BT-5
BT-5 command tank, with horseshoe antenna around the turret top
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Specifications
Weight	11.5 tonnes
Length	5.58 m
Width	2.23 m
Height	2.25 m
Crew	3
Armour	6 to 13 mm
Primary armament	45 mm Model 32
Secondary armament	DT machine gun
Engine	Model M-5 400 hp (298 kW)
Power/weight	35 hp/tonne
Suspension	Christie
Operational range	200 km
Speed	72 km/h

The Fast Tank (Russian: Быстроходный танк, Bystrokhodny tank), was a series of Soviet 'cavalry tanks' which were produced in large numbers between 1932 and 1941. They were lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for their time, and had much better mobility than other contemporary tank designs. The BT tanks were known by the nickname Betka from the acronym, or by the diminutive version Betushka. Soviet Tank BT-5. ... Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets or shells, protecting the soldiers inside from enemy fire. ... The Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyarev pakhotnyi (Degtyarev hand-held infantry machine gun), more commonly called the DP-28, was a light machine gun used by the Soviet Union starting in 1928. ... A British Comet with Christie suspension The Christie suspension is a suspension system developed by Walter Christie for his tank designs. ... Soviet redirects here. ... The cruiser tank (also called cavalry tank or fast tank) was a British tank design concept of the inter-war period. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Backronym and Apronym (Discuss) Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations, such as NATO, laser, and ABC, written as the initial letter or letters of words, and pronounced on the basis of this abbreviated written form. ...

Overview

The BT tanks were 'convertible tanks'. This was a feature designed by J. Walter Christie to reduce wear of the unreliable tank tracks of the 1930s. In about thirty minutes the crew could remove the tracks and engage a chain drive to the road wheels, allowing the tank to travel at very high speeds on roads. In wheeled mode the tank was steered by pivoting the front road wheels. However, Soviet tank forces soon found the convertible option of little practical use in a country with few paved roads, and it consumed space and added needless complexity and weight. The feature was dropped from later Soviet designs. John Walter Christie (May 6, 1865 - January 11, 1944) was an American engineer and inventor. ... Roller chain and sprocket Mack AC delivery truck at the Petersen Automotive Museum with chain drive visible Chain drive was a popular power transmission system from the earliest days of the automobile. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Steering is the term applied to the collection of components, linkages, etc. ...

BT tanks saw service in the Spanish Civil War, in the Far East, in the Winter War in Finland, the Polish campaign, and in the early part of World War II. The BT tank design served as a platform for experimentation with artillery support tanks and advanced armour layout, and further development led directly to the famous T-34 tank. This article is about the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. ... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 250,000 men 30 tanks 130 aircraft[1][2] 1,000,000 men 3,000 tanks 3,800 aircraft[3][4] Casualties 26,662 dead 39,886 wounded 1,000 captured[5] 226,875 dead... Combatants Poland Germany, Soviet Union, Slovakia Commanders Edward Rydz-Śmigły Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand Čatloš (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft Total: 950... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Artillery with Gabion fortification Cannons on display at Fort Point Continental Artillery crew from the American Revolution Firing of an 18-pound gun, Louis-Philippe Crepin, (1772 – 1851) A forge-welded Iron Cannon in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. ... The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank first produced in 1940. ...

Production history

The BT-2 tank of 1932 was the first Soviet modification of Walter Christie's design.

