T-70

The T-70 was a light tank used by the Red Army during World War II, replacing both the T-60 and the T-50.

The T-80 Light Tank was a more advanced version of the T-70 with a two-man turret—it was only produced in very small numbers when light tank production was abandoned.

The T-70 was armed with a 45-mm L/46 gun Model 38 with forty-five rounds carried, and a coaxial 7.62 mm DT machine gun.

The tank was operated by a driver and a commander who loaded and fired the gun. Armor thickness on the turret front was 60 mm, turret sides and rear: 35 mm, hull front and sides: 45 mm, roof and bottom: 10 mm.

The T-70 remained in service until 1948.

Development
The T-70 was an attempt to remedy some of the shortcomings of the T-60 scout tank, which had very poor cross-country mobility, thin armor, and an inadequate 20-mm gun.

It also replaced the very short production run of the T-50 light infantry tank, which was more sophisticated, but also much too complicated and expensive to produce.

T-70s were put into production in March 1942 at Zavod No. 37, and along with T-60 production at GAZ and Zavod No. 38.

They completely replaced T-60 production in September 1942, although that tank remained in use until the end of the war. Production ended in October 1943, with 8,226 vehicles completed.

In April 1942, the conical turrets on early-production machines were replaced with new welded turrets. The end of the T-70's production run was built with two 85-hp GAZ-203 engines, a Mark 4 commander's periscope replacing a vision slit, and other improvements. (See T-70 Late for statistics of such upgraded vehicles)

The one-man turret of the Soviet light tanks made coordinating a tank platoon nearly impossible, because the commanders were kept busy acquiring targets, loading and firing the main gun and machine gun, and commanding their drivers.

In an attempt to compensate, the T-80 Light Tank was designed, a more robust version of the T-70 with a two-man turret. But there was enough lend-lease equipment available to fulfill the reconnaissance role of the light tanks, and armored cars were better suited for light scouting and liaison.

The SU-76 was based on a lengthened and widened version of the T-70 light tank chassis.

Design
The first batch of T-70s were built with a GAZ-202 engine on each side of the hull, one driving each track. This arrangement was seen to be a serious problem, even before the first tanks were issued.

It was quickly redesigned as the T-70M (although it continued to be referred to as just T-70), with the engines in-line on the right side of the tank and a normal transmission and differential.

The conical turret was replaced by one more easily welded out of plate armor, and moved to the left side of the hull.

Curiously, even after the T-70's production line was redesigned, SU-76 self-propelled guns started to be built with the same unsatisfactory un-synchronized two-engine layout, and all of them were later recalled for factory rebuilding as SU-76Ms.

Variants

 * T-90 SPAA Anti-Aircraft vehicle
 * ZUT-37 Anti-Aircraft vehicle