The most massive of the lungs. The most massive of the light Tank t 70 of the second world
Already in October 1941, it became clear that the new light tank The T-60, which began serial production 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.
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 the ZIS-16 engine with a power of 86 hp did not save the situation. With its development, not everything went smoothly either, and time did not wait.
In parallel with the plant number 37, work on the creation of a new light tank deployed at the Gorky Automobile Plant. There was nothing unusual in such a development of events - this enterprise already had experience in the production armored vehicles doing serial production 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 the task of organizing the mass production of the T-60 light tank, for which a separate structural subdivision tank production and the corresponding design bureau In early September chief designer plant number 37 N.A. Astrov overtook under its own power from Moscow to Gorky prototype the T-60 tank, which was to be used at GAZ as a standard. N.A. Astrov himself 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 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 twins, 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, the resource of the twin power unit was brought 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 7x3 m, painted with white enamel and divided into squares measuring 200x200 mm. To reduce the drawing area and improve its accuracy by main view- longitudinal section - a plan was superimposed, 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 the assembly of the prototype and even the entire first series of machines.
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 turret was also developed. The assembly of the tank began in January 1942 of the year and, for a number of reasons, was rather slow. It was completed only 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 only slightly surpassed 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 the shortest time eliminate the shortcomings 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 the 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. For example, new tank required twice as many engines as the T-60. It was not possible to establish the production of a cast turret, and GAZ had to hastily provide other plants with documentation for a welded turret. 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.
Layout new car did not fundamentally differ from that of the T-60 tank. The driver was located in the bow of the hull near 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, two engines were installed in series on a common frame, 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 with a thickness of 6,10,15, 25, 35 and 45 mm. Welded seams were reinforced with riveting. Frontal and aft hull plates had rational angles of inclination. In the upper frontal sheet there was a driver's hatch, in the cover 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. Welded joints the walls of the tower 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 periscope mirror observation device was installed in the armored hatch cover, which provided the commander with a circular view. In addition, there was a hatch for flag signaling in the cover.
On the T-70 tank, a 45-mm tank gun mod 1938 was installed 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 firing line was 1540 mm. Sighting range firing was 3600 m, 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 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 gun (of which 20 shots were in the store) and 945 rounds for the DT machine gun (15 disks). starting speed armor-piercing projectile weighing 1.42 kg was 760 m/s, fragmentation mass 2.13 kg - 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 main clutch of dry friction (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 propulsion tank in relation to one side included a drive wheel with a removable ring gear, five single-sided rubber-coated road wheels and three all-metal support rollers, a steering wheel with a crank tensioning mechanism for the caterpillar and a small-link caterpillar of 91 tracks. The design of the guide wheel and the track roller were unified. The width of the cast track track was 260 mm. Suspension - individual torsion bar.
Commander tanks were equipped with a 9R or 12RT radio station located in the turret and an internal intercom TPU-2F. Line tanks were equipped with a light-signal 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 undercarriage 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, support rollers, stopping brakes and final drives were 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 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 production was accompanied by great difficulties. From June 5 to June 14, the plant was subjected to German air raids. 2170 bombs were dropped on the Avtozavodsky district of Gorky, 1540 of them - 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 was it possible to block the May production volume. But the age of the light tank had already been 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 self-propelled guns SU-76M. In total, in 1942-1943, 8226 tanks of the T-70 and T-70M modifications were produced.
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. tank regiment were in service 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, 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 SU-76 as command vehicles. Often they were equipped with tank units in motorcycle units T-70 and T-70M tanks took part in hostilities until the end of World War II.
The T-70 tanks received their baptism of fire during the battles in the South-West direction in June-July 1942 and suffered serious losses. The first battles revealed the low combat qualities of the new light tanks, whose armament did not allow them to fight German medium vehicles in the Wehrmacht was rapidly declining), and the armor protection was insufficient when used as close infantry support tanks. In addition, the presence of only two tankers in the crew, one of which was extremely overloaded. 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 by the Battle of Kursk - the ability to survive, not to mention emerge victorious, in an open battle with new German heavy tanks, the T-70 was close to zero. At the same time, the positive merits of the "seventies" were also noted in the troops. 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 collisions with enemy tanks, the T-70 crews had to show miracles of ingenuity. Much also depended on the crew's knowledge of the features of their vehicle, its advantages and disadvantages. In the hands of skilled tankers, the T-70 was formidable. So, 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”). 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.
