Speed Demon | BT-2 (part 1)

In 1928, the Soviet Union dispatched a military commission with the aim of finding an adequate and advanced foreign tank design. While visiting the USA, they came across the automotive designer J. W. Christie, who presented them with his own tank design. The Soviets were impressed, leading to the acquisition of two vehicles, followed up by a license for production of that design in the Soviet Union. The vehicle which was built in the Soviet Union was known as the BT-2 and, while not perfect, it would be built in relatively large numbers and serve as the basis for future more successful developments.

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Sources:

Books and Publications

S. J. Zaloga (2016) BT Fast Tank, Osprey Publishing.The Soviet-
Finnish War, 1939-1940 Getting the Doctrine Right, Monograph by Major Gregory J. Bozek (1993)
L. Ness (2002) World War Two Tanks, Harper Collins Publisher
D. V. Glantz (2005) Soviet Military Operation Art, Franck Cass.
M. Свирин (2008) Самоходки Сталина. История советской САУ 1919-1945, Эксмо
MAJ Nicholas J. Kane US Army, Tukhachevskii to Gerasimov:
The Evolution of the Russian Way of Warfare into the Information Age
J. F. Milsom, (1981) Russian BT series, Profile Publication.
S. J. Zaloga and J. Grandsmen (1984) The Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two.
Surviving BT series tanks, May 2020.
D. Nešić, (2008), Naoružanje Drugog Svetskog Rata-SSSR, Beograd
T. Bean and W. Fowler (2002) Russian Tanks of World War Two, Ian Allan Pub
Pavlov, M.V., Pavlov, I.V., Zheltov, I.G. Tom 1. Soviet Light Tanks. 2007, Tseikhgauz [Russian: Павлов М.В., Павлов И.В., Желтов И.Г. (2007) Советские легкие танки 1920-1941, Цейхгауз.]
G. Forty (2005/2007) The Illustrated Guide To Tanks Of The World, Annes Publishing.
Soljankin, A.G., Pavlov, M.V., Pavlov, I.V., Zheltov, I.G. Tom 1. Otechestvennye bronirovannye mashiny. 1905–1941 gg. [Domestic Armoured Vehicles, vol. 1, 1905–1941.] M.: OOO Izdatel’skij centr ‘Eksprint’, 200
Pavlov, M.V., Pavlov, I.V., Zheltov, I.T. BT Tanks , M. Eksprint, 2001 – 184 p. War Museum series.
Ken ON. Mobilization Planning and Political Decisions (late 1920 – mid-1930s). Sankt-Peterburg: Izd-vo Evropeiskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburge Publ.; 2002. 472 p. (In Russian)
Habeck, Mary R. Storm of Steel: The Development of Armor Doctrine in Germany and the Soviet Union, 1919–1939. Cornell University Press, 2003.
Hofmann G.F. A Yankee Inventor and the Military Establishment: The Christie Tank Controversy // Military Affairs. 1975, February. Vol. 39. № 1. P.
Mikhail Svirin, Tanks of the Stalin’s Era. Encyclopedia ‘The Golden Age of the Soviet Tank Building’, Moscow. Yauza, Eksmo, 2012, Page 108 [Russian: Танки Сталинской эпохи. Суперэнциклопедия. «Золотая эра советского танкостроения»]
A. Shirokorad. ‘Encyclopedia of the Domestic Artillery’, Minsk, Harvest, 2000
Сборник – KhKBM, 2007
Magazine Bronekollektsiya No 1, 1996. Light tanks BT-2 and BT-5. [Russian: Бронеколлекция №1 1996. Легкие танки БТ-2 и БТ-5]
Igor Shmelev. The History of a Tank (1919-1996) An Illustrated Encyclopedia. [Russian: История танка. 1916-1996. Энциклопедия техники. Шмелев Игорь Павлович]
3. A report on all tanks received from industrial plants for the period from 1931 to March 1, 1940

More sources are listed in the article.

An article by By MarkoPantelic and Alex Tarasov
Narrated by PBLK Wood
Edited by Big Turn
Sound edited by PBLK Wood

[brunor.]

Tanks like these deserve the name iron cavalry more than anyother

[Ballistikraft]

The factory at 16:13 is the Kharkov Tractor Plant (KhTZ) and not the KhPZ. That's called the Malyshev Factory nowadays, located a few kilometers to the northeast.

[stanleysmith]

This channel needs a lot more attention! Quality content, pleasant narration, detailed, but not overly complicated. 👌

[PBLKGaming]

Pleasure doing voiceover for this one!

[hoodoo]

What tank was perfect? I get a little tired of folks always having to be apologetic about a tank. Wasn't bad at all for the 1930's design.

[nova]

If only they had the foresight to mount some kind of auto cannon on the BT chassis. A BT-7 with a Sh-37 would have been a legendary LRV much like the greyhound

[milkapeismilky]

This is really well researched. I really enjoyed the deep dive. I still need to finish building my auto-cross BT7. For drifting. Cuz it can.

[MA]

In war thunder the bt 5 and bt 7 are race car, i go at full throttle and I’m able to 1 or 2 controled drift

[-random]

How Much speed should we put in this tank
Russia: Y E S

[hobbyhermit]

BT looks like a pretty good design. I like the well sloped frontal plates. Good design for the day. A 1:1 scale model built of aluminum, with a modernish car engine would be kool. I'd dispense with the steerable front wheels tho.

[jamesmortimer]

Soviets who just came up with deep battle when seeing the christie: This is someserious gourmmet shit!

[mrpiotras]

Will you do something on baltic states armored units?It would be nice to learn more about my, and neigboring countries tanks and armored cars.

[nonamesplease]

British Liberty tank engines were notorious for shaking themselves loose, to the point where could start to fall apart. Did the Soviets experience this issue?

[rickmoreno]

I'm going to get te hobbyboss 1/35 model of thi b.c tank in the future.

[mauriciomorais]

So, is this the BT tank series that the Soviets planned to storm through Eastern Europe with in the summer of 1941?
A shame these were made for modern roads and not dirt roads, like most of of Russia...

[IronWarhorsesFun]

RED UN'S GO FASTA. some ork speed freak.

[guypehaim]

It's not eKsetera, but rather it is eTsetera, phonetically. Spelled correctly, etcetera and is pronounced with a soft "C".

[avnrulz]

How could anyone involved in WWI still think Cavalry was an important factor in the 1920s?