T-26 No.531

This page is about the Soviet light tank T-26 No.531. For other versions, see T-26 (Family).

T-26 No.531

T-26 No.531

China

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.0	1.0	1.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Light tank

Purchase:250

Show in game

Description

Between 1937 and 1938, a batch of T-26s was purchased by the Republic of China, amounting to 82 units, and used at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The majority of the tanks were operated by the 200th Mechanized Division of the Nationalist Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang. Among them was the T-26 numbered 531 - a command tank belonging to the Chinese general Sun Li-jen (Chinese: 孙立人). He was known as an excellent tactician, earning him the nickname "Rommel of the East". In the spring of 1942, the 200th Division was transferred to Burma, where in 1943, under Sun Li-jen's command, a series of defeats were inflicted upon the Japanese. After the evacuation of the Kuomintang to Taiwan in 1955, Sun Li-jen was accused of collaborating with Soviet intelligence (due to disputes with Chiang Kai-shek's appointees) and spent a long time under house arrest.

T-26 No.531 was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision". Being essentially a copy of the tech-tree version with a unique camouflage, this variant retains all its features: slow, fragile, and inconspicuous, but capable of inflicting significant damage on the enemy team by firing from afar and behind cover. It is a good starting tank for a new player, as it provides access to a powerful and effective gun and at the same time teaches caution due to the particularly weak armour.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull15 / 15 / 15

Turret15 / 15 / 15

Crew3 people

Visibility75 %

The armour of the T-26 is almost non-existent, making it the worst aspect of this vehicle. Armour is flat and thin on all sides. Do not expose yourself to enemy fire. Crew placement is not lined up from the front, meaning shells without HE filler can take up to 3 shots before being destroyed. Beware of HMGs and autocannons, since they will be able to penetrate your armour.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	15 mm (22°) Front plate 7 mm (64-80°) Front glacis 15 mm (6-52°) Lower glacis	15 mm (21-23°) Top 15 mm Bottom	15 mm Top 15 mm (12°) Bottom	10 mm Hull 6 mm Rear
Turret	15 mm (13-15°) Turret front 15 mm (5-44°) Gun mantlet	15 mm (17-19°)	15 mm (17°)	10 mm

Notes

• Suspension wheel is 10 mm thick while tracks are 15 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 6 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB34 / 4 km/h

RB and SB31 / 4 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight9.8 t

Engine power

AB174 hp

RB and SB91 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB17.8 hp/t

RB and SB9.3 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	34	4	9.8	141	174	14.39	17.76
Realistic	31	4		80	91	8.16	9.29

While being a light tank, its mobility is one of a medium/heavy tank. The top speed is very, very low for a light tank, combined with the low power to weight ratio given by its weak engine, the T-26 has poor acceleration and speed on most surfaces. It can reach around 30 km/h only on hard, flat surface, after a long, uninterrupted acceleration period. With even a small turn the speed will drop significantly. The narrow tracks significantly reduce its off-road mobility in muddy, sandy or snowy maps. Despite the tracks being short and far apart, the T-26 still has slow hull traverse and often needs a forward/backward jerk to start turning properly. Reverse speed is also very poor (-4 km/h), which cannot save you from most bad situations.

It will eventually take you where you want to be, provided that you are a very patient player, choose your route well, and avoid too many tricky turns.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB322

RB226

SB201

Total cost of modifications5 020

500

Crew training150

Experts1 000

Aces20

Research Aces145 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 20 / 20 / 20 %

2 × 75 / 75 / 75 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 450 Cost: 45 40 Suspension Brake System Research: 500 Cost: 50 45 Filters Transmission Engine Research: 960 Cost: 95 85	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment	Horizontal Drive Research: 450 Cost: 45 40 45mm_AP_1942_ammo_pack Research: 450 Cost: 45 40 Adjustment of Fire Research: 500 Cost: 50 45 Elevation Mechanism Research: 750 Cost: 75 70 Artillery Support Research: 960 Cost: 95 85

Armaments

Main armament

45 mm 20-K cannon

Ammunition205 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

3.8 → 2.9 s

Vertical guidance-6° / 22°

The 45 mm 20-K is the typical Soviet rank I gun. Players should get used to it since it will be your main armament up until rank II. The APHEBC round has a good amount of HE filler, meaning penetrating shells will do good damage, sometimes even knocking out enemies with a single shot. In longer ranges, shells begin to lose penetration and accuracy; it is not made for sniping. Try to bring ~10-15 BR-240SP (pure AP shells) for heavier targets. This gun is very forgiving to beginners, with its very fast reload speed and turret traverse.

45 mm 20-K					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	205	-6°/+22°	±180°	N/A	15.23	21.08	25.60	28.31	30.12	3.77	3.34	3.07	2.90
Realistic					9.52	11.20	13.60	15.04	16.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
BR-240	APHEBC	70	67	58	47	39	32
BR-240SP	APBC	73	70	60	50	41	34

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
BR-240	APHEBC	760	1.43	1.2	9	29.26	48°	63°	71°
BR-240SP	APBC	757	1.43	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the T-26 No.531

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty
205	202 (+3)	197 (+8)	187 (+18)	177 (+28)	167 (+38)	157 (+48)	139 (+66)
8th rack empty	9th rack empty	10th rack empty	11th rack empty	12th rack empty	13th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
121 (+84)	103 (+102)	79 (+126)	61 (+144)	29 (+176)	1 (+204)	No

Note:

• Turret empty: 157 (+48) shells.

