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 No. 37 N.A. Astrov overtook on his own from Moscow to Gorky a prototype of 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 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 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 a GKO decree of March 6, 1942 fighting machine 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 periscopic 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 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 mass 2.13 kg - 335 m/s. After firing a shot armor-piercing projectile the sleeve was ejected automatically. When shooting 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 of the 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 of 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 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 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, the regiments could be part of mechanized brigades or be separate. By the spring of 1944, light T-70 tanks were excluded from the states of the tank units of the 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 the Great Patriotic War.

Baptism of fire T-70 tanks received during the battles in the South-Western direction in June-July 1942 and suffered serious losses Already the first battles revealed the low combat qualities of new light tanks, whose armament did not allow them to fight German medium tanks Wehrmacht was rapidly declining), and 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 Battle of Kursk- the possibility of surviving, not to mention emerging victorious, in an open battle with new German heavy tanks for 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") 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.

In October 1941, it became clear that new lightweight the T-60 tank, which was launched in September, is practically useless on the battlefield. The fact is that he had too weak weapons and armor, which was easily pierced by enemy tanks. It was impossible to correct these shortcomings without a fundamental change in the design, since its engine and gearbox were already working in an overstressed mode. The increase in the mass of the tank, which is inevitable with the strengthening of armor and weapons, would put these units out of action.

At the end of October 1941, specialists from the design bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant began to develop a new tank, who received the index GAZ-70 or military designation T-70.

The work went very quickly, using the prima adopted in the automotive industry, which is unusual for tank designers. General views of the combat vehicle were made in full size on special aluminum plates measuring 7 × 3 meters, which were 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, which included all the details and assemblies of the external and internal equipment of the tank, were made as detailed as possible and later they served as the basis for control during the assembly of the prototype.

Construction and description

The T-70 light tank had a classic design, with a front-mounted transmission. 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 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 stern 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.

A 45-mm tank gun of the 1938 model of the year and a coaxial DT machine gun were installed as weapons on the T-70 tank. 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.

Gun characteristics:

• fire line height - 1540 mm;
• tilt angle of the twin unit vertically - from -6 to +20 degrees;
• effective firing range - 3600 m;
• maximum firing range - 4800 m;
• rate of fire - 12 rds / min.

The GAZ-203 engine was chosen as the power plant, 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 of the T-70 tank consisted of a two-disk semi-centrifugal main clutch of dry friction, 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 note: “Commander tanks were equipped with a 9R or 12RT radio station, which was placed in the tower, and an internal intercom TPU-2F. A light-signal device was installed on the line tanks for internal communication between the commander and the driver-mechanic and an internal intercom TPU-2.

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.

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.

The performance characteristics and overall dimensions of the T-70 tank:

• length - 4285 mm;
• width - 2420 mm;
• height - 2035 mm;
• clearance - 300 mm;
• armament - cannon 20K model 1934 caliber 45 mm, machine gun DT model 1929 caliber 7.62 mm;
• means of communication - intercom TPU-2 and on command tanks radio station 12RT or 9P;
• overcome obstacles - the angle of elevation is 28 degrees, the width of the ditch is 1.0 meters, the height of the wall is 0.6 meters, the depth of the ford is 0.9 meters;
• maximum speed - 45 km / h;
• cruising range - 250 km.

Assembly and testing

At the end of December 1942, a hull was made for the first tank and a turret designed by V. Dedkov was cast. Simultaneously with the cast, a welded version of the tower was also developed. In January 1942, assembly began, which, for a number of reasons, was completed only on February 14. Then the tank was sent to Moscow and shown there to representatives of the Main Armored Directorate. The military reacted rather coolly to the new tank, since in terms of armor protection it only slightly exceeded the T-60 and had an increased mass due to the installation of a 45-mm cannon, and the power of weapons was leveled by only one place for a person in the tower, who should perform the duties of a commander, gunner and loader. However, the chief designer N.A. Astrov promised to eliminate all shortcomings in a short time.

Then, tests were carried out on a prototype of the T-70 tank and trial firing from the main weapon. The new tank compared to its predecessor had a higher power density(15.2 hp/t vs. 11 hp/t), over powerful weapon(45 mm gun instead of 20 mm) and enhanced armor protection (45 mm armor instead of 20-35 mm).

According to the test results, the new tank was decreed State Committee Defense (GKO) dated March 6, 1942 was adopted by the Red Army. Two days later, the next GKO decree was issued on the production of a tank from April at factories No. 37 and No. 38, as well as the Gorky Automobile Plant. However, the new tank required twice as many parts as the previous tank, while the production of the turret failed, and the Gorky Automobile Plant had to hastily provide documentation for the welded turret to other plants.

