However, the 4th Army was composed of 520 tanks, all of which were the obsolete T-26, as opposed to the authorized strength of 1, 031 newer medium tanks.

The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many conflicts of the 1930s as well as during World War II.

Though nearly obsolete by the beginning of World War II, the T-26 was the most important tank of the Spanish Civil War and played a significant role during the Battle of Lake Khasan in 1938 as well as in the Winter War in 1939 – 40.

The T-26 was the most numerous tank in the Red Army's armored force during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.

The T-26 was exported and used extensively in the armies of Spain, China and Turkey.

The T-26 was reliable and simple to maintain, and its design was continually modernised between 1931 and 1941.

The T-26 was a Soviet development of the British Vickers 6-Ton ( Vickers Mk. E ) light tank, which was designed by the Vickers-Armstrongs company in 1928 – 1929.

The last tanks did not arrive until 1932, when series production of the T-26 was already in progress.

One of the Vickers 6-Ton tanks ( equipped with Soviet-made turrets for the pilot batch T-26 tanks ) was tested for gunfire resistance in August 1931.

Tests of TMM-1 and TMM-2 prototypes performed in the beginning of 1932 demonstrated no advantage over the Vickers 6-Ton and the T-26 ( the TMM-2's maneuverability was found to be even worse ).

The turret rear ball mounting for the additional DT tank machine gun was installed on the T-26 tanks from the end of 1935 until 1939.

The tank was powered by a T-26 flat row 4-cylinder air-cooled petrol engine which represented a Soviet full copy of the Armstrong Siddeley engine used in the Vickers 6-Ton.

The T-26 was equipped with one fire extinguisher, a kit of spare parts tools and accessories ( including a tank jack ), a canvas stowage, and a tow chain fixed on the rear of the hull.

In 1938, the T-26 was upgraded to the model 1938 version which had a new conical turret with better anti-bullet resistance but the same welded hull as the T-26 mod.

This time it was designated T-26-1 ( known as the T-26 mod.

In 1931, the only Soviet factory suitable for T-26 production was the Bolshevik Factory in Leningrad, which had had experience manufacturing the MS-1 ( T-18 ) light tanks since 1927.

A production run of the new model single-turreted T-26 armed with the 45 mm gun was launched in the middle of 1933.

As a design intended for training, the Panzer I was not as capable as other light tanks of the era, such as the Soviet T-26.

The also unrelated SU-76P ( 1941 ) was based on the T-26 chassis.

it was built in Leningrad during the siege and involved removing the turret from the T-26 and mounting a 76 mm regimental gun M1927 on the engine deck.

This was created due to the lack of high explosive 45mm ammunition inside Leningrad due to the siege, so some T-26 tanks were rearmed with 37mm or 76mm guns for which a reliable source of ammunition was available.

The plant prepared many vehicles for Europe, including the M5 light tank and the T-26 Pershing tank.

The Soviet T-26 light tanks last saw use in August 1945, during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

In addition, captured T-26 light tanks were used by the Finnish, German, Romanian and Hungarian armies.

On February 13, 1931, the Vickers 6-Ton light infantry tank, under the designator T-26, officially entered service in the Red Army as the " main tank for close support of combined arms units and tank units of High Command Reserve ".

The Italians, after suffering losses from Republican's T-26 during the battle of Guadalajara ( 1937 ), captured some of these tanks which served as a model for their M11 / 39 and M13 / 40 light / medium tanks.

One company of T-26 light tanks were also sent to the area.

After an air bombardment of the Italian positions, the Republican infantry supported by T-26 and BT-5 light tanks attacked the Italian lines.

The twin-turret layout was inefficient, but was a common feature of 1930s light tanks derived from the Vickers, such as the Soviet T-26 and Polish 7TP.

:* 3 tank companies, each with 17 BT-7 or T-26 tanks ;

* 1 reserve tank company, with 8 BT-7 or T-26 tanks ;

* T-26, a similar Soviet tank

A novel radio-controlled demolition tank was built on the T-26 chassis also.

*-one ex-Bolivian single-turret Vickers Mk. E Type B tank bought from Paraguay, and a number of Soviet-made T-26.

The concept was also employed by the other big tank-producing nation of the 1930s: the Soviet Union, as exemplified by the T-26 tank.

At 8 o ' clock in the morning the Soviet tank unit ( composed mostly of the T-26 tanks ) started a direct assault on Polish positions.

* Also featured: Panzer I, II, III, IV, Stug III, Panther, Tiger I, Tiger II, Jagdpanzer 38 ( t ), Jagdpanther, Jagdtiger, SdKfz 251, FT-17, Char B1, Somua S35, Cruiser Mk III, Comet I, Matilda Mk I, Matilda II, Churchill Mk VII, TOG2, A33 Excelsior, A38 Valiant, T14 Assault tank, Ram Cruiser Mk II, M24 Chaffee, M3 Grant, M4 Sherman, Sherman Firefly, M10 Tank Destroyer, M48 Patton, M26 Pershing, T17 Staghound, Hamilcar glider, DUKW, SU-76, T-26, T-34, KV-1, SU-100, L3 / 33 LF, M13 / 40

At the time Finnish armored units were still composed mostly of older designs such as the Vickers 6-Ton, T-26 and T-28 tanks, and that all of these suffered losses.

Only a small part of the motorised infantry managed to retreat, but had to leave behind all their lorries, artillery and 9 T-26 tanks.

The final versions of the T-26 had welded construction and, eventually, sloped armor on the hull and turret.

1931 and the British 6-Ton were higher turrets on the T-26, complete with observation slit.

The Model 1933, with a new single cylindrical turret carrying one 45 mm cannon and one 7. 62 mm machine gun, would become the most common T-26 variant.

The T-26 Model 1933 carried 122 rounds of 45 mm ammunition, firing armour-piercing 45 mm rounds with a muzzle velocity of, or lower-velocity high-explosive munitions.

The transmission of the T-26 consisted of single-disk main dry clutch, a gearbox with five gears in the front part of the vehicle, steering clutches, final drives and band brakes.

The series production of the T-26, equipped with new higher turrets with observation window, began in August 1931.

The production of the T-26 encountered many problems: a lot of armoured hulls and turrets supplied by the Izhora Factory were of low quality ( with cracks ) and were 10 mm in thickness instead of the planned 13 mm.

* Turkey – According to one source, two were sold to Turkey in 1935, along with 60 T-26, five T-27 tankettes, and about 60 BA-6 armoured cars to form the 1st Tank Regiment of the 2nd Cavalry Division at Luleburgaz.

After this war, the Finns rearmed Mark E tanks with captured Soviet long 45 mm guns as used in the T-26.

The weapon was popular with the Finns, because it could deal with Soviet T-26 tanks which the Finnish Army encountered in many engagements.

; March 18: Republican divisions under Cipriano Mera and Enrique Líster with 60 T-26 tanks of the Pavlov Brigade take back Brihuega, causing the collapse of the Italian front and the rout of Division I " Dio lo Vuole ", which in turn forces Division IV " Littorio " to abandon its positions.

24s were shipped from Murmansk on 1 March 1938, along with other material ( T-26 tanks and 76mm French field artillery ).