Tank was adopted by the Red Army in May 1931. It was developed on the basis of a wheeled-tracked vehicle designed by the American designer Christie and was the first in the BT family (Fast Tank ), developed in the Soviet Union. The tank hull, assembled by riveting from 13-mm thick armor plates, had a box-shaped cross-section. The driver's entrance hatch was mounted in the frontal plate of the hull. The armament was housed in a cylindrical riveted turret.The tank had high speed qualities. Thanks to the original design of the chassis, it could move both on tracks and on wheels. On each side there were four large-diameter rubber-coated road wheels, with the rear road wheels serving as drive wheels, and the front wheels being steerable. The transition from one type of propulsion to another took approximately 30 minutes. The BT-2 tank, like subsequent tanks of the BT family, was produced at the Kharkov Locomotive Plant named after. Comintern.
During the pre-war period, Soviet light tanks made up the predominant part of the tank fleet. This was dictated by the relative cheapness of light tanks, simplicity of design, and the possibility of using proven parts and components used in the civilian automotive industry in their design. This made it possible to organize their mass production in a short time, in a country that did not then have a serious industrial base.
The versatility of light tanks was also important. They were used for almost all tasks that could be assigned to tanks - from reconnaissance and security to supporting cavalry and infantry and fighting their own kind.
The predominance of light tanks in the army continued until the beginning of 1944, when 10,300 light tanks, 9,200 medium and 1,600 heavy tanks were in service. However, such significant volumes of production of light tanks during the war did not indicate combat effectiveness, but the complexity of the situation in which the country found itself.
In the final war period, they were used mainly for reconnaissance and security of headquarters.
In accordance with the Soviet classification of tanks, light tanks included combat vehicles weighing up to 15-20 tons, occupying a position between wedges (small tanks) and medium ones.
The term “tank” in Ozhegov’s dictionary is explained as “an armored self-propelled combat vehicle with powerful weapons on a tracked track.” But such a definition is not a dogma; there is no unified tank standard in the world. Each manufacturing country creates and has created tanks taking into account its own needs, the characteristics of the proposed war, the manner of upcoming battles and its own production capabilities. The USSR was no exception in this regard.
History of the development of tanks of the USSR and Russia by model
History of invention
The primacy of the use of tanks belongs to the British; their use forced military leaders of all countries to reconsider the concept of warfare. The use by the French of their Renault FT17 light tank determined the classic use of tanks for solving tactical problems, and the tank itself became the embodiment of the canons of tank building.
Although the laurels of first use did not go to the Russians, the invention of the tank itself, in its classical sense, belongs to our compatriots. In 1915 V.D. Mendeleev (the son of a famous scientist) sent a project for an armored self-propelled vehicle on two tracks with artillery weapons to the technical department of the Russian Army. But for unknown reasons, things did not go beyond design work.
The idea itself of installing a steam engine on a caterpillar propulsion device was not new; it was first implemented in 1878 by Russian designer Fyodor Blinov. The invention was called: “A car with endless flights for transporting goods.” In this “car”, a track turning device was used for the first time. The invention of a caterpillar propulsion device, by the way, also belongs to the Russian staff captain D. Zagryazhsky. For which a corresponding patent was issued in 1937.
The world's first tracked combat vehicle is also Russian. In May 1915, tests of the armored vehicle D.I. took place near Riga. Porokhovshchikov called “All-terrain vehicle”. It had an armored body, one wide track and a machine gun in a rotating turret. The tests were considered very successful, but due to the approaching Germans, further tests had to be postponed, and after some time they were completely forgotten.
In the same year, 1915, tests were carried out on a machine designed by the head of the experimental laboratory of the military department, Captain Lebedenko. The 40-ton unit was an artillery carriage enlarged to gigantic proportions, driven by two Maybach engines from a downed airship. The front wheels had a diameter of 9 meters. According to the creators, a vehicle of this design should easily overcome ditches and trenches, but during testing it got stuck immediately after it started moving. Where it stood for many years until it was cut up for scrap metal.
