Difference between revisions of "BT-7 TD"
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{{Specs-Tank-Armour}} | {{Specs-Tank-Armour}} | ||
<!-- ''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.'' --> | <!-- ''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.'' --> | ||
| − | + | The armour is well angled at certain points like the front, however being as thin as it is, don't count on it to protect you very well. With 20 mm armour on the front and with all that inclination on the armour panels, this vehicle had decent protection. With 5 mm less armour on the turret, that's the vulnerability of the tank, especially on the turret's backside, where the ammo is stored. However, you only get 3 crew members in the vehicle, making the tank vulnerable to any "crew knocked out" scenarios. One strong point for the vehicle is that you have speed, and the trade-off of speed vs. armour can come in handy especially travelling around 59 km/h (It's very hard to reach 60 km/h) ensures any enemy SPG will be very unlikely to hit close to you. | |
'''Armour type:''' | '''Armour type:''' | ||
| Line 44: | Line 44: | ||
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}} | {{Specs-Tank-Mobility}} | ||
<!-- ''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.'' --> | <!-- ''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.'' --> | ||
| − | + | It is a very fast tank with relatively thin armour. It can be useful to flank and hit the side armour of enemy tanks, taking advantage of its very high speed. With its speed and low weight, this tank will drift in turns. For maximum control in turns, reduce throttle beforehand and only tip/nudge the turn-keys. It needs some time to get used to, however, it can prepare you for the T-34's break-turns. | |
| − | {{tankMobility|abMinHp=620|rbMinHp=354}} | + | Your speed can be your best defence, so move fast and try to zig-zag a bit to make yourself a more difficult target for tanks farther away (not too much though, or you'll bleed off too much speed). |
| + | |||
| + | Off-road behaviour is good and the drifts aren't as extreme as on city roads. Top speed is not really reduced as well, making the BT-7 one of the fastest early tanks due to its relatively wide tracks, something both the [[M2A4|Light tank M2]] and [[Pz.II C|Panzer II]] miss. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Like its predecessor the [[BT-5]], the BT-7 has competitive mobility, easily being able to reach capture points before most other tanks or get to competitive camping spots before anyone else, the 400 hp engine gives the BT-7 a good power-to-weight ratio, which also allows the BT-7 to scale hills and smaller obstacles with relative ease.{{tankMobility|abMinHp=620|rbMinHp=354}} | ||
=== Modifications and economy === | === Modifications and economy === | ||
| Line 128: | Line 132: | ||
== Usage in battles == | == Usage in battles == | ||
| − | <!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' --> | + | <!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' -->There are two common schools of thought when driving the BT-7, firstly rushing a capture point using your better than average mobility to get there before other friendly or enemy tanks. This tactic can help to gain points early in the game and perhaps even a few kills as enemy tanks try to take the point that you captured, but your fairly thin armour will leave you at risk of being crippled and destroyed by enemy fire unless you retreat to cover or get back up from friendly vehicles. The second school of thought is not to charge right into the combat, but wait a while to see how the battle develops - observe where and how many enemy tanks go, maybe fire a few shots from a distance. Use your great mobility to get to the best positions and flank the enemy, from these positions you could snipe into the main battler area to damage and kill enemy vehicles. You could then decide to use the BT-7's mobility to charge at lonely opponents, which at close range have no chance of keeping their guns pointed at you as you can essentially drive circles around them. Keep in mind that charging into more than 1 opponent is usually a quick end as it is very hard to not get hit by either of them at the same time. There is basically paper armour on BT-7 to stop anything other than machine-gun fire, overall speed is key, being mobile and changing your position often will be a great way to avoid enemy fire and potential revenge kill attempts. |
| − | '' | + | |
