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Light tank
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Light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of transport and logistics. They are primarily employed in the screening, armored reconnaissance, skirmishing, artillery observation, and supplementing landing operations in a fire support role of expeditionary forces where larger, heavier tanks are unavailable or have difficulties operating safely or efficiently.
The fast light tank was a major feature of the pre–World War II army buildup, where it was expected they would be used to exploit breakthroughs in enemy lines created by slower, heavier tanks, with the goal of disrupting communications and supply lines. Numerous small tank designs and "tankettes" were developed during this period and known under a variety of names, including the "combat car".
Early light tank designs were generally better armed and armored than armored cars, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility. The light tank has been one of the few tank variants to survive the development of the main battle tank—in which technological advancements have rendered all previous weight variants obsolete—and has seen use in a variety of roles including the support of light airborne or amphibious forces and reconnaissance. Modified IFVs are assuming these roles in many militaries due to their immediate availability, and as a cheaper versatile alternative to developing and fielding a pure light tank.
In World War I, industrial initiative also led to swift advances. The car industry, already used to vehicle mass production and having much more experience in vehicle layout, designed the first practical light tanks in 1916, a class largely neglected by the British. Renault's small tank design, the FT, was the first tank to incorporate a top-mounted turret with a full rotation. The FT was in many respects the first truly modern tank having a layout that has been followed by almost all designs ever since: driver at the front; main armament in a fully rotating turret on top; engine at the rear. Previous models had been "box tanks", with a single crowded space combining the role of engine room, fighting compartment, ammunition stock and driver's cabin. The FT had the largest production run of any tank of the war, over 3,700 (mostly in 1918), and was more numerous than all British and German tanks combined.
The Carden Loyd tankette and its derivatives were adopted by several nations as small tracked vehicles carrying a machine gun for armament. At a time of limited military budgets, tankettes were relatively cheap and functioned as reconnaissance vehicles and mobile machine gun posts. In 1928, the British firm of Vickers-Armstrong started promoting another design by John Carden and Vivien Loyd as the "six-ton tank". Although rejected by the British Army, it was bought by a large number of nations in small numbers. It formed the basis of the Soviet T-26 (around 10,000 built) and the Polish 7TP tank and influenced the Italian Fiat M11/39. The British Army did not use the design as a light tank themselves but a developed version of the Carden Loyd tankette as the starting point for a series of British light tanks intended for use in imperial policing and expeditionary warfare. As the only tank fit for immediate manufacture, it was a key element in the expansion of the British Army in the period leading up to the outbreak of war.
In general, French tanks of the 1930s were well-armored, innovative vehicles that owed little to foreign designs. However, the light tanks lacked firepower and almost all French tanks were handicapped by their one-man turrets, even the larger tanks such as the Char B1, which overworked the commander who, besides directing the vehicle, or even a troop, had to load and aim the turret gun. The lack of radios with the light tanks was not seen as a major drawback, since French doctrine called for slow-paced, deliberate maneuvers in close conformance to plans. The role of small unit leaders was to execute plans, not to take the initiative in combat.[citation needed] In 1939, a belated effort was made to improve flexibility and increase the number of radios.
Throughout the interwar period the US produced only a few hundred tanks. From the end of World War I to 1935, only 15 tanks were produced. Most were derivatives or foreign designs or very poor quality private designs. The Christie designs were among the few better examples, but the US Army acquired only three Christies and did not pursue the idea any further. Budget limitations and the low priority given to the army meant that there were few resources for building tanks. The US Army instead developed and tested tank components such as suspensions, tracks, and transmissions. This paid off when production had to be initiated on the outbreak of war.
At the start of World War II, the majority of all of the great powers' tank forces consisted of light designs. The most common were the British Light Tank Mk VI, French Renault R35, German Panzer I, Italian L3/35 (classified as a light tank by the Royal Italian Army, a tankette by others), Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank, Soviet T-26, and American M2 light tank.
