T-50 tank
Encyclopedia
The T-50 light infantry tank was built by the Soviet Union
at the beginning of World War II. The design for this vehicle had some advanced features, but was complicated and expensive, and only a short production run of 69 tanks was completed. Furthermore, even before it was ready for mass-production wartime experience invalidated the underlying concept of light tanks.
for the Red Army
. The experience of the Spanish Civil War
led to an effort to upgrade or replace the large Soviet tank fleet. Prior to 1939, most tanks in Red Army service were improved versions of foreign designs. For example, the most numerous tank, the T-26 light infantry tank, was a copy of the British Vickers 6-Ton
tank with a Soviet-designed turret and 45 mm gun. However, just prior to and during the war, the USSR developed new light, medium and heavy tanks of wholly indigenous design. The T-50 light tank was intended to replace the T-26 infantry tank
; in prewar planning, the T-50 was intended to become the most numerous Soviet tank, operating alongside the BT fast tank.
Development of the T-50 started as the SP project (Soprovzhdeniya Pekhoty, ‘Infantry Support’) in 1939 at the OKMO
design bureau in the S.M. Kirov Factory Number 185 in Leningrad, under the direction of S. Ginzburg and L. Troyanov. Initial prototypes, called T-126 and T-127, were not much improved over the T-46-5 project which had been abandoned earlier that year, but the heavier T-126 was selected for further development. The design bureau was gutted during the Great Purge
, and was unable to continue the project, so it was transferred to the K.E. Voroshilov Factory Number 174 in May 1940. Troyanov completed the T-50 design in January 1941 and production was authorized, but due to technical problems, it was unable to proceed.
In the meantime, a replacement for the BT fast tanks was developed and built at the KhPZ factory in Ukraine, which exceeded its original programme. The result was the very capable and economical T-34 medium tank.
After the German invasion, Operation Barbarossa
in June, tank factories were ordered to be transferred to the Urals. Part of OKMO was moved to Omsk
after September, and production was finally begun. The T-50 was of an excellent design, but still suffered from technical problems, and at that time was found to be as expensive to produce as the more capable T-34. Much simpler T-60
light tanks were already being mass-produced. A total of 69 T-50 tanks were built (only 48 of them armed), before production ended in January 1942.
Some further infantry tank design work on a prototype, called the T-45, continued at Factory Number 174 and the Kirovskiy Factory Number 100. But faced with the need to accelerate T-34 production, and due to a lack of interest from troops in the field, the Soviet infantry tank concept was abandoned.
The T-50 was an advanced design for its time, with torsion-bar suspension, diesel engine (in common with all the new Soviet tanks) and well-sloped, all-welded armor. An excellent feature was the three-man turret with commander's cupola, which would not appear on other Soviet tanks until 1942. Most Soviet tanks of the 1939-43 era had either one-man or two-man turrets, which are far less efficient in combat than three-man turrets. Additionally, all T-50s had radios, a feature only found on the commander's vehicle in earlier models.
However, the T-50 had several weaknesses; to begin with, like many Soviet tanks, it was very cramped inside. The main problems, however, were related to the new V-4 engine developed specifically for this tank, unlike other Soviet light AFVs, which used standard truck engines. The T-60 and T-70
light tanks and the SU-76
self-propelled gun used standard GAZ truck engines. Specialized tank engines, more expensive to produce, were reserved for higher-performance AFVs. The very mobile BT-8 fast tank, the T-34 medium tank, KV-1, the IS-2 heavy tanks, and their derivatives all used variants of the same standard 12-cylinder model V-2 diesel engine. The V-4 engine was extremely unreliable, and the design flaws could not be worked out. The engine's low reliability and high cost contributed to the demise of the T-50.
medium tanks and T-26
light tanks received add-on armor fittings. A few T-50s also received these add-ons. This up-armored variant is recognizable by the bolt heads that hold the armor added to the turret sides and hull front. The normal T-50 is a very 'clean' looking vehicle by comparison. Ironically, the armor add-ons were in response to erroneous reports of powerful German antitank and tank guns. The uparmored T-50 had 57 mm of armor at its thickest points.