| + | If you lose one of your 3 crew members it would be advisable to head to a friendly capture point to use your crew replenishment as your vehicle needs 2 members to operate, and having a 'spare' crew member can come in handy. | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Enemies worth noting:''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [[Pz.II (Family)|Pz.IIs]], [[Flakpanzer I]] - Although not as fast as the BT-7, the Pz.IIs still have an average speed of around 40 km/h. Also, they are equipped with a deadly 20 mm autocannon that will punch holes on the BT-7 with ease, and their rate of fire can quickly kill multiple crew. The BT-7 has thin armour protecting only 3 crew, making it extremely vulnerable to those autocannons. Try to finish them before they shoot at you. | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [[Sd.Kfz.234 (Family)|Sd.Kfz.234 series]] - These wheeled vehicles all have scary on-road speeds of more than 60 km/h, so in any map, with roads connecting to the points they can always get there first and set up an ambush. However, these vehicles are wheeled meaning they cannot turn in place, they are rather sluggish when trying to turn, and they have either slow turret traverse or no turret at all, so the player can use this to their advantage. Wiggle/circle around them to avoid their guns and force them to turn, then aim carefully and immobilise them. Note that the DT machine gun on the BT-7 only has 10 mm penetration at most, making it almost impossible to go through their armour and kill any crew, so don't think of destroying these wheeled vehicles with the MG. | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [[M8 Greyhound]], [[M3 Stuart (Family)|M3 Stuarts]] - These vehicles can be equally fast, and the M8 can outrun the BT-7 if it's travelling on road, allowing them to get to the point before the BT-7 does. Therefore, if America is on the other side the player might want to change their tactics and not rush the point since low tier battles are always filled with fast tanks. The M8 has a roof-mounted .50 cal MG which easily tears the BT-7's armour apart and kills the crew inside. Also, most of them have a vertical stabiliser that works at low speed, so avoid firing on the move with them. | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [[B1 bis]] - A heavily armoured tank for its BR, but do not panic when you see it. Don't fire at a distance unless you are directly aiming at its side armour. The best option is to try and get as close to it as possible (point-blank range is ideal) and shoot straight at its side. However sometimes due to a variety of reasons the player might be unable to flank it and has to face it frontally. If that is the case, shoot the rather vertical driver's compartment and there's a great chance of penetration, killing the driver and the commander (which is also the gunner for the turret). Or, shoot between the two guns on the turret to kill the commander/gunner. Or, shoot at the near-vertical part of the curved gun mantlet of the big hull-mounted gun. | ||
=== Pros and cons === | === Pros and cons === | ||
| Line 155: | Line 170: | ||
{{main|BT-7#History|l1=History of the BT-7}} | {{main|BT-7#History|l1=History of the BT-7}} | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Development === | ||
| + | The success of the [[BT-5|BT light tanks]] in Soviet service prompted additional upgrades and other developmental projects done on the design to increase its service life. The development led to the final model of the BT light tank series, the '''BT-7'''. The tank differed from the older BT-5 tank with a welded hull, redesigned hull front, and a new engine in the Model 1935 version. The '''Model 1937''' version of the BT-7 added a redesigned turret that featured sloping armour. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The tank initially had a canted-ellipse shaped turret mounting the main gun and coaxial machine guns with the focus of allowing the tank to mount different tanks without changing the whole design, which led to the development of two main kinds of BT-7s, the normal variant with a 45 mm 20K gun for anti-armour and an artillery variant called the ''BT-7A'' which mounted a 76.2 mm KT-26 howitzer for anti-infantry. The tank was redesigned before it entered production by using the BT-5 turret instead with the main gun and coaxial machine gun still attached, though the concept of swapping to different guns was still in development for the tank. A radio was also installed on the turret as well. The tank had a three-man crew, the commander/gunner and loader in the turret, and the driver in the front. Production started in 1935 but was redesigned in 1937 with a new conical turret that allowed more ammunition to be stored and a machine gun on the rear of the turret. The BT-7 mod. 1937 also had improvements on the drive wheels, gearbox, and tracks by 1938. The BT-7 went on to be produced from 1935 to 1940 for a total unit production of between 2,700 to 5,300 tanks. | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Combat usage === | ||
| + | The BT-7 served alongside its older counterpart BT-5 tanks. The BT light tanks were meant to be cavalry tanks, and at the time of their introduction, they were considered some of the finest tanks against other countries' tanks. They had great mobility of all available tanks, and its 45 mm gun could perform very well in combat. The only drawbacks of the design were its light armour and its gasoline engine, which caused the design to be rather flammable to improvised incendiary weapons. The BT-7's most notable combat service came against the Japanese at Khalkhin Gol. The tactics of Soviet Marshal Georgi Zhukov and the performance of his BT-5 and BT-7 tanks led to a decisive victory. It was during this battle that the BT tanks' tendency to catch fire was found, but its performance was positive against the inferior Japanese armoured forces. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The BT-7 next combat use was during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa when Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union. The superior German tanks [[Pz.III F|Panzer III]] and [[Pz.IV F1|Panzer IV]] was able to easily take out these lightly armoured tanks. Reports note that about 2,000 BT-7 tanks were lost in the first 12 months alone against the German forces, with hundreds broken down from low maintenance and were abandoned. Despite their inferiority, the Soviets continued to produce and field them among armour and mechanized units to boost their operational capacity, though most were kept away from the front lines due to their inadequacy. The BT-7 would finally see its service again in the Soviet invasion of Japanese-controlled Manchuria. The Soviets fielded the BT-7 and other tanks in its inventory against the inferior Japanese forces in Manchuria, where it proved very effective against the more lightly armoured Japanese tanks employed. The BT series were all retired after the end of World War II due to their obsolete design as an inter-war period tank design. | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Legacy === | ||
| + | Perhaps the most important impact of the BT light tanks series was that it kick-started the development of the [[T-34 (1940)|T-34]] medium tank, which would go on as the most-produced tank of World War II. A new design team was formed in 1937 at the KhPZ factory, where they built prototypes utilizing more armour and a heavier gun onto the design, which was called the ''A-32'' and was approved for production as the T-34 tank. The BT tanks also serve as the basis of support vehicles such as the ''BT-7A'' artillery tan, ''BT-7TU'' command tank, ''OP-7'' flamethrower tank, and even the ''TT-BT-7'' remote-controlled tank. An attempt in 1940 also had the BT-7 up-armoured with hinged homogeneous armour, which added five tons to the design weight. These vehicles are not known to have seen service in combat units. | ||
== Media == | == Media == | ||
| Line 161: | Line 189: | ||
;Skins | ;Skins | ||
| + | |||
* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=ussr_bt_7_1937_td Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.] | * [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=ussr_bt_7_1937_td Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.] | ||
| Line 170: | Line 199: | ||
* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;'' | * ''reference to the series of the vehicles;'' | ||
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.'' --> | * ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.'' --> | ||
| − | + | ; Related development | |
| − | * '' | + | * ''[[BT-5]]'' |
| − | * '' | + | * ''[[BT-7 (Family)]]'' |
== External links == | == External links == | ||
Latest revision as of 11:17, 20 October 2024
| This page is about the Soviet gift light tank BT-7 TD. For other versions, see BT-7 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The BT-7 TD was a Soviet light tank, developed from the previous BT-5 light tank. Both designs shared the same 45 mm 20-K cannon aswell as coaxial DT machine gun. Unlike the BT-5, the BT-7s hull was welded and the shape of hull at front was also redesigned. The frontal armour protection was slightly increased from 13 to 20 mm of armour. New short-pitch tracks were installed and Mikulin M-17T engine which was a licensed copy of German BMW VI V-12 engine was used instead of the M-5-400 found in BT-5 and earlier BT series tanks. New turret turret featuring sloped armour was also adopted. The BT-7 was used during Winter War and Continuation war with Finland aswell as during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa. Their numbers greatly reduced due to combat losses after 1941, the BTs served for the remainder of war. One example in running condition is preserved to this day.
The BT-7 TD was introduced during Update "Hot Tracks" as reward for watching Enlisted streams on Twitch.tv. The BT-7 TD is identical to the BT-7 in every way except for the exclusive camouflage, of a BT tank during the battle of Moscow, similar to the one found on the T-26 (1st Gv.T.Br.). The BT-7 TD features a very powerful gun on a highly mobile chassis, at the cost of no valuable armour. The tank commanders should utilize the speed of the BT to flank their enemies and shoot them from sides and then quickly change position and perform another ambush as the vehicle itself is very lightly armoured and any hit is fatal.
General info
Survivability and armour
The armour is well angled at certain points like the front, however being as thin as it is, don't count on it to protect you very well. With 20 mm armour on the front and with all that inclination on the armour panels, this vehicle had decent protection. With 5 mm less armour on the turret, that's the vulnerability of the tank, especially on the turret's backside, where the ammo is stored. However, you only get 3 crew members in the vehicle, making the tank vulnerable to any "crew knocked out" scenarios. One strong point for the vehicle is that you have speed, and the trade-off of speed vs. armour can come in handy especially travelling around 59 km/h (It's very hard to reach 60 km/h) ensures any enemy SPG will be very unlikely to hit close to you.
