Z100-144 T-27 SOVIET SAPPER TANKETTE

The T-27 is a Soviet tankette from the interwar period and World War II. The drive was provided by a single 40 HP GAZ-AA carburettor engine. The first prototypes of the vehicle were built in 1930, and serial production was carried out in 1931-1933. Approximately 3,320 vehicles of this type were built in its course. The armament consisted of a single 7.62 mm DT machine gun. The T-27 was developed as a reconnaissance tankette to work with MS-1 tanks. Its design was based on the licensed British Vickers Carden Lloyd Mark VI tankette, with modifications to it. They mainly concerned closing the fighting compartment from the top, enlarging the hull and other machine gun mounting in the hull. Several development versions were created in the course of serial production, for example: the OT-27 (a vehicle equipped with a flamethrower) or the SU-3 (a prototype with a 76 mm recoilless gun). T-27 tankettes were used primarily by reconnaissance units of Soviet armored and motorized divisions, but also - due to their low weight - by Soviet airborne troops. Relatively quickly, they were moved to training, and in the line they were replaced by the T-37 and T-38 vehicles.