In the fall of 1942, specialists from the Gorky Automobile Plant developed a deeply modernized version light tank, which received a new designation T-70M, and began preparations for its production.
Fact: "Initially, when designing, the tank received the designation T-70B."
The modernized tank was distinguished by a thoroughly modified chassis, increased width (from 260 to 300 mm) and step of the tracks, the width of the road wheels, an increased diameter of the suspension torsion bars and gear rims of the drive wheels, as well as a modified final drive. In addition, the support rollers, stop rollers and final drives were reinforced, the number of tracks in the caterpillar was reduced from 91 to 80, and the gun ammunition load was reduced to 70 rounds.
The place of the driver-mechanic was located in the bow of the hull at the left side, and the place of the tank commander was in a rotating turret shifted to the left side. 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 in front.
The body of the T-70M tank was welded from rolled armor plates, which had a thickness of 6, 10, 15, 25, 35 and 45 mm. In especially critical places, the welds were reinforced with riveting. The frontal and aft sheets of the armored hull had rational angles of inclination. A welded faceted turret made of armor plates 35 mm thick was mounted on a ball bearing in the middle part of the hull. The welded joints of the tower were reinforced with armor squares. The frontal part of the tower had a cast swinging mask with loopholes for the installation of a gun, a machine gun and a telescopic sight. An entrance hatch for the tank commander was made in the roof of the turret. A periscope mirror observation device was installed in the armored hatch cover, which provided the commander with an all-round view. Also in the lid there was a hatch for a flag alarm.
As armament, a 45-mm tank gun of the 1938 model was installed and to the left of it a coaxial DT machine gun. The gun was shifted to the right of the longitudinal axis of the turret, which provided greater convenience for the commander. The gear turret traverse mechanism was mounted to the left of the commander, and the twin-mount screw hoist to the right. The gun had a trigger foot mechanism, which was carried out by pressing the right pedal, and the machine gun - on the left. The ammunition load consisted of 90 shots with armor-piercing and fragmentation shells for the cannon and 945 rounds for the DT machine gun.
The GAZ-203 engine was chosen as the power plant of the T-70M tank, which consisted of two four-stroke six-cylinder GAZ-202 carburetor engines with a total power of 140 hp. The crankshafts of the engines were connected by means of a coupling with elastic bushings. The flywheel crankcase of the front engine was connected by a link to the starboard side, which made it possible to prevent lateral vibrations. For each engine, the battery ignition system, lubrication system and fuel system were independent. The tank was equipped with two fuel tanks with a total capacity of 440 liters, which 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, a four-speed automotive-type gearbox, a bevel gear final drive, 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 propeller on each side included: drive wheels with a removable lantern gear ring, five single-sided rubber-coated road wheels and three all-metal support rollers, a guide wheel with a crank track tensioning mechanism and a small-link caterpillar of 91 tracks with a pitch of 98 mm. 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.
From 1942 to 1943, 8231 T-70M tanks were manufactured, of which 6847 were assembled by the Gorky Automobile Plant.