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Light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of transport and logistics. They are primarily employed in the screening, armored reconnaissance, skirmishing, artillery observation, and supplementing landing operations in a fire support role of expeditionary forces where larger, heavier tanks are unavailable or have difficulties operating safely or efficiently.
The fast light tank was a major feature of the pre–World War II army buildup, where it was expected they would be used to exploit breakthroughs in enemy lines created by slower, heavier tanks, with the goal of disrupting communications and supply lines. Numerous small tank designs and "tankettes" were developed during this period and known under a variety of names, including the "combat car".
Early light tank designs were generally better armed and armored than armored cars, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility. The light tank has been one of the few tank variants to survive the development of the main battle tank—in which technological advancements have rendered all previous weight variants obsolete—and has seen use in a variety of roles including the support of light airborne or amphibious forces and reconnaissance. Modified IFVs are assuming these roles in many militaries due to their immediate availability, and as a cheaper versatile alternative to developing and fielding a pure light tank.
In World War I, industrial initiative also led to swift advances. The car industry, already used to vehicle mass production and having much more experience in vehicle layout, designed the first practical light tanks in 1916, a class largely neglected by the British. Renault's small tank design, the FT, was the first tank to incorporate a top-mounted turret with a full rotation. The FT was in many respects the first truly modern tank having a layout that has been followed by almost all designs ever since: driver at the front; main armament in a fully rotating turret on top; engine at the rear. Previous models had been "box tanks", with a single crowded space combining the role of engine room, fighting compartment, ammunition stock and driver's cabin. The FT had the largest production run of any tank of the war, over 3,700 (mostly in 1918), and was more numerous than all British and German tanks combined.
The Carden Loyd tankette and its derivatives were adopted by several nations as small tracked vehicles carrying a machine gun for armament. At a time of limited military budgets, tankettes were relatively cheap and functioned as reconnaissance vehicles and mobile machine gun posts. In 1928, the British firm of Vickers-Armstrong started promoting another design by John Carden and Vivien Loyd as the "six-ton tank". Although rejected by the British Army, it was bought by a large number of nations in small numbers. It formed the basis of the Soviet T-26 (around 10,000 built) and the Polish 7TP tank and influenced the Italian Fiat M11/39. The British Army did not use the design as a light tank themselves but a developed version of the Carden Loyd tankette as the starting point for a series of British light tanks intended for use in imperial policing and expeditionary warfare. As the only tank fit for immediate manufacture, it was a key element in the expansion of the British Army in the period leading up to the outbreak of war.
In general, French tanks of the 1930s were well-armored, innovative vehicles that owed little to foreign designs. However, the light tanks lacked firepower and almost all French tanks were handicapped by their one-man turrets, even the larger tanks such as the Char B1, which overworked the commander who, besides directing the vehicle, or even a troop, had to load and aim the turret gun. The lack of radios with the light tanks was not seen as a major drawback, since French doctrine called for slow-paced, deliberate maneuvers in close conformance to plans. The role of small unit leaders was to execute plans, not to take the initiative in combat.[citation needed] In 1939, a belated effort was made to improve flexibility and increase the number of radios.
Throughout the interwar period the US produced only a few hundred tanks. From the end of World War I to 1935, only 15 tanks were produced. Most were derivatives or foreign designs or very poor quality private designs. The Christie designs were among the few better examples, but the US Army acquired only three Christies and did not pursue the idea any further. Budget limitations and the low priority given to the army meant that there were few resources for building tanks. The US Army instead developed and tested tank components such as suspensions, tracks, and transmissions. This paid off when production had to be initiated on the outbreak of war.
At the start of World War II, the majority of all of the great powers' tank forces consisted of light designs. The most common were the British Light Tank Mk VI, French Renault R35, German Panzer I, Italian L3/35 (classified as a light tank by the Royal Italian Army, a tankette by others), Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank, Soviet T-26, and American M2 light tank.
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