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour
| Armour | Front | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 15 mm (61°) Upper front glacis 20 mm (18°) Driver's hatch 20 mm (5-52°) Lower front glacis |
20 mm Driver compartment 15 + 4 mm Fighting & engine compartments |
10 mm (55°) Upper glacis 13 mm (15°) Centre plate 13 mm (58°) Lower glacis |
10 mm 4 mm Engine vents |
| Turret | 15 mm (7-53°) Gun mantlet 15 mm (13°) Turret front |
15 mm (13°) Front 13 mm (13°) Bustle |
13 mm (15°) | 10 mm |
Notes
- Suspension wheels, tracks and torsion bars are 15 mm thick.
- Belly armour is 6 mm thick.
- Mudguards and storage boxes are 4 mm thick.
- There is a 4 mm internal wall separating the crew compartment from the engine compartment.
Mobility
It is a very fast tank with relatively thin armour. It can be useful to flank and hit the side armour of enemy tanks, taking advantage of its very high speed. With its speed and low weight, this tank will drift in turns. For maximum control in turns, reduce throttle beforehand and only tip/nudge the turn-keys. It needs some time to get used to, however, it can prepare you for the T-34's break-turns.
Your speed can be your best defence, so move fast and try to zig-zag a bit to make yourself a more difficult target for tanks farther away (not too much though, or you'll bleed off too much speed).
Off-road behaviour is good and the drifts aren't as extreme as on city roads. Top speed is not really reduced as well, making the BT-7 one of the fastest early tanks due to its relatively wide tracks, something both the Light tank M2 and Panzer II miss.
Like its predecessor the BT-5, the BT-7 has competitive mobility, easily being able to reach capture points before most other tanks or get to competitive camping spots before anyone else, the 400 hp engine gives the BT-7 a good power-to-weight ratio, which also allows the BT-7 to scale hills and smaller obstacles with relative ease.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 55 | 11 | 13.7 | 620 | 763 | 45.26 | 55.69 |
| Realistic | 50 | 10 | 354 | 400 | 25.84 | 29.2 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Main armament
| 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 | 188 | -6°/+25° | ±180° | N/A | 15.2 | 21.1 | 25.6 | 28.3 | 30.1 | 3.77 | 3.34 | 3.07 | 2.90 |
| Realistic | 9.5 | 11.2 | 13.6 | 15.0 | 16.0 | ||||||||
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
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
7th rack empty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 188 | 174 (+14) | 162 (+26) | 147 (+41) | 135 (+53) | 123 (+65) | 108 (+80) | 89 (+99) |
| 8th rack empty |
9th rack empty |
10th rack empty |
11th rack empty |
12th rack empty |
13th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|
| 73 (+115) | 57 (+131) | 41 (+147) | 25 (+163) | 13 (+175) | 1 (+187) | No |
Notes:
- Racks disappear after you've fired all shells in the rack.
- Turret empty: 147 (+41) shells.
- Turret and side racks empty: 89 (+99) shells.
Machine guns
| 7.62 mm DT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 2,394 (63) | 600 | - | - |
Usage in battles
There are two common schools of thought when driving the BT-7, firstly rushing a capture point using your better than average mobility to get there before other friendly or enemy tanks. This tactic can help to gain points early in the game and perhaps even a few kills as enemy tanks try to take the point that you captured, but your fairly thin armour will leave you at risk of being crippled and destroyed by enemy fire unless you retreat to cover or get back up from friendly vehicles. The second school of thought is not to charge right into the combat, but wait a while to see how the battle develops - observe where and how many enemy tanks go, maybe fire a few shots from a distance. Use your great mobility to get to the best positions and flank the enemy, from these positions you could snipe into the main battler area to damage and kill enemy vehicles. You could then decide to use the BT-7's mobility to charge at lonely opponents, which at close range have no chance of keeping their guns pointed at you as you can essentially drive circles around them. Keep in mind that charging into more than 1 opponent is usually a quick end as it is very hard to not get hit by either of them at the same time. There is basically paper armour on BT-7 to stop anything other than machine-gun fire, overall speed is key, being mobile and changing your position often will be a great way to avoid enemy fire and potential revenge kill attempts.