Russia ended the First World War without its tanks. During the Civil War, tanks from other countries were used. During the battles, some of the tanks passed into the hands of the Red Army, on which the workers’ and peasants’ fighters entered the battle. In 1918, in a battle with French-Greek troops near the village of Berezovskaya, several Reno-FT tanks were captured. They were sent to Moscow to participate in the parade. Lenin’s fiery speech about the need to build our own tanks laid the foundation for Soviet tank building. We decided to release, or rather completely copy, 15 Reno-FT tanks called Tank M (small). On August 31, 1920, the first copy left the workshops of the Krasnoye Sormovo plant in Nizhny Tagil. This day is considered to be the birthday of Soviet tank building.
The young state understood that tanks were very important for waging war, especially since the enemies approaching the borders were already armed with this type of military equipment. The M tank was not put into production due to its particularly expensive production price, so another option was needed. According to the idea that existed in the Red Army at that time, the tank was supposed to support the infantry during an attack, that is, the speed of the tank should not be much higher than the infantry, the weight should allow it to break through the defense line, and the weapons should successfully suppress firing points. Choosing between our own developments and proposals to copy ready-made samples, we chose the option that allowed us to organize the production of tanks in the shortest possible time - copying.
In 1925, the tank was launched into mass production, its prototype was the Fiat-3000. Although not entirely successful, the MS-1 became the tank that laid the foundation for Soviet tank building. At his production site, production itself and the coherence of the work of different departments and factories were developed.
Until the early 30s, several of their own models T-19, T-20, T-24 were developed, but due to the lack of special advantages over the T-18, and due to their high cost of production, they did not go into series.
Tanks of the 30-40s - a disease of imitation
Participation in the conflict on the Chinese Federal Railway showed the inadequacy of the first generation tanks for the dynamic development of the battle; the tanks practically did not show themselves in any way; the cavalry did the main work. A faster and more reliable car was needed.
To select the next production model, we went the beaten path and purchased samples abroad. The English Vickers Mk - 6 tons was mass-produced in our country as the T-26, and the Carden-Loyd Mk VI wedge was produced as the T-27.
The T-27, which at first was so tempting to produce due to its low cost, was not produced for long. In 1933, wedge heels were adopted for the army
amphibious tank T-37A, with weapons in a rotating turret, and in 1936 - T-38. In 1940, they created a similar amphibious T-40; the USSR did not produce more amphibious tanks until the 50s.
Another sample was purchased in the USA. Based on the model of J.W. Christie, a whole series of high-speed tanks (BT) was built; their main difference was the combination of two propellers, wheeled and tracked. To move when marching, BTs used wheels; when fighting, they used caterpillars. Such a forced measure was necessary due to the poor operational capabilities of the tracks, only 1000 km.
BT tanks, developing quite high speeds on the roads, fully suited the changed military concept of the Red Army: breaking through the defense and quickly deploying a deep attack through the resulting gap. The three-turreted T-28 was developed directly for the breakthrough, the prototype of which was the English Vickers 16-ton. Another breakthrough tank was supposed to be the T-35, similar to the English five-turret heavy tank “Independent”.
During the pre-war decade, many interesting tank designs were created that did not go into production. For example, based on the T-26
self-propelled semi-closed AT-1 type (artillery tank). During the Second World War, they will again remember these cars without a cabin roof.
Tanks of the Second World War
Participation in the Spanish Civil War and in the battles at Khalkhin Gol showed how high the explosion hazard of a gasoline engine is and the inadequacy of bulletproof armor against the then nascent anti-tank artillery. The implementation of solutions to these problems allowed our designers, who had suffered from the disease of imitation, to create truly good tanks and KVs on the eve of the Second World War.
In the first days of the war, a catastrophically large number of tanks were lost; it took time to establish production of the uncompetitive T-34 and KV at the only evacuated factories, and the front desperately needed tanks. The government decided to fill this niche with cheap and quick-to-produce light tanks T-60 and T-70. Naturally, the vulnerability of such tanks is very high, but they gave time to expand the production of Victory tanks. The Germans called them “indestructible locusts.”
In battle under the railway. Art. Prokhorovka was the first time that tanks acted as “cementers” of the defense; before that they were used exclusively as attack weapons. In principle, until today, there have been no more new ideas for the use of tanks.