Description
The T-70 began to be designed in October 1941, and by January 1942 it had been tested and preparations for mass production began. As a result, so quick jobs From April to October 1942, Soviet military factories managed to produce already 5,000 T-70 light tanks. The Red Army received a fast, maneuverable and comfortable light tank with a good power reserve, but a rather weak gun - the famous 45mm 20-K cannon, which at the end of 1942.jpg)
already poorly coped with the reinforced armor of German vehicles. She could only hit light German tanks and armored vehicles in the forehead, but by that time the Germans were already in large quantities acquired more advanced technology, and the armor of old cars was increased. Thus, the "T-70" could still show itself in battles, say, with "Pz.II" or "Pz.35 (t)" and older tanks, but by 1942 there were almost no such tanks left in the German army, but with tanks of later models there were problems. By that time, the German troops were already armed with powerful 75mm anti-tank guns Pak40, which hit the T-70 in any projection with the very first shot. True, getting into the T-70 was extremely difficult - the small size of the tank and low silhouette made it difficult to conduct aimed fire at it, and good mobility made it possible to quickly retreat or leave the line of fire, changing position. True, it is worth noting that the T-70 was not a combat vehicle designed for combat on cutting edge with enemy tanks. It was intended for various auxiliary tasks, with which it coped perfectly. the best options applications for the "T-70" was reconnaissance, escort of columns, as well as fire support infantry units in the absence of strong enemy anti-tank fire. And in the wooded and marshy area, the T-70 acted even more successfully than the thirty-four: a small mass of a combat vehicle, .jpg)
good ones driving performance and a low silhouette ensured the best survivability of the tank, because it was very difficult to accurately hit it in such conditions. The speed of the T-70 allowed it, in case of urgent need, to fight with well-armored enemy vehicles, to enter the flank with heavy German tanks and self-propelled guns, forcing them to close combat, and the sides of German combat vehicles often did not save them from the fire of the 45-mm T-70 gun when firing at close range. And yet, this is only a theory, in reality, the fight against heavy enemy equipment was not part of the function of this tank. In the famous battle Kursk Bulge, more than 20% of the Soviet tank fleet were precisely these combat vehicles. Although the tank did not have such impressive firepower as the thirty-fours or heavy IS-2 tanks, the Red Army needed it as an auxiliary combat vehicle. Undoubtedly, this one made his feasible contribution to the defeat of fascism. It is the versatility of the "T-70", the possibility of use in different situations and a large number of these tanks at the front, made him the best Soviet light tank World War II. Soviet light tank T-70
At the beginning of 1942, the team of N.A. Astrov developed a light tank, which was the development of the T-60. It was better armored, armed with a 45 mm cannon. Hull and turret - with rational angles of inclination of armor plates, connected by welding or riveting. Later, cast towers began to be installed.
The layout of the T-70 was inherited from the T-60. The control compartment was located in the front left case, the transmission compartment was in the front right. Due to the fact that the power unit - two twin six-cylinder automobile engines - was located along the starboard side, the fighting compartment with the turret was shifted to the left. The main clutch and gearbox were on the right in the block with the motors, and the main gear and side clutches were in the front.
From September 1942, T-70s were produced with a reinforced undercarriage, parts of which were not interchangeable with the previous model. The width of the track was increased (from 260 to 300 mm), rollers, sloths and supporting rollers. Some changes were made to the design of the drive wheel, main and final drives.
An attempt was made to install a mechanism for automated loading of the gun. It was caused by low aimed rate of fire, since the commander had to combine the functions of the gunner and loader. This circumstance forced the T-70 to be taken out of production in early 1943 and replaced by the T-80 with an enlarged turret that housed two tankers. The armor of the hull side was increased to 25 mm, the engines were boosted to 85 hp, the weight increased to 11.6 tons, and the height of the tank to 217 cm. The ammunition load now amounted to 94 rounds. The chassis, transmission, control units, etc., remained the same as the T-70, the T-80 was a kind of "anti-aircraft": the elevation angle of the gun and machine gun was 60, it was equipped with an anti-aircraft collimator sight and could fire at aircraft and at upper floors buildings.
The production of the T-80 did not last long - until the autumn of 1943. This was due to insufficiently strong weapons and armor, and yet the T-70 and T-80 were best lungs tanks of the Second World War, 8226 and 75 vehicles were produced, respectively.
On the extended base of the T-70 created self-propelled units SU-76 and ZSU-37.
Soviet tank T-44
LIGHT TANK T-60 State adopted for service in 1941. Design Bureau GAZManufacturer. factories NN 37,38,264, GAZProduction. series 1941-42 Combat weight, t 5.8-6.4 Length, mm: - with a gun forward 4100 - hull 4100 Width, mm 2392 Height along the roof of the tower, mm 1750 Clearance, mm 300 Avg. beats ground pressure,
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The T-70 tank was developed at the Design Bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant under the leadership of N.A. Astrov at the end of 1941. Serial production was organized in 1942-1943. at the Gorky Automobile Plant, plants No. 37 (Sverdlovsk) and No. 38 (Kirov). A total of 8226 tanks of modifications T-70 and T-70M were produced. Machines participated in the Stalingrad and Battles of Kursk, as well as in other operations of the Great Patriotic War.
