T-27

T-27
DT machine gun (with 2,520 rounds)
Engine	GAZ-AA 40 hp (30 kW)
Power/weight	15 hp/tonne
Suspension	bogie
Fuel capacity	46 l
Operational range	120 km (75 mi)
Maximum speed	42 km/h (26 mph)

The T-27 was a tankette produced in the 1930s by the Soviet Union. It was based on the design of the Carden Loyd tankette, bought under license from the United Kingdom in 1930.

Design

The Soviets were not fully satisfied with the Carden Loyd design and made a number of changes before putting it into mass production under the designation of T-27. Compared with the British original, the hull was larger, the running gear was improved and the weapon mount was modified to take a Soviet 7.62 mm

.

Service

The tankette was accepted into service on February 13, 1931. It was manufactured in two factories simultaneously, the Bolshevik factory in

.

The principal use of the T-27 during its service life was as a reconnaissance vehicle. Initially, 65 tankette battalions were formed by the Red Army, with each having about 50 tankettes. This figure was later reduced to 23 per battalion. The tankette was also intended to be air-mobile. In 1935, the Soviets experimented with transporting T-27s by air, by suspending them under the fuselages of Tupolev TB-3 bombers.

The T-27 saw active service in the Soviet republics of

. However, they fairly quickly became obsolete due to the introduction of more advanced tanks. The Red Army found them reliable and simple to operate, but the T-27 coped poorly with swampy and snowy terrain due to the narrowness of its tracks. It was also difficult to find crews, as the tankettes were so small that it was difficult to find crews of sufficiently diminutive stature. By the end of the 1930s the T-27 was relegated primarily to training use, with some being used as tractors to tow field guns.

Ten T-27s were captured by Hungarian forces during the fighting on the Eastern Front.^[2]

Five T-27s were ordered by Turkey in 1935, alongside 60 T-26s.^[3]

Two T-27 tankettes were captured by Romanian forces as of 1 November 1942.^[4]

Variants

TB-3 bomber).^[5]

See also

Comparable vehicles

• Czechoslovakia/Romania: R-1
• Germany: Panzer I
• Italy: L3/33 and L3/35
• Japan: Type 94
• Poland: TK-3 and TKS
• Soviet Union: T-37A and T-38
• Sweden:
  Strv m/37
• United Kingdom: Carden Loyd tankette

References

1. ^ Zaloga 1983, p 123.
2. ^ "Hungary (WW2)". Tank Encyclopedia. 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
3. ISSN 1765-0828
   .
4. ^ Mark Axworthy, Cornel I. Scafeș, Cristian Crăciunoiu, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945, p. 220
5. ISBN 83-85314-03-2
   .

Sources

• 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
  .

External links