Speaking about WWII tanks, it is impossible not to mention tank destroyers (SU-76, SU-122, etc.) or “self-propelled guns” as they were called in the troops. The relatively small rotating turret did not allow the use of some powerful guns and, most importantly, howitzers on tanks; for this purpose, they were installed on the bases of existing tanks without the use of turrets. In fact, Soviet tank destroyers during the war, except for weapons, were no different from their prototypes, unlike the same German ones.
Modern tanks
After the war, light, medium and heavy tanks continued to be produced, but by the end of the 50s, all major tank manufacturers concentrated on the production of the main tank. Thanks to new technologies in the production of armor, more powerful engines and weapons, the need to divide tanks into types disappeared by itself. The niche of light tanks was occupied by armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, so the PT-76 eventually became an armored personnel carrier.
The first post-war mass-produced tank of a new type was armed with a 100 mm gun, and its modification for use in radioactive zones. This model became the most popular among modern tanks; more than 30,000 of these vehicles were in service in over 30 countries.
After tanks with a 105 mm gun appeared among potential enemies, it was decided to upgrade the T-55 to a 115 mm gun. The world's first tank with a 155mm smoothbore gun was named.
The ancestor of the classic main tanks was. It fully combined the capabilities of heavy (125mm gun) and medium tanks (high mobility).
. Based on the totality of characteristics, it is the Soviet T-70 tank that is the best in the light category. Sometimes the T-50 is given the palm, but taking into account that their production was limited to only 7 dozen (design complexity), compare with the T-70, more than 8000 units, the second most popular result is second only to . Who cares here =>>, let's go back to the end of 41 years.
Already at the end of October 1941 N.A. Astrov, in the design and experimental department (DED) of GAZ, began developing a new light tank armed with a 45-mm cannon. In its design it was supposed to use the components and assemblies of the T-60 to the maximum extent, that is, assemble it using automotive components and components as much as possible. It was quite obvious that without a significant increase in the power of the engine unit, further development of light tanks was practically impossible. But in 1941, increasing the power of a mass-produced engine by boosting it seemed to be a difficult task to solve, except in the long term.
Alabino T-70 opening of tank biathlon photo 2013
It was more realistic to solve the problem by creating two autonomous drives from two engines with a gearbox, each for its own track. For confident linear movement, it was only necessary to connect the engines to each other through friction clutches. But then there were no comprehensive tests, and the hidden defect of such a scheme was revealed later.
After four unsuccessful attempts to install two N.A. engines. Astrov proposed a sequential direct connection of engines in single file, transmitting the power developed by the rear engine through the coupling to the crankshaft shank of the front running engine. And such a “spark,” consisting of two GAZ-M1 engines, was created at plant No. 37 on the eve of the war.
Tank T-70 power unit GAZ-203 consisted of two GAZ-202 engines (GAZ-70-6004 front and GAZ-70-6005 rear)
Now, in November, the first version of the twin unit of two GAZ-11 engines was manufactured in metal and put on the stand. It soon became clear that the rigidity of the rubber “barrels” in the elastic coupling that connected the engines played an important role. Not trusting the instruments, the selection of rigidity (elasticity) was carried out by the chief designer himself, Lipgart, assessing the rigidity of the rubber by pressing his fingernail into it. Rubber bands that were too soft allowed hard impacts in the inter-engine connection to pass through, while rubber bands that were too hard led to overloading of the main bearings of the engines. We were looking for the middle. We found that the relative position of the crankshafts does not play any role.
Brief description of the design of the T-70 light tank
The reliability of the 4-speed gearbox turned out to be insufficient, it was necessary to replace it with a ZIS-5 gearbox, making a new output shaft and changing the gear shift lever. This box had four forward gears and one reverse gear. Both the cooling system fan and its drive were modified - a gear drive was introduced instead of a V-belt drive.
At the same time, they developed a frame on which the power unit assembly was mounted, installed in the tank body on rubber cushions. The GAZ-203 power unit consisted of two GAZ-202 engines (GAZ-70-6004 front and GAZ-70-6005 rear) with a total power of 140 hp. The main clutch is a two-disc, semi-centrifugal type.