In 1930, Soviet OGPU and GRU intelligence agents at AMTORG, ostensibly a Soviet trade organization, used their New York political contacts to persuade U.S. military and civilian officials to provide plans and specifications on the Christie tank design to the Soviet Union. At least two of Christie's M1931 tanks (without turrets) were later purchased in the United States and sent to the Soviet Union under false documentation in which they were described as 'agricultural tractors'. Both tanks were successfully delivered to the Kharkov Komintern Locomotive Plant (KhPZ). The original Christie tanks were designated fast tanks by the Soviets, abbreviated BT. Based on the Christie prototypes and previously obtained plans, three unarmed BT-2 prototypes were completed in October 1931 and mass production began in 1932. Most BT-2s were equipped with 37 mm gun and one machine gun, but shortages of 37 mm guns led to some early examples being fitted with three machine guns. The BT-3 and later models were equipped with a 45 mm gun. The sloping front armor design of the Christie M1931 prototype was retained in later Soviet tank hull designs, later adopted for side armor as well. Image File history File links Bt2. ... Image File history File links Bt2. ... The Bystrokhodniy Tank (Fast Tank), was a series of Soviet light tanks which were produced between 1932 and 1941. ... The BT-2 tank of 1932 - a Soviet improvement of Walter Christies tank. ... Obedinennoe Gosudarstvennoe Politicheskoe Upravlenie (or OGPU) (Combined State Political Directorate, also translated as All Union State Political Board) was the name of the secret police in the Soviet Union in one of the stages of its development. ... For other uses, see GRU (disambiguation). ... The BT-2 tank of 1932 - a Soviet improvement of Walter Christies tank. ... Turret (highlighted) attached to a tower on a baronial building in Scotland In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects from the wall of a building, such as a medieval castle or baronial house. ... Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau (KMDB, Ukrainian: Харківське Конструкторське Бюро по Mашинобуду&#1074...

In 1937, a new design team was formed at the KhPZ under Chief designer Mikhail I. Koshkin, to create the next generation of BT tanks. The team built a BT prototype called the A-20, but also built a more heavily armed and armoured derivative, the A-32, a "universal tank" to replace both the T-26 infantry tank and BT-8 cavalry tank. The design was controversial, but concerns about tank performance under the threat of German Blitzkrieg led to the approval for production of a still more heavily-armoured version, the T-34 medium tank. Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau (KMDB, Ukrainian: Харківське Конструкторське Бюро по Mашинобуду&#1074... General characteristics Length: 4. ... The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British in the years leading up to World War II. They were generally more heavily armoured compared to the lighter cruiser tanks, which would allow them to operate in close concert with infantry to help them break through heavily defended areas... The cruiser tank (also called cavalry tank or fast tank) was a British tank design concept of the inter-war period. ... The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank first produced in 1940. ...

Production:

• BT-5: 1,884
• BT-7: 5,328
• BT-7M: 706

Variants

BT-7A "artillery support tank" was a self-propelled gun variant, armed with a 76.2 mm howitzer.

• BT-1 - Christie prototype.
• BT-2 Model 1932 - 37 mm gun, M-5 engine (copy of U.S. Liberty engine).
• BT-5- larger cylindrical turret, 45 mm gun, ball-mount MG.
  • BT-5 Model 1933 - new turret with twin hatches, larger bustle and coaxial MG.
  • BT-5PKh - snorkelling variant (prototypes only).
  • BT-5A - artillery support version with 76.2 mm howitzer (few made).
  • BT-5 flamethrower tank - (prototypes only).
  • PT-1A - amphibious variant with new hull (few made).
• BT-7 Model 1935 - welded hull, redesigned hull front, new M-17T engine (copy of BMW), enclosed muffler.
  • BT-7 Model 1937 - new turret with sloping armour.
  • BT-7TU - command version, with whip antenna instead of earlier horseshoe antenna.
  • BT-7A - artillery support version with 76.2 mm howitzer.
  • OP-7 - flame-thrower version with external fuel panniers.
• BT-7M (1938, prototype designation A-8; sometimes also called BT-8) - new V-2 diesel engine (based on Hispano-Suiza 12Y aero engine) replacing earlier gasoline engines, two DT machine guns: in P-40 AA mount on roof and in a ball-mount on turret rear.
• BT-42 - Finnish assault gun, captured BT-7s were equipped with British 114 mm howitzers.
• BT-IS - Prototype/proof-of-concept platform with heavily sloped armor; forerunner of the armor design on the T-34.
• BT-SW-2 Cherepakha ("turtle") – Another prototype, which took the armour sloping to an extreme.
• A-20 – Prototype for a new BT tank, with 20 mm armour, 45mm gun, model V-2 diesel engine, and 8×6-wheel convertible drive. Lost out in trials to the A-32, which was further improved and produced as the T-34 medium tank.

