replace it with a rotary mirror periscope observation device. With the help of this device, the commander could carry out a circular view.

machine structure

The T-70 consisted of five squads:

Transmission.
Managerial.
Motor (starboard).
Combat (tank turret and port side).
Aft, designed to accommodate fuel tanks and a radiator.

Armament

The combat vehicle is equipped with:

45 mm cannon (model 1938). A slight offset of the gun from the longitudinal axis of the tower provided the convenience of the commander.
Twin machine gun. It is located to the left of the gun. Could be used for circular firing.

The tank was designed for firing, the line height of which was 154 cm. Shooting was carried out using telescopic and mechanical sights. Mechanical was used as a backup. The T-70 at direct fire could fire at a distance of up to one kilometer.

The gun was intended for firing at a distance of 4 km 800 m. Aimed fire was possible at a distance not exceeding 3 km 600 m. The rate of fire was 12 rounds per minute.

The turret was rotated using a special gear mechanism installed to the left of the commander. The place of the screw lifting mechanism was located to the right of the commander. Foot control was provided. For this purpose, special pedals are provided. It was possible to fire a shot from a tank gun using the right pedal. The left pedal was provided for the operation of the coaxial machine gun.

The T-70 gun was designed for 90 shots. In her ammunition there were armor-piercing and fragmentation shells. The coaxial tank machine gun contains 945 rounds of ammunition.

To accommodate twenty cannon ammunition, the designers created special stores. The location of the shells in these compartments ensured the convenient work of the tank commander. For the remaining seventy ammunition, standard stacking was intended. They were placed in the fighting compartment along the sides of the tank. During firing with an armor-piercing projectile, the extraction of cartridge cases was provided by automation. Due to the low initial rate of fire of a fragmentation projectile, the barrel recoil had a shorter length - it was not enough for the full operation of the automation. As a result, after firing with fragmentation ammunition, the extraction of the cartridge case was carried out by hand.

Theoretically, the T-70 was capable of firing 12 shots within one minute. In practice, the rate of fire was determined by lower rates: no more than five shots. This is explained by the lack of a loader and the need to manually extract the cartridge cases.

Power plant device

In the power plant GAZ-203, the designers used two four-stroke six-cylinder carburetor engines GAZ-202. Their total power was 140 liters. With. In these engines, the crankshafts were connected to each other using a coupling containing elastic bushings. To prevent lateral vibrations power plant, the designers connected the crankcase in the front engine and the starboard thrust. The ignition process was carried out using a battery system. Each engine was equipped with lubrication and fuel systems. The T-70 provides for the presence of two gas tanks. Their total capacity was 440 liters. Their location is on the left side in the aft compartment. For this purpose, the tank was equipped with a special compartment isolated with armored partitions.

Transmission

The tank transmission included:

Semi-centrifugal double disc main clutch.
Four-speed gearbox (automotive type).
Main gear containing a bevel gear.
Side clutches (two pieces) using band brakes.
Two single row final drives.

In the manufacture of the gearbox, parts of ZIS-5 trucks were used.

Truck

Each side of the tank was equipped with:

A drive wheel containing removable teeth, which provided the lantern gear.
Five single-sided rubber-coated track rollers.
Three supporting all-metal rollers.
A guide wheel containing a special crank mechanism, which ensured the tension of the bead caterpillar.
One small-sized caterpillar. It contained 91 tracks. The track width is 26 cm.

The tank propulsion system used an individual torsion bar suspension.

Means of communication

The combat vehicle was equipped with 9R and 12RT radios. Their location was the tower. T-70s were also equipped with internal intercoms TPU-2F. The commander could maintain internal communication with the mechanic and with the help of a light signal device, which was equipped with the T-70 tank.

Specifications

Tank length - 4.29 m.
The width of the tank was 2.3 m.
Height - 2.5 m.
The mass of the T-70 tank reached 9.2 tons.
The cruising range of the combat vehicle on a dirt road was 235 km.
On the highway - 350 km.
The T-70 had a speed of 42 km/h.
The average pressure on the ground was 0.67 kg/cm 2 .

Modification

Serial production of the T-70 was carried out in two versions:

Standard T-70. The weight of the combat unit was 9.2 tons.
The T-70M tank was a machine with an improved undercarriage: design changes affected the road wheels and tracks. If in the T-70 the width of the tracks was 26 cm, then in the T-70M tank it reached 30 cm. Also in the new version, the designers reinforced the torsion bar suspensions. The mass of the T-70M increased to 9.8 tons. The ammunition load is designed for 70 shots from a cannon.