Shot down seventy, street battles for Stalingrad 1942
From the power unit, the search for new design solutions spread to the entire transmission, and then to the chassis. The number of road wheels of the tank chassis was increased to five per side.
The configuration of the hull has been significantly changed. The upper frontal sheet, 35 mm thick, was installed at an angle of 60 degrees. The lower frontal sheet was 45 mm thick. In the top sheet there was a driver's hatch with an armored (hinged upward) cover equipped with an inspection device (with a slot closed with triplex on first-production vehicles). In the lower part on the right, as on the T-60, there was a hatch for access to the main gear of the transmission.
Column of T-70 light tanks on the outskirts of Krasnoye Selo
A 45-mm tank gun mod. 1932-1938 with a vertical wedge valve. A 7.62 mm DT machine gun was paired with the cannon. Vertical aiming angles - from -6° to +20". Direct fire range was 3600 m, maximum - 4800 m. The gun's ammunition consisted of 90 rounds (70 rounds on first-production vehicles). The turret rotation mechanism was manual gear; it was located on the left, and the lifting mechanism was on the right of the commander. Sights were telescopic or periscope (partially), as well as mechanical. There was an entrance hatch in the roof of the turret for the commander. A periscope viewing device for all-round visibility was mounted in the armored cover.
The greater length and weight of the power unit, reinforced components and assemblies of other systems, as well as more powerful armor protection led to an increase in the combat weight (compared to the T-60) of the first production tanks to 9.2 tons (later up to 9.8 tons) .
Unitary 45-mm rounds for the 20-K tank gun
From left to right, 1. UBR-243P with BR-240P sub-caliber armor-piercing projectile
2. UBR-243SP with a solid armor-piercing projectile BR-240SP
3. UBZR-243 with an armor-piercing incendiary projectile BZR-240
4. UO-243 with O-243 fragmentation grenade
5. USH-243 with Shch-240 buckshot
Thus, the significantly modernized T-70, conceived in October 1941, came very close in parameters to the T-50 tank. In January 1942, the first prototype was ready. The leading engineer of the machine was V.A. Dedkov. After eliminating the identified deficiencies, the new model was put into production at the GAZ and No. 38 plants (Kirov).
In September 1942, production of the improved T-70M began with a reinforced chassis (the width of the rollers and tracks were increased, etc.), as well as with an increased thickness of the frontal armor (up to 45 mm, that is, the frontal armor became like that of the thirty-four). The combat weight was 10 tons. With a power plant power of 140 hp. its maximum speed reached 45 km/h. Replaced with a 12 volt on-board system, originally 6 volts were used.
The best light tanks of the Second World War T-70 photo
and T-70M were assembled until mid-1943. The entire workshop was abandoned 8.3 thousand such cars.
For the development of the T-70 design and its subsequent improvement in 1943 N.A. Astrov, A.A. Lipgart, V.A. Dedkov and other GAZ designers were awarded the Stalin Prize, II degree.
T-70 with troops on armor on the Stalingrad front
Tank T-90, the creation of which was carried out under the leadership of N.A. Astrov from September-October 1942, could be considered as a mobile means of conducting targeted machine-gun fire at ground and air (anti-aircraft) targets, operating in close cooperation with other light tanks.
light tank t 90 photo
The tank, based on the T-70M, had a turret open at the top and shifted to the left side, armed with coaxial 12.7-mm DShKT machine guns. The absence of an armored roof in the octagonal turret, made of 35 mm rolled armor, ensured free observation of air targets and firing at them. From above it could be covered with a tarpaulin awning.
The aiming angles of the machine guns ranged from -6° to +85°. A collimator sight was used for anti-aircraft shooting and a telescopic sight for ground targets. The sighting range was 3500 m, the maximum was up to 7000 m.
The most advanced light tank T-80 of the family
.
In the second half of 1942 - the first half of 1943, work to improve the T-70M was carried out in several directions. Thus, designs of a cast and then a two-seat welded turret appeared, which made it possible to free the tank commander from the functions of a gunner. The crew size increased to 3 people. An increase in the volume of the tower required the introduction of additional viewing devices. The gunner was located to the left of the gun, and the commander-loader was to the right. On the roof of the tower above the commander's seat there was a fixed commander's cupola with an entrance hatch closed by a lid equipped with a periscope viewing device for all-round visibility. A hatch was made above the gunner's position, which was also closed with a hinged lid. In front of it there was a periscope viewing device and a collimator sight with folding armor. The gunner's sights remained the same as on the T-70.