The few T-50s available were deployed on the Leningrad front. Few in-service photos survived and not much is known of their combat record. One uparmored T-50 was captured by Finnish forces and was used by them in 1944. This unit survived the war and is now on display in Finland.On paper, the T-50 should have been easily able to hold its own against any early-war German tank, however, paper specifications cannot always predict real-world performance.
Most light tank production in 1941–43 consisted of the less advanced but simpler T-60 and T-70 light tanks. By 1943, the infantry tank role was considered obsolete, and cheaper SU-76 self-propelled guns took over the light infantry support role. Light tanks in tank regiments were being replaced by T-34
medium tanks. The liaison and reconnaissance roles of light tanks were assumed by cheaper armoured cars and Lend-Lease
supplies of Canadian and British Valentine tank
s and U.S. M3 Stuart light tanks.
. This is a later model with bolted-on appliqué armour. A standard T-50 is on display at the Kubinka
armor collection outside Moscow
.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
at the beginning of World War II. The design for this vehicle had some advanced features, but was complicated and expensive, and only a short production run of 69 tanks was completed. Furthermore, even before it was ready for mass-production wartime experience invalidated the underlying concept of light tanks.
Production history
The T-50 was a light tank developed on the eve of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
for the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. The experience of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
led to an effort to upgrade or replace the large Soviet tank fleet. Prior to 1939, most tanks in Red Army service were improved versions of foreign designs. For example, the most numerous tank, the T-26 light infantry tank, was a copy of the British Vickers 6-Ton
Vickers 6-Ton
The Vickers 6-Ton Tank or Vickers Mark E was a British light tank designed as a private project at Vickers. It was not purchased by the British Army, but was picked up by a large number of foreign armed forces and was copied almost exactly by the Soviets as the T-26. It was also the direct...
tank with a Soviet-designed turret and 45 mm gun. However, just prior to and during the war, the USSR developed new light, medium and heavy tanks of wholly indigenous design. The T-50 light tank was intended to replace the T-26 infantry tank
Infantry tank
The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British and French in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were tanks designed to support the infantry in the attack. To achieve this they were generally heavily armoured compared to the cruiser tanks, to allow them to operate in...
; in prewar planning, the T-50 was intended to become the most numerous Soviet tank, operating alongside the BT fast tank.
Development of the T-50 started as the SP project (Soprovzhdeniya Pekhoty, ‘Infantry Support’) in 1939 at the OKMO
OKMO
OKMO was the main tank design team in the Soviet Union during the early 1930s. It produced the design of the T-26 infantry tank , of which about 12,000 would be produced...
design bureau in the S.M. Kirov Factory Number 185 in Leningrad, under the direction of S. Ginzburg and L. Troyanov. Initial prototypes, called T-126 and T-127, were not much improved over the T-46-5 project which had been abandoned earlier that year, but the heavier T-126 was selected for further development. The design bureau was gutted during the Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
, and was unable to continue the project, so it was transferred to the K.E. Voroshilov Factory Number 174 in May 1940. Troyanov completed the T-50 design in January 1941 and production was authorized, but due to technical problems, it was unable to proceed.
In the meantime, a replacement for the BT fast tanks was developed and built at the KhPZ factory in Ukraine, which exceeded its original programme. The result was the very capable and economical T-34 medium tank.
After the German invasion, Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
in June, tank factories were ordered to be transferred to the Urals. Part of OKMO was moved to Omsk
Omsk
-History:The wooden fort of Omsk was erected in 1716 to protect the expanding Russian frontier along the Ishim and the Irtysh rivers against the Kyrgyz nomads of the Steppes...
after September, and production was finally begun. The T-50 was of an excellent design, but still suffered from technical problems, and at that time was found to be as expensive to produce as the more capable T-34. Much simpler T-60
T-60
The T-60 scout tank was a light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. In this time over 6,292 were built. The tank was designed to replace the obsolete T-38 amphibious scout tank.-Design:...
light tanks were already being mass-produced. A total of 69 T-50 tanks were built (only 48 of them armed), before production ended in January 1942.