If you lose one of your 3 crew members it would be advisable to head to a friendly capture point to use your crew replenishment as your vehicle needs 2 members to operate, and having a 'spare' crew member can come in handy.
Enemies worth noting:
- Pz.IIs, Flakpanzer I - Although not as fast as the BT-7, the Pz.IIs still have an average speed of around 40 km/h. Also, they are equipped with a deadly 20 mm autocannon that will punch holes on the BT-7 with ease, and their rate of fire can quickly kill multiple crew. The BT-7 has thin armour protecting only 3 crew, making it extremely vulnerable to those autocannons. Try to finish them before they shoot at you.
- Sd.Kfz.234 series - These wheeled vehicles all have scary on-road speeds of more than 60 km/h, so in any map, with roads connecting to the points they can always get there first and set up an ambush. However, these vehicles are wheeled meaning they cannot turn in place, they are rather sluggish when trying to turn, and they have either slow turret traverse or no turret at all, so the player can use this to their advantage. Wiggle/circle around them to avoid their guns and force them to turn, then aim carefully and immobilise them. Note that the DT machine gun on the BT-7 only has 10 mm penetration at most, making it almost impossible to go through their armour and kill any crew, so don't think of destroying these wheeled vehicles with the MG.
- M8 Greyhound, M3 Stuarts - These vehicles can be equally fast, and the M8 can outrun the BT-7 if it's travelling on road, allowing them to get to the point before the BT-7 does. Therefore, if America is on the other side the player might want to change their tactics and not rush the point since low tier battles are always filled with fast tanks. The M8 has a roof-mounted .50 cal MG which easily tears the BT-7's armour apart and kills the crew inside. Also, most of them have a vertical stabiliser that works at low speed, so avoid firing on the move with them.
- B1 bis - A heavily armoured tank for its BR, but do not panic when you see it. Don't fire at a distance unless you are directly aiming at its side armour. The best option is to try and get as close to it as possible (point-blank range is ideal) and shoot straight at its side. However sometimes due to a variety of reasons the player might be unable to flank it and has to face it frontally. If that is the case, shoot the rather vertical driver's compartment and there's a great chance of penetration, killing the driver and the commander (which is also the gunner for the turret). Or, shoot between the two guns on the turret to kill the commander/gunner. Or, shoot at the near-vertical part of the curved gun mantlet of the big hull-mounted gun.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Deadly firepower at its BR: high penetration of up to 70 mm, with the 29 g TNT it can frontally knock out most tanks like Pz.II, Chi-Ha or M3 Stuart; its firepower is effective even in high tier battles, if aiming at the right spot
- One of the fastest tanks in the game, great acceleration and overall mobility makes it a nice point-capper, flanker and climber - can outrun the commonly seen M3 Stuart on road
- 3-4 second reload time is quick enough to destroy opponents it cannot knock out with a single shot, like Pz.IV C and LVT(A) series
- Adequate reverse speed of -10 km/h allows it to quickly retreat from danger when there is no time to turn around
- Small and low profile allows it to easily hide behind cover or bushes
- Winter camouflage comes as the standard camouflage, excellent on winter maps but may cause some issues in other climates
Cons:
- Poor survivability: non-existent armour on all sides plus the closely packed crew makes it vulnerable to autocannons (Pz.II, Flakpanzer I), heavy MG (M13 MGMC) and even solid shells
- Turret and hull traverse is rather slow, meaning it may not be able to keep track of fast targets- this is also a disadvantage in a close quarters duel, as other light tanks like M3 Stuart can turn way faster
- Although fast, it is still slower than the Sd.Kfz.234 series on road.
- Gun depression of only -6 degrees (worse than previous BT-5) means it cannot effectively fight in hills
- Fuel tanks and ammo are scattered inside and are prone to detonation upon being hit
History
Development
The success of the BT light tanks in Soviet service prompted additional upgrades and other developmental projects done on the design to increase its service life. The development led to the final model of the BT light tank series, the BT-7. The tank differed from the older BT-5 tank with a welded hull, redesigned hull front, and a new engine in the Model 1935 version. The Model 1937 version of the BT-7 added a redesigned turret that featured sloping armour.
