RPM 35003 T-26/BT-2 - Soviet light tank

The T-26 is a Soviet light tank from the interwar period and World War II. The first prototypes of this vehicle were made in 1931, and the car entered service in 1931-1932. Approximately 12,000 vehicles of this type were produced in the course of production, along with derivative versions and specialized vehicles! The combat weight of the T-26 tank in the basic version was up to 8.2 tons. The drive was provided by a single, 12-cylinder GAZ carburetor engine with a power of 90-91 HP. The basic armament consisted of a single 45 mm wz.1932 or wz.1934 gun and 1 to 3 DT 7.62 mm machine guns.

In fact, the T-26 was a far-reaching development of the British Vickers 6-Ton. The vehicle was also the basic Soviet infantry support vehicle in the 1930s and at the beginning of World War II. It is also worth remembering that the first prototypes of the car and the first production batches had two turrets (T-26 models 1931 and 1932), only from 1933 the tank was manufactured in a single turret variant with a 45 mm gun as the main armament. In the course of production, several variants of the T-26 and specialized versions were created, including: the T-26 model 1938 (version with a new turret, with sloped walls), ChT-130 and ChT-133 (specialized vehicles with flamethrowers) and a wagon ST-26 (bridge tank). The T-26 vehicles took part in numerous conflicts in the 1930s, including the border incidents in Manchuria in 1934-1945 and the civil war in Spain (1936-1939). Tanks of this type were also used on a considerable scale during the aggression against Poland in September 1939, during the Winter War (1939-1940), as well as during the war with Japan in 1939-1940. They were also used on a large scale in the initial phase of the German-Soviet war in 1941. It is worth noting that there are opinions that the latest versions of the T-26 (for example, the 1938 or 1939 model) were not significantly inferior to the German tanks during the Barbarossa or Typhoon operations.