The T-17 tank was a one-man "mechanized support"

tankette A tankette is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle that resembles a small tank, roughly the size of a car. It is mainly intended for light infantry support and scouting.

designed and developed by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

during the

Interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

Development

In 1926, the design bureau КБ Orudiyno-Arsenalny Trest, OAT (later

OKMO OKMO (''Opytniy Konstruktorsko-Mekhanicheskiy Otdel'', 'Experimental Design Mechanical Department') was the tank design team in the Soviet Union during the early 1930s. Located in Leningrad, it produced the design of the T-26 infantry tank, of whic ...

) began work on a "Liliput" single man light

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

tank. The development team faced several problems, including finding a new

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

and engine. The project was stalled continuously. On March 3, 1928, under the leadership of the head motor lab, AP Kushka involving LY Lalmena, as well as engineers, Semyon Ginzburg and

Edward Grote Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

undertook the production of a new draft. As part of a three-year plan to produce a force structure capable of conducting operational maneuver and infantry support, a mechanized and armored force was to be established by December 1930. In 1929 the Field Regulation (''Polevoi Ustay''), declared that future war would be one of maneuver, developing the theory of successive operations by injecting the idea of motorization and mechanization into concepts for future offensive operations. The Ustay enunciated the aim of conducting

deep battle Deep operation (, ''glubokaya operatsiya''), also known as Soviet Deep Battle, was a military theory developed by the Soviet Union for its armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s. It was a tenet that emphasized destroying, suppressing or disorga ...

to achieve success in penetrating the tactical depth of enemy defenses. In May 1930 the Soviets created their first mechanized support brigade, consisting of 60 tanks and 32 tankettes (tankettes were light tanks armed with heavy machine guns).

Design

The T-17 developers utilized the T-16 chassis and powertrain for the base model. The hull was based on the "Liliput". The power unit used was a 16 hp two-cylinder air-cooled engine. The tracks were made out of rubber and steel. The superstructure, which sat atop the

of the T-17 (often referred to as, like its predecessor, "Liliput"), was riveted to the frame. The driver, located in the hull, also operated a

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

mounted to the right of the longitudinal axis.

Testing

With long initial delays, a prototype was ready by the end of 1929. Despite problems, it was tested in January 1930. In June of that year, another test was conducted and showed better mobility than the T-18. One of the biggest drawbacks in tanks of this era was track failure. Therefore, one of the three tankettes ordered by the summer of 1930, was tested in a different track configuration. This second version of the T-17 had Kégresse type rubber tracks. However, the design was considered impractical, and it was decided to continue work on the full metal track versions, continued with the later production units of the T-18.

Development

Design

Testing

References

Further reading