The T-70 is a light infantry-support tank designed at the design bureau of the Gorky Automobile Plant and produced there in 1942–1943. It was adopted by the Red Army by decision of the State Defense Committee of 6 March 1942; 8,226 vehicles were built.[1][2]
How the tank ended up at the automobile plant
In September 1941 the chief designer of Factory No. 37, Nikolai Alexandrovich Astrov, drove an experimental T-60 tank under its own power from Moscow to Gorky: the vehicle was to serve as the model for production at GAZ. Astrov stayed in the city and helped set up the production line.[1]
The new tank was developed in October–November 1941 at the Gorky Automobile Plant under Astrov's leadership; he was the leading designer of the entire line of Soviet light tanks of that period.[1] The factory designation of the vehicle was GAZ-70.
Production
From April 1942 the T-70 was produced simultaneously by three plants: Factory No. 37 in Sverdlovsk, Factory No. 38 in Kirov, and GAZ in Gorky. From late December 1942 Factory No. 38 switched to the SU-76M self-propelled gun, and from 1943 the Gorky Automobile Plant was the only producer of light tanks for the Red Army — until 1 October of that year, when it too switched to the SU-76M.[1]
Mastering the tank's production at the automobile plant was difficult: mass tank production required different technology, different cooperation between shops, and different worker skills than an automobile assembly line.
Sources
- armedman.ru — Armies and Soldiers — Soviet light tank T-70 (GAZ-70) (archived)
- victorymuseum.ru — Museum of Victory — Light tank T-70M, 1942 model. USSR (archived)