By 1943, 8226 T-70 and T-70M units had been assembled.

Who used combat vehicles?

Combat vehicles T-70, T-70M and T-34 were in service with tank brigades and regiments of mixed organization. Each brigade had 32 T-34s and 21 T-70s (T-70M). These brigades functioned separately or could be part of mechanized corps. The tank regiment had 23 T-34s and 16 T-70s. The regiments could be part of a mechanized brigade or represent independent military formations.

In the spring of 1944, the T-70 combat vehicles were withdrawn from the Red Army. Despite this, some brigades, self-propelled artillery battalions and regiments used the T-70 as training and command vehicles. Often they were used to complete tank units of motorcycle units. Thus, the activity of the T-70 was not stopped in 1944. This fighting machine remained still quite in demand until the end of the Great Patriotic War.

First battle baptism

The 4th had a chance to test the T-70 tank corps 21st Army of the Southwestern Front in June 1942. This corps was armed with 145 units of combat armored vehicles. Of these, 30 T-70. After the first combat battle, all these units were destroyed. This was explained by experts both by the low ability of the T-70 to withstand enemy armored vehicles, and by imperfect combat tactics. Further battles showed that this light tank also had advantages: it was small in size and very mobile.

In January 1943, on the Voronezh Front, with the help of a T-70 going to ram Wehrmacht armored vehicles, two German tanks were destroyed in an open battle. As a result of a successful attack, the German commander and chief of staff in charge of the 100th tank battalion were captured special purpose enemy. In the future, a similar technique was used by many T-70 crews. This Soviet tank successfully rammed not only cars, armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, but also Wehrmacht tanks.

During the successful Lgovskaya operation in 1943, carried out using the T-70, 4 enemy armored vehicles were destroyed, 32 people were taken prisoner. No T-70 losses were recorded.

For the entire combat activity T-70 tanks suffered the heaviest losses during the Battle of Kursk in 1943. 122 armored vehicles took part in the battle. Of the 70 T-70 vehicles, 35 units were put out of action by the enemy. 28 of them were completely destroyed.

The armies of what countries used?

The T-70 was used not only by units of the Red Army. 10 of these combat vehicles were transferred to the Czechoslovak Corps. 53 units were used by the Polish Army. The captured T-70 and T-70M were used by the Wehrmacht. Captured Soviet tanks were renamed T-70(r). They were applied infantry divisions and police departments. The anti-tank units of the Wehrmacht used this tank as a towing vehicle for 75-mm guns.

Strengths and weaknesses of the equipment

Due to its high mobility, this tank was an ideal combat vehicle for pursuing the enemy.
The operation of the T-70 engine, unlike other small tanks, was completely silent (reminiscent of the sound of a car). This quality of the tank and its small size allowed him to imperceptibly approach close to the enemy.
A high crew survivability was ensured when enemy shells hit the T-70 tank. Combat use showed that when German artillery shells hit this light tank, the risk of fire was reduced. This is due to the fact that the location of the fuel tanks in the T-70 was a special compartment, closed by armored bulkheads.
Since the T-70 is characterized by a simple design, its development was not difficult. It could also be repaired in the field. Even poorly trained drivers could drive this tank.

The disadvantages of the T-70 include:

Increased vulnerability of its front (driving) wheels.
The tank had a low aimed rate of fire. This is due to the fact that in the crew one person during the battle had to be both a gunner and a loader. As a result, in 1943, the production of the T-70 was stopped. Its place was taken by the T-80 - a more improved model: the tower of this combat vehicle was designed for two people. The transmission, control units and other indicators of the T-80 were similar to the T-70.

During the Great Patriotic War, light tanks T-70 proved their high efficiency. Today, these combat vehicles can be seen in memorials and military museums in Russia and the CIS countries.

Hello to all fans of fighting in the sandbox, the site is with you! Tankers and tankers, now we will talk about a really worthwhile little machine, a Soviet light tank third level, in front of you T-70 guide.

Without exaggeration, I hasten to inform you that among the huge variety of light equipment at the third level, this device can really please its owner. T-70 WoT has an impressive number of advantages that will allow the player to "bend over" in the sandbox and have a lot of fun, but for this, you must know your tank well.