In addition, the collimator sight was used for shooting at aerial targets or at the upper floors of buildings.
The welded tower was made multifaceted, with increased angles of inclination of the front sheets with a thickness of 45 mm. Handrails were welded to the sides of the tower.
Vertical aiming angles of the 45-mm cannon mod. 1938 ranged from -8e to +65°. A DT machine gun was paired with the cannon. The direct fire range reached 3600 m, the maximum - 6000 m. The gun's ammunition consisted of 94 rounds.
The tank used a power unit with increased power. The forced 6-cylinder GAZ-80 engines developed a power of 85 hp. every. Starting was carried out either using two electric starters or a manual crank. The armor protection of the hull was strengthened by replacing the 15 mm thick side armor plates with 25 mm sheets. As a result, the combat weight increased to 11.6 tons.
The tank was accepted for production as the T-80 at the Mytishchi plant No. 40. After the production of 81 cars, their production was discontinued.
Bridgehead near Peskovatka. Tank T-70 and Sd.Kfz.250. 3rd Motorized Division photo August 1942
The best light tank of the Second World War T-70 photo on the battlefields .
Combat use of light tanks of the T-70 family. The bulk of the vehicles ended up in the southwestern direction, where they suffered heavy losses. And what tank formations didn’t carry them that year? Assessments of combat activity vary to the exact opposite. Some people complain about weak armor, others about weak weapons. Although the 45-mm tank gun 20K mod. 1932 was quite sufficient for 1942; it could successfully fight all types of Wehrmacht tanks at a distance of up to 500 m. More advanced ones and the Panther began to be produced in 43, when meeting with them the chances of the seventy were equal to zero. But these heavyweights were few and far between in 1943. The Red Army tank regiment of that time consisted of 23 T-34 And 16 T-70 or 70M.
Tank T-70 with troops on board, in the background and destroyed Pz.KpfwIV
For some reason, they always compare German tanks of the latest modifications, and certainly head-on, a kind of tank battle. In fact, knocking out tanks was almost always assigned to anti-tank artillery. And for direct comparison, not everything is so sad for the T-70; we will modestly keep silent about the PzKpfw I with machine gun armament and a weight of 5 tons (the bulletproof armor, and even that did not always fulfill its functions). Next comes our classmate, the 9-ton PzKpfw II with an automatic 20 mm cannon, almost the same as on our T-60 (production was curtailed in 1942 precisely because of weak weapons). Then comes the more serious medium PzKpfw III, almost 20 tons on which a decent gun did not appear immediately. Pz.Kpfw. IV is already a serious machine, only real mass production was launched only in 1943, and before that they were a cat's cry. And for some reason they treat the tank forty-five with the same disdain as the anti-tank forty-five, forgetting that the Germans’ main anti-tank gun of the Second World War was the Pak 35/36 of 37 mm caliber.
Tank T-70M of the guards crew of flight I. Astapushenko takes position December 1942
It's all a matter of skill, examples: a tank under the command of Lieutenant B. Pavlovich knocked out three German medium tanks and... a Panther, as they did. Another out of the ordinary case. Ours are advancing, squeezing the Fritz. They gather forces and organize a counter-attack. Ours fight back, and the Germans begin to retreat. A. Dmitrienko saw a retreating German tank, positioned himself behind it in the dead zone, and wanted to shoot it with a cannon. But he saw an open turret hatch (which is typical, the Germans often left the turret hatch open), he jumps on a German tank and throws a grenade into the hatch. The crew was destroyed, the tank, after minor repairs, was used as a captured tank in battle. The crew, consisting of driver-mechanic Art. Sergeant Rostovtsev and tank commander Lieutenant A. Dorokhin, destroyed two in battle PzKpfw III. And there are a lot of such examples, there are also cases of ramming, “The crew of Senior Sergeant Krivko and Art. Lieutenant Zakharchenko, while repelling an attack by the 100th special purpose flamethrower tank battalion, rammed 2 German Pz.IIs and captured the chief of staff and battalion commander.