Tank T-70
Combat weight - 9.2-10 tons; crew - 2 people; weapons: cannon - 45 mm, machine gun - 7.62 mm; armor - bulletproof; power unit power - 140 hp (103 kW); maximum speed - 45 km/h
The T-70 tank was designed to replace the T-60 tank in the army and differed from it mainly in size, more powerful weapons, enhanced armor protection and higher power density. The scheme of the general layout of the machine was fundamentally the same as that of the T-60 tank. The tank had five compartments: control - in front of the hull, combat - in the middle part, transmission - in the front of the hull on the right along the way, engine - in the middle part along the starboard side of the hull and aft. The crew of two was housed in the hull and turret. The driver was in the bow of the hull at the left side. In a rotating turret, shifted to the port side from the longitudinal axis of the hull, the tank commander was located. 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. Such constructive solution was first implemented in the domestic tank building. The transmission and drive wheels were front-mounted.
A 45-mm tank gun mod. 1938 and a 7.62 mm DT machine gun coaxial with it, which was located to the left of the 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 machine gun was mounted in a ball mount and, if necessary, could be removed and used outside the tank. The aiming angles of the twin installation along the vertical ranged from - 6 to + 20 °. When firing, sights were used: a telescopic TMFP (a TOP sight was installed on some tanks) and a mechanical one as a backup. The direct fire range was 3600 m, the maximum was 4800 m. The rate of fire was 12 rds / min. The gear turret traverse mechanism was mounted to the left of the commander, and the twin mount's screw hoist was mounted to the right. The trigger mechanism of the gun was connected by a cable to the right foot pedal, and the machine gun to the left. The tank's ammunition included 90 shots with armor-piercing and fragmentation shells for the cannon (of which 20 shots were in the magazine) and 945 rounds for the DT machine gun (15 disks). Additionally, in the fighting compartment of the vehicle fit: one 7.62-mm PPSh submachine gun with 213 rounds of ammunition (3 disks) and 10 F-1 hand grenades. On the machines of the first releases, the ammunition load for the gun consisted of 70 rounds. 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 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. Created in the spring of 1942, a new armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile for a 45-mm cannon pierced an armor plate 50 mm thick at a distance of 500 m.
Armor scheme for the T-70 light tank
Armor protection - bulletproof, made of rolled armor plates with a thickness of 6, 10, 15, 25, 35 and 45 mm. Frontal and aft hull sheets and turret sheets had rational angles of inclination. In the upper frontal sheet of the hull there was a driver's hatch, in the armored cover of which a rotary periscope viewing device was installed (on the machines of the first releases, a viewing slot with a triplex was made in the hatch cover). To facilitate the opening of the hatch cover, a balancing mechanism was used. In addition, at the bottom right (along the tank) in the front sheet there was a hatch for access to the transmission units, which was closed with a bolted armor cover. In the lower front sheet there was a hatch for the engine crank, which was closed with an armor cover. Each side of the hull consisted of two sheets welded together. The weld seam was reinforced with riveting. In the lower part of each side, five cutouts were made for the installation of balancer brackets, as well as holes for attaching the rear roller balancer stop and for three support roller brackets. In addition, on the starboard side there was a hatch for installing a starting heater lamp, and an armored air intake box for the power plant was welded along its upper part.
The roof of the hull consisted of a turret sheet supported by a longitudinal beam and a bulkhead of the aft compartment; a removable sheet above the engine compartment and air intake armor, mounted on hinges and serving at the same time for access to the engines; a removable horizontal sheet above the water radiator of the cooling system, in which there were: a hatch for filling the cooling system with water and shutters for the exit of cooling air, as well as two removable sheets above the fuel tank compartment, one of which had two hatches for filling fuel tanks. The bottom of the hull was made of three armor plates and, to ensure rigidity, had box-section transverse beams through which suspension torsion bars passed. It housed: an emergency manhole located under the driver's seat, two small hatches for draining oil from engines, two hatches for draining fuel and two hatches for accessing the water radiator mounting studs.
The welded faceted turret, 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 were reinforced with armor squares. The frontal part of the tower had a cast swinging mask with loopholes for mounting a gun, machine gun and sight. An entrance hatch for the tank commander was made in the roof of the turret. A periscopic viewing mirror device was installed in the armored hatch cover, which provided the commander with a circular view. The impenetrable space around the tank ranged from 7.5 to 16.5 m. For flag signaling, there was a special hatch in the hatch cover, which was closed with an armored flap. Providing a circular view by installing a rotary viewing device was an innovation for the lungs domestic tanks. In the sides of the tower there were holes for firing from personal weapons, which were closed with armor plugs.