Some further infantry tank design work on a prototype, called the T-45, continued at Factory Number 174 and the Kirovskiy Factory Number 100. But faced with the need to accelerate T-34 production, and due to a lack of interest from troops in the field, the Soviet infantry tank concept was abandoned.
Description
However, the T-50 had several weaknesses; to begin with, like many Soviet tanks, it was very cramped inside. The main problems, however, were related to the new V-4 engine developed specifically for this tank, unlike other Soviet light AFVs, which used standard truck engines. The T-60 and T-70
T-70
The T-70 was a light tank used by the Red Army during World War II, replacing both the T-60 scout tank for reconnaissance and the T-50 light infantry tank for infantry support. The T-80 light tank was a more advanced version of the T-70 with a two-man turret—it was only produced in very small...
light tanks and the SU-76
SU-76
The SU-76 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during and after World War II.- History :The SU-76 was based on a lengthened and widened version of the T-70 tank chassis...
self-propelled gun used standard GAZ truck engines. Specialized tank engines, more expensive to produce, were reserved for higher-performance AFVs. The very mobile BT-8 fast tank, the T-34 medium tank, KV-1, the IS-2 heavy tanks, and their derivatives all used variants of the same standard 12-cylinder model V-2 diesel engine. The V-4 engine was extremely unreliable, and the design flaws could not be worked out. The engine's low reliability and high cost contributed to the demise of the T-50.
Variants
There were two variants; a basic model and an up-armored model. Just prior to the German invasion of the USSR, many Soviet tanks had their armor reinforced with welded or bolted add-on plates. Some Kliment Voroshilov heavy tanks, T-28T-28
The Soviet T-28 was among the world's first medium tanks. The prototype was completed in 1931 and production began in late 1932. It was an infantry-support tank intended to break through fortified defences...
medium tanks and T-26
T-26
The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many conflicts of the 1930s as well as during World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and is widely considered one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s....
light tanks received add-on armor fittings. A few T-50s also received these add-ons. This up-armored variant is recognizable by the bolt heads that hold the armor added to the turret sides and hull front. The normal T-50 is a very 'clean' looking vehicle by comparison. Ironically, the armor add-ons were in response to erroneous reports of powerful German antitank and tank guns. The uparmored T-50 had 57 mm of armor at its thickest points.
Combat history
Most light tank production in 1941–43 consisted of the less advanced but simpler T-60 and T-70 light tanks. By 1943, the infantry tank role was considered obsolete, and cheaper SU-76 self-propelled guns took over the light infantry support role. Light tanks in tank regiments were being replaced by T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
medium tanks. The liaison and reconnaissance roles of light tanks were assumed by cheaper armoured cars and Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
supplies of Canadian and British Valentine tank
Valentine tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in 11 different marks plus various purpose-built variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production...
s and U.S. M3 Stuart light tanks.
Surviving T-50s
Today, at least two T-50s survive. One is at the Finnish tank museum at ParolaParola
Parola is a town in the municipality of Hattula in Finland. It is located 110 kilometres north of Helsinki. Cities nearby include Hämeenlinna, Tampere, Lahti and Forssa....
. This is a later model with bolted-on appliqué armour. A standard T-50 is on display at the Kubinka
Kubinka
Kubinka is a town in Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Setun River, west of Moscow. Population: Kubinka was the location of the Soviet Union's tank proving grounds, and today is the home of the Kubinka Tank Museum...
armor collection outside Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
External links
- T-50 Light Support Tank Russian Battlefield
- T-50 tank, in Kubinka tank museum.
- T-50 tank, in Parola tank museum.
- The prototype T-50 tank, in Kubinka tank museum.