Southwestern Front December 42 light tank T-70M
And here is the course of the battle on July 9, 1943 for the village of Izotovo. Two T-70 tanks meet with three Tigers advancing. the lead German vehicle knocks out one T-70. The second, under the command of Trubin, actively maneuvering, enters the rear of the Tiger and, from close range, inserts an armor-piercing projectile into its side, catches fire, continuing the maneuver, the T-70 has already begun to approach the next Tiger. Wanting to avoid the fate of the lead vehicle, the remaining two began to retreat. As evidence, the damaged Tiger was delivered to Moscow and was exhibited in Gorky Park at an exhibition of captured weapons.
Interesting facts: when the T-34 tank was damaged, about 60 percent could not be restored (detonation of ammunition), for the T-70 light tank this figure was lower, 40 percent. Due to its low noise and mobility, it was used in reconnaissance, although the lack of a radio station in the tank reduced its effectiveness. In 1943, a decision was made to stop production; from the middle of the year the car ceased to be produced. The plant switches to the production of SU-76 and SU-76M, built on the chassis taken as a basis from the T-70. Interestingly, the number of manufactured self-propelled guns of all types (light, medium and heavy) during the war years amounted to 22.5 thousand units, 12.6 thousand of them were SU-76 and SU-76M.
Light tanks included tanks with a combat weight of up to 15 tons (later - up to 18 tons) and armed with a small-caliber cannon and a machine gun or machine guns. Light tanks were the main means of strengthening infantry (cavalry) in all types of combined arms combat. The main purpose of light tanks was reconnaissance, providing communications, direct support for infantry on the battlefield, destroying machine gun nests, fighting partisans, as well as conducting operations when, due to the properties of the terrain or its remoteness, it is impossible to use heavier equipment. Specific combat missions of light tanks could be: pursuit of a retreating enemy; forestalling the enemy in capturing advantageous positions (regions, objects) and holding them until the main forces arrive; capture and destruction of important objects deep in enemy defenses; guarding the main forces from the front, on the flanks and from the rear; ensuring combat operations of the main (main) forces on open flanks; sudden rapid raids behind enemy lines as part of mobile groups; destruction of enemy airborne troops; actions from ambushes and launching surprise fire strikes in defense. When operating on the defensive, tanks had to set up ambushes along the enemy’s route, carefully select their locations, taking into account a possible change of firing position in the minimum time, and maneuver in order to make it as difficult as possible for the enemy to conduct targeted fire. Fire should be fired from minimal distances to increase the likelihood of hitting enemy vehicles.
In some countries, this class included small tanks (larger than a wedge). At different times, the weight of tanks classified as light fluctuated within extremely wide limits: from 3.5-4 tons within the Western classification (which does not distinguish small tanks) and 5 tons within the Soviet classification, to 15-18 tons for some light tanks period of the Second World War. In general, the concept of a light tank included all tanks of less mass than medium ones, but heavier than wedges. In some countries, tanks were classified according to the caliber of weapons, regardless of weight and armor. Tanks armed with machine guns or small-caliber cannons (up to 37 mm) were classified as light. Since this classification is less indicative, the book adopts a classification based on the mass of the machines.
The insufficient mobility of World War I tanks, caused by their large mass and unsettled layout and design solutions, made them vulnerable to artillery fire and did not allow them to quickly develop success after breaking through the enemy defensive line. It was believed that the speed and maneuverability of a combat vehicle increase its survivability on the battlefield, contribute to the continuation of an offensive operation, and during defensive actions make it possible to carry out counterattacks against an enemy that has not yet established a foothold in captured positions. Since the armor of all vehicles of that time was bulletproof, it was possible to increase the speed and power supply only by abandoning heavy weapons and a large crew. The first light tank (the French FT-17) appeared in the final period of the First World War. It received a classic layout and had a huge influence on the subsequent development of tank building. Maneuverable and numerous light tanks finally tipped the scales of military confrontation in favor of the Entente powers, playing a significant role in repelling the German offensive of 1918. Subsequently, light tanks developed actively, reaching their heyday in the 1930s and were popular in many countries due to their comparative cheapness, both in production and operation, as well as high reliability. In most countries before World War II, light tanks were the main or one of the main forces of tank forces.