• TTBT-5, TTBT-7 - teletanks

Image File history File links Bt7a_1. ... Image File history File links Bt7a_1. ... A self-propelled gun is an armored fighting vehicle which primarily based on and serves to transport the gun with which its equipped. ... The Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyarev pakhotnyi (Degtyarev hand-held infantry machine gun), more commonly called the DP-28, was a light machine gun used by the Soviet Union starting in 1928. ... The BT-42 was a Finnish assault gun built during the Continuation War. ... The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940–58. ... TT-26 teletank A teletank is a remotely controlled unmanned tank used in combat to minimize human casualties. ...

Specifications

BT-5 tanks in the Winter War in Finland.

A BT-7 crewman converses with German troops at the so-called "Border of Peace" set up after the 1939 invasion of Poland under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Image File history File links Bt5_10. ... Image File history File links Bt5_10. ... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 250,000 men 30 tanks 130 aircraft[1][2] 1,000,000 men 3,000 tanks 3,800 aircraft[3][4] Casualties 26,662 dead 39,886 wounded 1,000 captured[5] 226,875 dead... Image File history File links German and Soviet troops at the so-called Border of Peace, or a demarcation line set up by the Nazi-Soviet Alliance; picture taken during the Polish Defence War of 1939 Soviet BT tank visible in the foreground File history Legend: (cur) = this is the... Image File history File links German and Soviet troops at the so-called Border of Peace, or a demarcation line set up by the Nazi-Soviet Alliance; picture taken during the Polish Defence War of 1939 Soviet BT tank visible in the foreground File history Legend: (cur) = this is the... Combatants Poland Germany, Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Edward Rydz-Śmigły Fedor von Bock (Army Group North) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades 1 million soldiers[3] 4,300 guns 880 tanks 400 aircraft 56 divisions, 4 brigades 1. ... Molotov signs the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. ... A tonne or metric ton (symbol t), sometimes referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. ... The metre (or meter, see spelling differences) is a measure of length. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... The Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyarev pakhotnyi (Degtyarev hand-held infantry machine gun), more commonly called the DP-28, was a light machine gun used by the Soviet Union starting in 1928. ... hp, see HP (disambiguation) The horsepower (hp) is the name of several non-metric units of power. ... The litre or liter (U.S. spelling, see spelling differences) is a unit of volume. ... Kilometre per hour (American spelling: kilometer per hour) is a unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector). ... Power-to-weight ratio is a measure commonly used when comparing various vehicles (or engines), including automobiles, motorcycles and aircraft. ... km redirects here. ...

Combat History

BT tanks were used in combat on several occasions prior to World War II. A battalion of BT-5s saw action on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, where their 45 mm guns could easily destroy the opposing German and Italian light tanks. In the border skirmishes against Japan in 1939 (including the battle of Khalkhin Gol), both BT-5s and BT-7s were used. Again the BT generally outclassed the lightweight enemy tanks. Against Finland during the Winter War (mainly BT-2 and BT-5 models) the BT was less successful. The Finnish forces were well-led, highly motivated and defending very constricted terrain. The thinly-armored BTs were very vulnerable to dug-in Finnish anti-tank guns. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... This article is about the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... Combatants Soviet Union Mongolia Japan Manchukuo Commanders Georgy Zhukov Michitaro Komatsubara Strength 57,000 30,000 Casualties 6,831 killed, 15,952 wounded 8,440 killed, 8,766 wounded The Battle of Khalkhin Gol (Japanese: ノモンハン事件 Nomonhan jiken), sometimes spelled Halhin Gol or Khalkin Gol after the Halha River passing through... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 250,000 men 30 tanks 130 aircraft[1][2] 1,000,000 men 3,000 tanks 3,800 aircraft[3][4] Casualties 26,662 dead 39,886 wounded 1,000 captured[5] 226,875 dead...

In the Second World War, BT-5s and BT-7s took part in the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland in 1939, and in large numbers in the battles of 1941. Most of these tanks were abandoned or destroyed in the disastrous 1941 campaign. A few continued in use in 1942, but they became quite rare after that time. For the movie, see 1941 (film). ...