TTX T-70

According to the already established tradition, we will begin with the fact that our light tank there is a standard view by the standards of classmates, and also a weak Soviet viewing range of 310 meters.

It is noteworthy that, unlike most classmates, our survival rate is quite good, but with nuances. First of all, at T-70 characteristics frontal armor is impressive.

If we talk about the frontal projection of the hull, then due to the excellent slope of the armor plates, the upper frontal part T-70 World of Tanks it has 72 millimeters of armor over the entire area, and a small red square on the model's collage is also reinforced, here the thickness of the metal reaches 113 millimeters. At the same time, it is better to hide the NLD, because this is only a 51-mm section that can ricochet, but on the whole it breaks through easily.

The turret is protected from the front by a large 50 mm gun mantlet, behind which light tank T-70 it has about 86 millimeters of reduced armor, and a small “shelf” above the mask boasts 98 millimeters of reduced armor, but the cheeks break through easily, but fortunately they are quite small.

A completely different picture opens up when examining the side projection, since the sides of T-70 World of Tanks even thinner than the stern, because there is a miserable 15 millimeters of armor without slopes, which breaks through not only land mines, but also small-caliber machine guns. However, this does not mean that the stern can be substituted, both of these projections are vulnerable and need to be hidden.

In terms of mobility, everything is relative, because top speed T-70 tank develops a decent, and also has excellent maneuverability. But in terms of dynamics, we are inferior to many classmates, although we cannot call the car slow or tight, in this regard we are more like a dynamic medium tank.

gun

It's no secret that armament is the main component of any tank, and in our case the gun is really good, it deserves not only attention, but also respect.

First of all, you must know that T-70 gun alphastrike has an average level, but also has a high rate of fire, thanks to which we have the opportunity to deal decent damage per minute, which is approximately 1320 units.

In terms of penetration, our gun is really good, even with an armor-piercing projectile T-70 WoT able to confidently deal damage to classmates and most of the fourth levels. Fives can also be dealt with, but for skirmishes with heavy tanks, you should have about 15 gold sub-calibers with you.

Accuracy did not let us down either, although not everything here is as smooth as we would like. Soviet light tank T-70 has at its disposal a good spread at 100 meters, but the stabilization of our gun is poor and it takes quite a long time to reduce, that is, something needs to be done about it.

In general, all indicators of weapons T-70 tank received good ones, but there is one serious flaw - vertical aiming angles. Downward, our barrel drops only 4 degrees, which is very sad and it will be really difficult to play from the terrain.

Advantages and disadvantages

As you all perfectly understand, from the knowledge of the strong and weaknesses The vehicle you use to go into battle depends on a lot. First of all, you will better understand which modules and skills you should bet on, but also in building tactics this question can help a lot, so now we will highlight the main pros and cons T-70 World of Tanks.
Pros:
Good frontal armor;
Decent mobility (maximum speed and maneuverability);
Impressive damage per minute;
High penetration rates;
Nice spread at 100 meters.
Minuses:
Small base viewing range;
Poor booking of sides and stern;
Low one-time damage;
Mediocre mixing and stabilization;
Poor elevation angles.

Equipment for T-70

Despite the fact that at the third level the choice additional modules is very limited, it is possible and necessary to strengthen the tank, especially since everything necessary for this device, in principle, is available. For maximum results on tank T-70 equipment it is better to put the following:
1. - as you can see from the list of shortcomings, this device needs to improve the speed of information, which we will deal with first of all.
2. is a good and thoughtful choice that will give a 5% boost to the most important stats, improving damage, accuracy and slightly increasing vision.
3. - there is no point in inventing something, because you can radically increase the viewing range and gain an advantage over the enemy only by choosing this module.

Crew training

A properly trained crew with enough skills at level three is a colossal advantage that you should strive for if you really want to conquer the sandbox. The problem is that our crew consists of only two people, but even in such circumstances for the T-70 it is better to learn the perks in the following sequence:
Commander (gunner, radio operator, loader) - , , , .
Driver mechanic - , , , .

Equipment for the T-70

As always, the process of purchasing consumables remains standard, and therefore simple and understandable. If you don't have enough silver in your supply or you are saving up for a tank, take , , . However, in combat, you will feel much more confident if you buy for T-70 equipment in the form of,, especially understanding the problems with the shell shock of such a multifunctional commander. By the way, a Soviet tank burns infrequently, so you can also replace a fire extinguisher with one.

