PMI0158C RBT-5

The RBT-5 was a Soviet prototype "missile tank" of the interwar period. The first copy of this tank was made in 1931 or 1932, and its public presentation took place in 1933. The machine, however, never entered mass production. The drive was provided by a single M-5 engine with a capacity of 400 HP. The armament of the vehicle consisted of a single gun mod. 32 caliber 45 mm machine gun, 7.62 mm machine gun and - most likely - two 132 mm or 245 mm or 420 mm unguided rocket launchers. The RBT-5 was a specific development version of the BT-5 high-speed tank. It differed from mass-produced units with a rocket launcher installed on the sides of the turret. It was assumed that the new vehicle would provide direct support to its own attacking tank units, and the range of the missile weapons used on the RBT-5 was estimated at approximately 1200-1500 meters. It is worth adding, however, that launchers of various caliber were mounted and tested on the prototype of this vehicle, which of course had an impact on the effective range of the shot. Ultimately, however, it turned out that the RBT-5 is very easy to destroy by firing at the rockets carried in unshielded launchers. For this reason, the development of this atypical structure was withdrawn.