LIGHT T-26 TANK (DOUBLE-TOPPED) - MILITARY EQUIPMENT

The Soviet light tank T-26 in a double-tower modification is a technical development of the British Vickers McE tank purchased by the Soviet government as part of the program for the renewal of the Red Army's tank fleet. In the process of researching and adapting the British machine to the needs and technical capabilities of mass production, Soviet designers introduced a number of innovations and changes to the original design of the machine.

Serial production and years of release

After a long period of testing against the background of the deteriorating international situation in Europe in February 1931, the Soviet military leadership decided to adopt this armored vehicle.

Having received the T-26 index, the tank went into series as the main tank of the mechanized units of the Red Army and the escort vehicle of infantry units. The light tank T-26 had a classic layout, however, in contrast to the traditional one-tower scheme, two turrets were installed on the machine, which are the main firing points. The machine was mass-produced at the Bolshevik plant in Leningrad from 1931 to 1933.

Soviet double-tower light tanks T-26 at a military training ground near Moscow. September 1932

Total army units of the Red Army received 1627 vehicles, creating the first mechanized backbone of the Red Army.

TTH of the Soviet light tank T-26

Crew - 3 people.
Combat weight - 8.2 tons.
Length - 4.62 m, width - 2.44 m, height - 2.19 m, ground clearance - 380 mm.
Armament: 2h7,62-mm machine gun (ammunition - 6489 rounds).
Armor thickness: a case forehead - 15 mm, a board - 15 mm, a tower - 15 mm.
Carburetor engine, power - 90 hp
The maximum speed is 30 km / h.
Cruising on the highway - 225 km.
Overcoming obstacles: a wall - 0.75 m, a ditch - 2 m.

The light tank T-26 double-tower was actively used in 1936-38 in the course of the armed conflict in Spain. Soviet tank units equipped with T-26 tanks participated in the defeat of the Japanese troops on the r. Khalkin-Gol and Lake Hassan. A small number of these machines took part in the Winter War of 1939-40 and in the border battles of the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War.