World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn 1930, the Soviet Union purchased the license to build the British Carden Loyd tankette locally. After modifying the design (with the effort being headed by N. Kozyrev), the T-27 tankette was born. Mass production began in 1931 at the Bolshevik factory in Leningrad, Russia and the GAZ factory in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia. They first saw action in Central Asia during the Basmachi Revolt. Production ceased in 1933, by which time 2,540 examples were built. By the late 1930s, they were obsolete, and were relegated to rear area training roles by the time the Soviet Union entered WW2 with the invasion of Poland. In 1941, more than 2,100 examples were still in service with the Soviet forces, and some of them saw action during the opening phases of the German invasion of the Soviet Union out of desperation; the last recorded combat use of T-27 tankettes took place during the Battle of Moscow in Dec 1941.

T-27 Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

T-27A

Machinery	One GAZ-AA engine rated at 40hp
Suspension	Bogie
Armament	1x7.62mm DT machine gun
Armor	6-10mm
Crew	2
Length	2.60 m
Width	1.83 m
Height	1.44 m
Weight	2.7 t
Speed	42 km/h
Range	120 km

Photographs