In the first years of the war, most light tanks were lost by almost all the warring countries. A weak engine and thin armor, a small crew, insufficient caliber of cannon weapons, and the command’s ignorance of the tactics of using light tanks were the main reasons for the loss of priority in army armored vehicles. Light tanks have become highly specialized vehicles. In addition, the new light tanks were already approaching the medium tanks from the beginning of the war in terms of their characteristics.
Estimated number of light tanks used in the war by country(without captured and transferred/received)
| A country | Quantity | A country | Quantity | ||
| tanks | species/
modifications |
tanks | species/
modifications |
||
| Great Britain | 10087 | 5/22 | USA | 29790 | 6/17 |
| Hungary | 202 | 1/4 | France | 9242 | 11/24 |
| Germany | 4370 | 6/14 | Czechoslovakia | 2018 | 4/14 |
| Italy | 2686 | 5/10 | Sweden | 441 | 2/7 |
| Poland | 132 | 1/3 | Japan | 4109 | 6/7 |
| USSR | 34584 | 10/25 | |||
In the pre-war years and during the war, 11 countries produced 97,661 light tanks of 57 types in 147 modifications. During the war, machines made in England, the USA and Czechoslovakia were used in 21 other countries. In addition, Germany used at least 5 thousand captured tanks.
Performance characteristics of the best light tanks by country
| Country and type of tank/ | England | Germany Pz Kpfw II Ausf.D |
Italy | USSR | USA | France | Japan |
| Length, m. | 6,4 | 4,6 | 3,8 | 5,2 | 5,6 | 4,2 | 4,4 |
| Width, m. | 2,6 | 2,3 | 1,9 | 2,5 | 3 | 1,9 | 2 |
| Height, m. | 2.3 | 2 | 2,2 | 2.2 | 2,7 | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| Ground clearance, mm. | 420 | 340 | 260 | 350 | 460 | 320 | 400 |
| Mass, t. | 18 | 10 | 6,8 | 13,8 | 18,3 | 12,8 | 7,4 |
| Reservation, mm stern/forehead | 17/65 | 15/30 | 15/40 | 12/45 | 13/38 | 12/45 | 12 |
| engine's type | Dis. | Benz. | Benz. | Dis. | Benz. | Benz. | Dis. |
| Engine power, hp | 175 | 180 | 70 | 300 | 220 | 75 | 120 |
| Specific power, hp/t. | 9,6 | 18 | 10,3 | 21,7 | 10,9 | 6,3 | 16,2 |
| Highway speed, km/h. | 25 | 55 | 42 | 60 | 56 | 22 | 45 |
| Cruising range on the highway, km. | 225 | 200 | 200 | 344 | 160 | 150 | 250 |
| Main weapons | 75 mm | 20mm | 37 mm | 45 mm | 75 mm | 37 mm | 37 mm |
| Ammunition, pcs. | 46 | 140 | 312 | 150 | 48 | 100 | 75 |
| Additional weapons | 7.62 mm | 7.92 mm | 8mm | 2x7.62 | 12.7 mm | 7.5mm | 2x6.5 |
| Ammunition, pcs. | 3150 | 2100 | 1560 | 4032 | 3750 | 2400 | 3300 |
| Climbability, degrees. | 40 | 30 | 40 | 40 | 35 | 24 | 33 |
| Wall to be overcome, m. | 0,8 | 0,4 | 0,7 | 0,7 | 0,9 | 0,5 | 0,8 |
| Overcoming ditch, m. | 2.2 | 1,8 | 1,8 | 2,2 | 2,4 | 1,8 | 1,9 |
| Overcoming ford, m. | 1.1 | 0,9 | 0,8 | 1,1 | 1 | 0,6 | 1 |
| Specific ground pressure, kg/cm² | n.d. | 0,62 | n.d. | 0,56 | 0,79 | 0,92 | 0,66 |
| Crew, people | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Availability of a radio station | There is | There is | There is | There is | There is | No | No |
- The performance characteristics of light tanks by country are given below.
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