The T-70 tank was produced from spring to November 1942, and then it was replaced by a modernized one.

The use of T-70 tanks during the Great Patriotic War

The tank and mechanized corps could include tank brigades consisting of 32 tanks T-34 and 21 T-70 tanks. However, by the spring of 1944, this tank model was excluded from the states of the tank units of the Red Army, but in some brigades they continued to operate for quite a long time.

The first to receive new tanks were the 157th and 162nd separate tank brigades, which were formed in the city of Murom in the first half of 1942. each of these brigades had 65 such vehicles. Even before the start of hostilities, both brigades were reorganized into a more traditional staff of a mixed organization. The new tanks received their baptism of fire during the fighting in the southwestern direction in June-July 1942, where they suffered significant losses. Already the first battles showed their low combat qualities, insufficient armor protection when using tanks as infantry support and weak weapons, which did not allow them to fight against German medium tanks.

However, in capable hands, the T-70 tank was a formidable weapon. So, on July 6, 1943, in the battles for the village of Pokovka in the Oboyan direction, the tank crew under the command of Lieutenant V.V. Pavlovich from the 49th Guards Tank Brigade was able to knock out three medium German tanks and one Panther.

On August 21, 1943, the tank commander, Lieutenant A.L. Dmitrienko of the 178th Tank Brigade discovered a retreating German tank and began to pursue it. Having caught up with the enemy, Dmitrienko noticed that the hatch in the turret of the enemy tank was open, he got out of his tank, jumped onto the armor of the 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.

Fact: “A large number of T-70 tanks participated in the Battle of Kursk. So, tank forces On the eve of the battle, the Central Front had 1652 tanks, of which 369 units or 22% were tanks of this model.

Often these tanks were used for ramming. For example, in the combat log of the 150th Tank Brigade, which operated as part of the 40th Army of the Voronezh Front in January 1943, the following entry was preserved:

“Senior lieutenant Zakharchenko and driver-mechanic senior sergeant Krivko, repelling tank counterattacks and having used up shells, went with their company to ram German tanks. Zakharchenko personally rammed two tanks and captured the commander and chief of staff of the 100th Special Purpose Tank Battalion.”

Fact: "During the Second World War, in addition to the Red Army, the T-70 tank was in service with the Polish Army in the amount of 53 copies and the Czechoslovak Corps in the amount of 10 copies."

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

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.

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. The chief designer 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 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 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, 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 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 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 the predecessor tanks of the 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 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). 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.

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. The crankcase of the flywheel of the front engine was connected by a rod to the starboard side to prevent transverse 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-disk semi-centrifugal main clutch of dry friction (steel over ferrodo); four-speed automotive-type gearbox (4 + 1), final drive 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 composition of 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

If the "thirty-four" is considered the best medium tank of the USSR in the Second World War, then this tank rightfully takes first place among light combat vehicles. Starting their combat path in the summer of 1942, these tanks went through the entire war and were used in many sectors of the Soviet-German front. "T-70" became the most bulk tank USSR after "T-34". Soviet industry during the war years, it produced 8231 T-70 tanks, giving the front an excellent auxiliary vehicle.

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 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 the 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, 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 go into the flank of heavy German tanks and self-propelled guns, imposing close combat on them, and the sides of German combat vehicles often did not save them from the fire of 45-mm guns "T -70" 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 tanks"IS-2", 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.

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 such a development of events - this enterprise already had experience in the production of armored vehicles, being engaged in the serial production of T-27 tankettes and T-37A small amphibious tanks 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 early September, the chief designer of 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 of the combat vehicle 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 the assembly of a 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 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

The layout of the new machine 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 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. 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 was possible at a distance of no more than 1000 m. The rate of fire of the gun was 12 rounds per minute. The gear turret traverse mechanism was mounted to the left of the commander, and the twin-mount screw hoist 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 discs). 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 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 of the 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 of the caterpillar 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.

Commander 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 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 release was accompanied by great difficulties. From 5 to 14 June, the plant was subjected to German air raids. 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 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 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 of the tank units of the 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

The T-70 tanks received their baptism of fire during the fighting in the South-Western 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 set by the Battle of Kursk - the possibility of surviving, not to mention emerging 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, the crews of the T-70 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 close range, but when he saw that the hatch in the turret of a German tank was 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