Machine guns

7.62 mm DT machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition1 890 rounds

Belt capacity63 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate600 shots/min

7.62 mm DT
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	1,890 (63)	600	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The T-26 No.531 is definitely best suited to a more support role, flanking the battlefield and finding a good position to support your teammates from, the 45 mm cannon has very good characteristics with its rounds (APHEBC, AP) being able to deal fair damage to enemy vehicles from short and long-range and the fast reload allowing for quick adjustment of aim between shots, this allows the T-26 to be a highly effective flanking vehicle if a good camping spot is found, however, the limited gun depression (-6°) will affect which positions are usable, keeping long-range is certainly an effective way to avoid taking damage. The T-26 is also usable at closer ranges for brawling with enemy vehicles, but it should be kept in mind that the thin armour on the T-26 (≤15 mm) will leave the vital modules of your vehicle such as your crew, gun & powerplant (engine & transmission) at risk of taking damage, the mobility of the T-26 is also lesser than many of its counterparts which could potentially put it at risk in a brawling scenario, on the other hand, the T-26's good reload (3.77 - 2.9s) will usually give it an upper hand if you can survive the first shots against an enemy vehicle.

Due to the top speed of the T-26 being less than many other vehicles at its BR (30 km/h), it will usually arrive at the battlefield after the fighting has already begun, this has the advantage of arriving after your team has already identified many targets, and also meaning that you will not be in the front line of attack, this will usually allow for you to last a bit longer than players who rushed the centre of the battlefield, alternatively, it is also less likely that you will reach capture points before they are captured by your faster teammates although there are cases where you can help capture a contested point.

It is also worth keeping in mind that the reverse speed is only -3 km/h, so you will have to be careful when driving out into the potential enemy fire.

The lack of armour is really something to be kept in mind, even some machine guns (8 mm, 12.7 mm) will be able to go through you thickest pieces of armour (15 mm), due to this you want to be trying your best to avoid enemy vehicles getting the first shot, driving under cover is advisable to avoid being spotted and if you spot an enemy vehicle it would be best to engage and destroy them as soon as possible to avoid them becoming a threat, due to the lack of effective armour, aircraft can also be a risk, again, staying in cover will make it more difficult for enemy vehicles to spot and engage your T-26.

In terms of the T-26's gun, there are 2 round options, the APHEBC round has 70 mm best effective penetration as well as an explosive filler, this will allow for this round to penetrate most armour at this BR and also have good post-penetration damage if the fuse is set off. Second round type is an AP round, this has 73 mm best effective penetration but lacks any explosive filler, this makes its post-penetration damage less effective than the APHEBC round. More info on both these rounds can be found in the "ammunition" section above.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Great firepower; the stock shell has 69 mm maximum penetration and 32 g TNT which can frontally penetrate many tanks
• Even in an up-tier situation it can still effectively penetrate tanks like the B1
• Massive ammo capacity and fast reload time is good for new players who are learning to aim
• Premium bonuses thanks to its premium status

Cons:

• Very low survivability; the armour is thin, not angled and is only 15 mm max. Can get frontally penetrated by anything like the Pz.II, Pz.III and even heavy MG.
• The three crew members are packed tightly together significantly reduces survivability
• Poor mobility overall; has low top speed limited manoeuvrability around the battlefield, the weak engine doesn't allow it to climb hills
• The narrow tracks slow it in desert maps like Sinai or snowy maps like Frozen Pass
• The slow reverse speed of only -3 km/h is very fatal as it cannot back away from danger in time
• Average turret rotation combined with the sluggish hull traverse prevents it from responding to flanks quickly
• Average -5° gun depression limits its potential in hilly terrains
• Some ammo is stored inside turret which tends to explode when hit

History

In Chinese Service

In 1937-39, a period of high tensions between the USSR and Japan, the Soviets provided 88 T-26 M33 tanks to China. The T-26, which along with the BT tanks would constitute three-quarters of the Soviet tank force at the start of its own war with Germany in 1941, had been developed from and was very similar to the Vickers 6-ton tank, a model which China had previously bought from Britain. With 20 of those tanks, mostly the Vickers Mark E armed with a short 47 mm gun, fighting with the 1st and 2nd Tank Battalions around Shanghai in 1937, is where most had been lost to the Japanese. The T-26s that came after appears to have been radio-equipped. They were assigned to the 1st Tank Regiment, which had elements attached to the new 200^th (Motorised) Division, the first such division in the Chinese army. The 200^th Division, with at least nine T-26s, was deployed to Burma in the spring of 1942. Most of its tanks were believed lost in that campaign, although they acquitted themselves well. Other T-26 elements saw action in China proper throughout the war.

This particular T-26, No. 531, was the commander tank of general Sun Li-jen, who was nicknamed "Rommel of the east".

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the T-26 No.531 from live.warthunder.com.

See also

• Standard Soviet T-26: T-26
• Standard Chinese T-26: T-26 (China)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Experimental Design and Mechanical Engineering Department
Light Tanks
T-26	T-26 · T-26 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-26E · T-26-4
T-50	T-50 · T-126
Heavy Tanks	T-35
Tank Destroyers	SU-5-1 · SU-100Y
Export
T-26	␗T-26 · T-26 No.531
See Also	Omsk Transport Engineering Plant