6 EXPERIMENTAL COMMAND KBT-7 TANK

The KBT-7 was a Soviet prototype command tank from the interwar period. It is assumed that the prototype examples of this car were built in 1937. The length of the vehicle was 5.66 meters with a width of 2.29 meters. The drive was provided by a single Mikulin M-17T engine with a capacity of 450 HP. The armament consisted of 2-3 7.62 mm DT machineguns. Along with the dynamic development of Soviet armor in the 1930s, the command of the Red Army realized the need to improve the command of numerically increasing tactical unions and to increase the mobility of the commanders of these unions. The result of these needs was the development of a prototype KBT-7 vehicle, which was to be a command commander at the level of probably a division, and probably also a battalion. The vehicle was based on the standard BT-7 fast tank, from which, however, the turret with the main armament was dismantled and a special casemate was installed in its place. The vehicle also received optical instruments much better than the standard BT-7, as well as RTU and 71TK-1 radios. However, in the course of field tests, it turned out that the KBT-7 is characterized by low efficiency, the commander's compartment is too small and cramped, and the operation of radio stations closed in a too small casemate was also quite problematic. Finally, the car did not enter mass production.