Two hand-held tetrachlorine fire extinguishers were used as fire fighting equipment in the tank.
The power unit GAZ-203 (70-6000) consisted of two four-stroke six-cylinder carburetor engines GAZ-202 (GAZ 70-6004 - front and GAZ 70-6005 - rear) with a total power of 140 hp. (103 kW) with "M" type carburetors. The crankshafts of the engines were connected by a coupling with elastic bushings. The flywheel crankcase of the front engine was connected by a link 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. The oil-water radiator had two sections for separate engine maintenance. The engine cooling system compared to the cooling system of the T-60 tank was significantly improved, the water pump was made common to the two engines. In the air system, an oil-inertial type air cleaner was used. For accelerated starting of engines in winter, a calorific heater was used, powered by a portable blowtorch. The heater boiler and oil-water radiator were included in the cooling system. The engines were started from two ST-40 electric starters connected in parallel with a power of 1.3 hp. (0.96 kW) each or with a manual winding mechanism. On the command tanks(with a radio station) instead of ST-40 starters, two ST-06 starters with a power of 2 hp were installed. (1.5 kW). The engines ran on aviation gasoline KB-70 or B-70. Two fuel tanks with a total capacity of 440 liters were placed on the left side of the aft compartment of the hull in a compartment isolated by armored partitions. On the right side of the aft compartment there was a fan and a radiator for the engine cooling system. Two cylindrical silencers were placed on the starboard side behind the armor cover for the air intake.
The mechanical transmission consisted of a two-disc semi-centrifugal main clutch of dry friction (Ferodo steel); a four-speed simple automotive-type gearbox that provided four forward gears and one reverse gear; main gear with bevel gear; two multi-disk dry side clutches (steel on steel) with band brakes with ferodo linings and two simple single-row final drives. The main clutch and gearbox were assembled from parts borrowed from the ZIS-5 truck.
In the suspension system, a reinforced individual torsion bar suspension and travel limiters for the balancers of the fifth road wheels were used. The role of the travel limiters of the first and third road wheels was played by the supporting rollers. The composition of the caterpillar mover included two drive wheels with removable gear rims of the lantern gearing with caterpillars, ten single-sided support wheels with external shock absorption and six all-metal support rollers, two guide wheels with crank track tensioners and two small-link caterpillars with OMSh. The design of the guide wheel and track roller was unified. The width of the cast track track was 260 mm. To prevent the fingers from moving towards the hull when the machine was moving, special fists were riveted to the crankcases of the final drives from above and to the bottom of the hull from below.
The electrical equipment of the machine was made according to a single-wire circuit. The voltage of the on-board network was 12 V (on the tanks of the first releases - 6 V). Two 3STE-112 rechargeable batteries connected in series with a voltage of 6 V and a capacity of 112 Ah and a GAZ-27A generator with a power of 225 W with a relay-regulator RPA-14 or a G-64 generator with a power of 250 W with a relay- regulator RRA-44 or RRA-4574. From August 1942, GT-500S or DSF-500T generators with a power of 380/500 W with relay-regulators RRK-37-500T or RRK-GT-500S began to be installed on command tanks, and on line tanks - a G-41 generator with a relay - RRA-364 regulator. Commander tanks were equipped with a 9R or 12RT radio station located in the turret and an internal intercom TPU-2F. On linear tanks, a light signaling device was installed 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.
From September 1942, plant No. 38 and GAZ switched to the production of T-70M tanks with an improved chassis. Gun ammunition was reduced to 70 rounds. As a result of the work on the modernization of the chassis, the width and pitch of the tracks were increased (up to 300 mm and 111 mm, respectively), the width of the road wheels (from 104 to 130 mm), as well as the diameter of the suspension torsion bars (from 34 to 36 mm) and gear rims driving wheels. By increasing the track pitch, their number in one track was reduced from 91 to 80 pieces. In addition, the supporting rollers, stopping brakes were strengthened (the width of the brake band and drum was increased from 90 to 124 mm) and final drives. The mass of the tank increased to 10 tons, and the cruising range on the highway decreased to 250 km.