Russian tank BT-7 model 1937

Description

In the mid-1920s, the fledgling Red Army was preparing to mechanize. In addition to the secret project to build a prototype tank jointly with Germany, General Innokenty Khalepski (people’s commissar responsible in the 1920s for the mechanization of the Red Army) bought the rights to exploit the patent of the new suspension for military vehicles developed by Walter Christie, this new suspension would be key to provide the future tanks of several countries with mobility and speed.

The BT 7, the last trolley of the BT series, was based on the concept of a light(14 tn), maneuverable, fast (14 tn) trolley (vel. max. of 72km/h on the highway) and well armed( 40 mmM1932 gun ), although weakly protected(turret armor between 10 and 15 mm). This tank actively participated in the capture of Poland in 1939, in the Winter War with Finland in 1940 and almost 3,000 of these tanks were distributed along the front when Operation Barbarossa began in the summer of 1941, as the conflict progressed, most of them were replaced by T34/76.