The tank initially had a canted-ellipse shaped turret mounting the main gun and coaxial machine guns with the focus of allowing the tank to mount different tanks without changing the whole design, which led to the development of two main kinds of BT-7s, the normal variant with a 45 mm 20K gun for anti-armour and an artillery variant called the BT-7A which mounted a 76.2 mm KT-26 howitzer for anti-infantry. The tank was redesigned before it entered production by using the BT-5 turret instead with the main gun and coaxial machine gun still attached, though the concept of swapping to different guns was still in development for the tank. A radio was also installed on the turret as well. The tank had a three-man crew, the commander/gunner and loader in the turret, and the driver in the front. Production started in 1935 but was redesigned in 1937 with a new conical turret that allowed more ammunition to be stored and a machine gun on the rear of the turret. The BT-7 mod. 1937 also had improvements on the drive wheels, gearbox, and tracks by 1938. The BT-7 went on to be produced from 1935 to 1940 for a total unit production of between 2,700 to 5,300 tanks.
Combat usage
The BT-7 served alongside its older counterpart BT-5 tanks. The BT light tanks were meant to be cavalry tanks, and at the time of their introduction, they were considered some of the finest tanks against other countries' tanks. They had great mobility of all available tanks, and its 45 mm gun could perform very well in combat. The only drawbacks of the design were its light armour and its gasoline engine, which caused the design to be rather flammable to improvised incendiary weapons. The BT-7's most notable combat service came against the Japanese at Khalkhin Gol. The tactics of Soviet Marshal Georgi Zhukov and the performance of his BT-5 and BT-7 tanks led to a decisive victory. It was during this battle that the BT tanks' tendency to catch fire was found, but its performance was positive against the inferior Japanese armoured forces.
The BT-7 next combat use was during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa when Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union. The superior German tanks Panzer III and Panzer IV was able to easily take out these lightly armoured tanks. Reports note that about 2,000 BT-7 tanks were lost in the first 12 months alone against the German forces, with hundreds broken down from low maintenance and were abandoned. Despite their inferiority, the Soviets continued to produce and field them among armour and mechanized units to boost their operational capacity, though most were kept away from the front lines due to their inadequacy. The BT-7 would finally see its service again in the Soviet invasion of Japanese-controlled Manchuria. The Soviets fielded the BT-7 and other tanks in its inventory against the inferior Japanese forces in Manchuria, where it proved very effective against the more lightly armoured Japanese tanks employed. The BT series were all retired after the end of World War II due to their obsolete design as an inter-war period tank design.
Legacy
Perhaps the most important impact of the BT light tanks series was that it kick-started the development of the T-34 medium tank, which would go on as the most-produced tank of World War II. A new design team was formed in 1937 at the KhPZ factory, where they built prototypes utilizing more armour and a heavier gun onto the design, which was called the A-32 and was approved for production as the T-34 tank. The BT tanks also serve as the basis of support vehicles such as the BT-7A artillery tan, BT-7TU command tank, OP-7 flamethrower tank, and even the TT-BT-7 remote-controlled tank. An attempt in 1940 also had the BT-7 up-armoured with hinged homogeneous armour, which added five tons to the design weight. These vehicles are not known to have seen service in combat units.
Media
|
Skins and videos about the BT-7 can be used for the BT-7 TD |
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Related development
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Twitch Drop vehicles | |
|---|---|
| Ground vehicles | M5A1 TD · Pz.II C TD · Pz.III J1 TD · Sd.Kfz.234/2 TD · BT-7 TD · Chi-Ha Kai TD · Strv m/39 TD |
| Aviation | P-40E-1 TD |
| Fleet | Dark Aggressor TD |
| USSR light tanks | |
|---|---|
| T-26 | T-26 · T-26 (1st Gv.T.Br.) · T-26-4 · T-26E |
| BT | BT-5 · RBT-5 · BT-7 · BT-7 TD · BT-7M · BT-7A (F-32) |
| T-50 | T-126 · T-50 |
| T-70 | T-70 · T-80 |
| PT-76 | PT-76B · PT-76-57 · Object 906 |
| BMP | BMP-1 · BMP-2 · BMP-2M · BMP-3 |
| BMD | BMD-4 |
| 2S25 | 2S25 · 2S25M |
| Wheeled | BA-11 · BTR-80A |
| Other | T-60 · Object 685 · 2S38 |
| China | ▂Type 62 |