T-70 game tactics

From the foregoing, you could form an opinion about this device, and I must say that the machine in our hands is really worthwhile, capable of crushing enemies in the sandbox, but for this you need to act correctly.

I want to say right away that our most comfortable Soviet light tank T-70 feels at the top of the list, because here our armor shows itself with the best side. In order to confidently deal with the enemy, you should always turn your forehead to him and the body can be turned quite a bit so as not to substitute a vulnerable side, but to increase the reduced armor of the VLD.

Of course, fighting at the top of the list for T-70 tactics combat is to take a position on the front line, where, hiding your NLD and hiding from enemy artillery, you can confidently tank, holding back or pushing the direction along with the allies.

However, when it comes to battles against the fourth and even more so the fifth levels, on your armor T-70 World of Tanks can no longer rely so blindly. In such cases, we become good tank support, which is able to deal excellent damage from behind the backs of stronger teammates.

No less confident T-70 tank feels like standing on the second line, because this tactic is much safer and allows you to deal damage with impunity. Fortunately, for remote firing, we have pleasant accuracy and good penetration, all that remains is to glow less and target vulnerable areas in the enemy’s armor.

As a conclusion, I would like to say that T-70 WoT- This is one of the few cars at the third level, which is comfortable and pleasant to play. Otherwise, try to keep an eye on the mini-map, beware of artillery and formidable Tier 5 vehicles, and don't expose the sides and stern to the enemies.

Hello to all fans of fighting in the sandbox, the site is with you! Tankers and tankers, now we will talk about a really worthwhile little car, a Soviet light tank of the third level, in front of you T-70 guide.

TTX T-70

According to the already established tradition, we will start with the fact that our light tank has a standard view by the standards of classmates, as well as the Soviet weak viewing range of 310 meters.

It is noteworthy that, unlike most classmates, our survival rate is quite good, but with nuances. First of all, at T-70 characteristics frontal armor is impressive.

In terms of mobility, everything is relative, because the maximum speed T-70 tank develops a decent, and also has excellent maneuverability. But in terms of dynamics, we are inferior to many classmates, although we cannot call the car slow or tight, in this regard we are more like a dynamic medium tank.

gun

It's no secret that armament is the main component of any tank, and in our case the gun is really good, it deserves not only attention, but also respect.

Advantages and disadvantages

As you all perfectly understand, a lot depends on knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the vehicle on which you go into battle. First of all, you will better understand which modules and skills you should bet on, but this question can also help a lot in building tactics, so now we will highlight the main pros and cons T-70 World of Tanks.
Pros:
Good frontal armor;
Decent mobility (maximum speed and maneuverability);
Impressive damage per minute;
High penetration rates;
Nice spread at 100 meters.
Minuses:
Small base viewing range;
Poor booking of sides and stern;
Low one-time damage;
Mediocre mixing and stabilization;
Poor elevation angles.

Equipment for T-70

Despite the fact that at the third level the choice of additional modules is very limited, it is possible and necessary to strengthen the tank, especially since everything necessary for this vehicle is, in principle, available. For maximum results on tank T-70 equipment it is better to put the following:
1. - as you can see from the list of shortcomings, this device needs to improve the speed of information, which we will deal with first of all.
2. is a good and thoughtful choice that will give a 5% boost to the most important stats, improving damage, accuracy and slightly increasing vision.
3. - there is no point in inventing something, because you can radically increase the viewing range and gain an advantage over the enemy only by choosing this module.

Crew training

Equipment for the T-70

T-70 game tactics

I want to say right away that our most comfortable Soviet light tank T-70 feels at the top of the list, because here our armor shows its best side. In order to confidently deal with the enemy, you should always turn your forehead to him and the body can be turned quite a bit so as not to substitute a vulnerable side, but to increase the reduced armor of the VLD.

However, when it comes to battles against the fourth and even more so the fifth levels, on your armor T-70 World of Tanks can no longer rely so blindly. In such cases, we turn into a good support tank, which is able to do excellent damage from behind the backs of stronger teammates.

Second in mass after the T-34 Soviet tank period of the Great Patriotic War was a light tank T-70.