The Red Army planned to replace the BT series with the T-34 and had just begun doing so when the German invasion (Operation Barbarossa) took place. The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank first produced in 1940. ... Combatants Germany, Romania, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler, Ion Antonescu, C.G.E. Mannerheim, Benito Mussolini, Miklós Horthy, Jozef Tiso Joseph Stalin Strength ~3. ...

In the Far East, a significant number of BT-7 tanks took part in Operation August Storm against Japan in Manchuria, during August 1945. This was the last combat action of BT-series vehicles. The far east as a cultural block includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and South Asia. ... Combatants Soviet Union Peoples Republic of Mongolia Japan Manchukuo Mengjiang Commanders Aleksandr Vasilevsky Otsuzo Yamada Strength Soviet Union 1,577,225 men, 26,137 artillery, 1,852 sup. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Technical Legacy

BT-7 tanks on parade.

The BT series was numerous, forming the 'cavalry tank' arm of the pre-war Red Army, and had much better mobility than other contemporary tank designs. For these reasons, there were many experiments and derivatives of the design, mostly conducted at the KhPZ factory in Kharkov, Soviet Ukraine. Image File history File links Bt7_3. ... Image File history File links Bt7_3. ... The cruiser tank (also called cavalry tank or fast tank) was a British tank design concept of the inter-war period. ... Kharkov (rus: Ха́рьков) or Kharkiv (ukr: Ха́рків) is the second largest city in Ukraine, a center of Kharkivska oblast. It is situated in the northeast of the country and has a population of two million. ...

The most important legacy of the BT was the T-34 design, derived in part from the BT. The T-34 had many innovations well beyond the BT, but the lineage is obvious. Along the way, an important technical development was the BT-IS and BT-SW-2 series of testbed vehicles, which demonstrated the construction of vehicles with very heavily-sloped armor. This proof-of-concept led directly to the armor layout of the T-34. The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank first produced in 1940. ... The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank first produced in 1940. ...

BTs were also used as chassis for engineer support vehicles and mobility testbeds. A bridgelayers variant had a T-38 turret and launched a bridge across small gaps. Standard tanks were fitted as fascine carriers. The RBT-5 hosted a pair of large artillery rocket launchers, one on each side of the turret. Several designs for extremely wide tracks, including, oddly, wooden 'snowshoes' were tried on BTs. The T-38 was a Soviet light amphibious tank that saw service in World War II. Developed in 1936 at the AMO vehicle works, the T-38 was a development of the earlier T-37. ... A Churchill VIII AVRE carrying a fascine on its front. ...

The KBT-7 was a thoroughly modern armored command vehicle that was in the prototype stage when WW2 broke out. The design was not pursued during the war.

In the Kiev maneuvers of 1936, foreign military observers were shown hundreds of BTs rolling by a reviewing stand. In the audience were British Army representatives, who returned home to advocate for use of Christie suspension on British cruiser tanks. The British A-13, Crusader, and Cromwell tanks all used suspension designs derived from the Christie via the BT. Interestingly, the pointed shape of the hull front armor on the BT also influenced the design of the British Matilda tank. A British Comet with Christie suspension The Christie suspension is a suspension system developed by Walter Christie for his tank designs. ... General characteristics Length 6 m Width 2. ... One of the primary cruiser tanks of the United Kingdom during World War II, the Cruiser Tank VI Crusader was perhaps the most important British tank of the North African Campaign. ... The A27M Cruiser Tank VIII Cromwell, named after the English Civil War leader Oliver Cromwell, was one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in World War II. It was the first tank in the British arsenal to combine a dual-purpose gun, high speed, and... The Tank, Infantry, Mk II, Matilda II (A12) (sometimes referred to as Senior Matilda) was a British tank of World War II. In a somewhat unorthodox move, it shared the same name as the Tank, Infantry, Mk I (A11). ...

References

• Zaloga, Steven J.; James Grandsen (1984). Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-606-8. 

Steven Zaloga is an expert on military technology. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

BT tank

• Tank development index at the Russian Battlefield
• BT tanks and their variants at Henk of Holland