Already in October 1941 it became clear that new lightweight the T-60 tank, whose serial production began a month earlier, is almost useless on the battlefield. His armor was easily penetrated by all Wehrmacht anti-tank weapons, and his own weapons were too weak to deal with enemy tanks. It was not possible to strengthen both without a fundamental change in the design. The engine and gearbox were already overworked. 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.

CREATION

The design of the new tank at the GAZ Design Bureau began at the end of October 1941. 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 cannon, the power of weapons was leveled by the location in the tower of one person - a jack of all trades, both pointing and loading, - the commander. Chief designer N. A. Astrov promised in the shortest time correct deficiencies. Quite quickly, it was possible to increase the armor, bringing the thickness of the lower frontal hull plate to 45 mm, and the upper to 35 mm. As a result, by a GKO decree of March 6, 1942, the new combat vehicle was adopted by the Red Army under the symbol T-70. Two days later, the GKO decree on the production of the tank saw the light, according to which plants No. 37 and No. 38 were involved in its production since April. However, reality did not allow these plans to be fully realized. So, 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 tower and GAZ had to hastily provide other plants with documentation for welded tower. 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, while Plant No. 37 failed to assemble them either by April or later.

PRODUCTION

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 track rollers, 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 also increased. The number of tracks in the caterpillar was reduced from 91 to 80 units. 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 on the highway decreased to 250 km. Gun ammunition was reduced to 70 shots.

From the end of December 1942, Plant No. 38 stopped producing tanks and switched to the production of self-propelled units SU-76. 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 release was accompanied by great difficulties. From June 5 to June 14, the plant was subjected to concentrated German air strikes. 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 seriously 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 was already 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 SU-76M self-propelled guns. In total, in 1942-1943, 8226 tanks of the T-70 and T-70M modifications were produced.

Design description

The layout of the T-70 light tank repeated the layout schemes of almost all predecessor tanks. light class and did not fundamentally differ from that of the T-60 tank.

The driver was located in the bow of the hull at the left side. The rotating turret, also shifted to the port side, housed the tank commander. 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 located in front.

HULL TOWER, RESERVATION

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 of the hull 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 tower, 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 tower walls were reinforced with armor squares. The frontal part had a cast swinging mask with loopholes for the installation of a gun, machine gun and sight. An entrance hatch for the tank commander was made in the roof of the turret. A periscopic mirror observation device was installed in the armored hatch cover, which provided the commander with a circular view. In addition, the lid had a hatch for flag signaling.

WEAPONS

On the T-70 tank, a 45-mm tank gun mod. 1938 and to the left of her coaxial machine gun DT. 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°. Sights were used for firing: telescopic TMFP (a TOP sight was installed on some of the tanks) and a mechanical one as a backup. Sighting range firing was 3600 m, maximum - 4800 m.

When using a mechanical sight, only direct fire was possible at a distance of no more than 1000 m. The rate of fire of the gun was 12 rds / min. The gear mechanism for turning the turret was mounted to the left of the commander, and the screw lifting mechanism of the twin installation was mounted to the right. The trigger mechanism of the gun was foot, the gun was lowered by pressing the right pedal, and the machine gun - on the left. 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). starting speed armor-piercing projectile weighing 1.42 kg was 760 m / s, fragmentation weighing 2.13 kg - 335 m / s. After firing an armor-piercing projectile fired cartridge case 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.

ENGINE, TRANSMISSION, UNDERCARRIAGE

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 capacity of 140 hp. With. The crankshafts of the engines were connected by a coupling with elastic bushings. flywheel housing front engine to prevent transverse vibrations of the power unit, it was connected by a rod to the starboard side. 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-disk semi-centrifugal main clutch of dry friction (steel over ferrodo); four-speed box automotive type gears (4+1), main gear with bevel gear; two side clutches with belt brakes and two simple single-row final drives. The main clutch and gearbox were assembled from parts borrowed from the ZIS-5 truck.

The tank propulsion unit for one side included: a drive wheel with a removable lantern gear, 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 track roller were unified. The width of the cast track track was 260 mm. Suspension - individual torsion bar.

PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE T-70 TANK

Combat weight, t: 9.2
Crew, people: 2
Overall dimensions, mm:
length: 4285
width: 2420
height: 2035
ground clearance: 300
Armament: 1 x 45 mm 20K cannon and 1 x 7.62 mm DT machine gun
Booking, mm:
hull forehead (top): 35 mm
hull forehead (bottom): 45 mm
hull side: 15 mm
hull feed: 25 mm
tower: 35 mm
roof: 10 mm
bottom: 10 mm
Engine: 2 x GAZ-202, gasoline, 6-cylinder, liquid-cooled, with a total capacity of 140 liters. With.
Max speed, km/h: 45
Power reserve, km: 250

Design and production

As early as October 1941, it became clear that the new T-60 light tank, whose serial production had begun a month earlier, was almost useless on the battlefield. His armor was easily penetrated by all Wehrmacht anti-tank weapons, and his own weapons were too weak to deal with enemy tanks. It was not possible to strengthen both without a fundamental change in the design. The engine and gearbox were already overworked. 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 a ZIS-16 engine with a power of 86 hp did not save the situation. With its development, not everything went smoothly, and time did not wait.

In parallel with plant No. 37, work on the creation of a new light tank was launched at the Gorky Automobile Plant. There was nothing unusual in this development of events - this enterprise already had experience in the production armored vehicles, engaged in the serial production of tankettes T-27 and small amphibious tanks T-37A in the 1930s. A number of prototypes of armored vehicles were also designed and manufactured here. In September 1941, the plant received a task to organize the mass production of the T-60 light tank, for which a separate structural division of tank production and the corresponding design bureau were created at GAZ. In the early days of September chief designer plant No. 37 N.A. Astrov drove under his own power from Moscow to Gorky a prototype of the T-60 tank, which was to be used at GAZ as a standard. Sam N.A. Astrov 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 sparks, 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 managed to bring the resource of the twin power unit 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 combat vehicles 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 assembly. prototype and even the entire first series of cars

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. As a result, by a GKO decree of March 6, 1942, the new combat vehicle was adopted by the Red Army under the symbol T-70. Two days later, the GKO decree on the production of the 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. So, 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 tower, and GAZ had to hastily provide other plants with documentation for a welded tower. 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.

Layout and device

Layout new car did not fundamentally differ from that of the T-60 tank. The driver was located in the bow of the hull at the left side. The rotating turret, also shifted to the port side, housed the tank commander. In the middle part of the hull along the starboard side on a common frame, two engines were installed in series, 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 tower, 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 tower walls were reinforced with armored corners. The frontal part had a cast mask with loopholes for the installation of a gun, machine gun and sight. An entrance hatch for the tank commander was made in the roof of the tower. A periscopic mirror observation device was installed in the armored hatch cover, which provided the commander with a circular view. In addition, the lid had a hatch for flag signaling.

On the T-70 tank, a 45-mm tank gun mod. 1938 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°. Sights were used for shooting: telescopic TMFP (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 rate of fire of the gun was 12 rounds per minute. The gear mechanism for turning the turret was mounted to the left of the commander, and the screw lifting mechanism of the twin installation was mounted to 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 disks). 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 track roller were unified. The width of the cast track track was 260 mm. Suspension - individual torsion bar.

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 track rollers, 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 pcs. 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 release was accompanied by great difficulties. From 5 to 14 June, the plant was attacked by German aircraft. 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 somewhat decreased - only in August it was possible to block the May production volume. But the age of the light tank was already 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 SU-76M self-propelled guns. In total, in 1942-1943, 8226 tanks of the T-70 and T-70M modifications were produced.

Light tank T-70 in battles

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 tank and mechanized corps or be separate. A tank regiment was armed with 23 T-34s and 16 T-70s. At the same time, regiments could be part of mechanized brigades or be separate. By the spring of 1944, the T-70 light tanks were expelled from the states. tank units 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. Tanks T-70 and T-70M took part in the fighting until the end of the Great Patriotic War

Baptism of fire tanks T-70 received during the fighting on southwest direction in June-July 1942 and suffered serious losses. Already the first battles revealed the low combat qualities of the new light tanks, the armament of which did not allow them to fight German medium tanks (the share of light combat vehicles in the Wehrmacht was rapidly declining), and the armor protection was insufficient when used as tanks for direct 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 merits of the "seventies". According to some tank commanders, the T-70 was the best suited for pursuing a 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 Panther!

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 tower German tank 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.


Tanks T-70 in the battles of the Great Patriotic War

Tank T-70M in the military museum of Verkhnyaya Pyshma