Atankette is atrackedarmoured fighting vehicle[1] that resembles a smalltank, roughly the size of a car. It is mainly intended for light infantry support andscouting.[2][3] Colloquially it may also simply mean a small tank.[4]
Several countries built tankettes between the 1920s and 1940s, and some saw limited combat in the early phases ofWorld War II. The vulnerability of their light armour, however, eventually led armies to abandon the concept with some exceptions such as the more modern GermanWiesel (Weasel) series.
Tankettes were made both in two- and three-man models. Some were so low that the occupant had to lie prone.[3] Some models were not equipped withturrets (and together with the tracked mobility, this is often seen as defining the concept), or just a very simple turret that was traversed by hand or leg. They were significantly smaller thanlight tanks and did not have atank gun; instead their main weapon tended to be one or twomachine guns or, rarely, a 20 mmautocannon orgrenade launcher.
The genesis of the tankette concept was thearmoured warfare ofWorld War I. On theWestern Front in the later stage of the war,Allied tanks could break through the enemytrench lines but theinfantry (needed to take and hold the ground gained) following the tanks were easily stopped or delayed by small arms fire and artillery. The breakthrough tanks were then isolated and destroyed, and reinforcements plugged the hole in the trench line. The tankette was originally conceived in the earlyinterwar period to solve this problem.[citation needed] The first designs were a sort of mobile, one-manmachine gun nest protected against small arms fire and shell fragments. This idea was abandoned and the two man-model, mainly intended for reconnaissance, was produced instead. The moving up of infantry while protecting them was solved with the development of thearmoured personnel carrier concept in the 1930s.
In 1925British tank pioneerGiffard Le Quesne Martel built a one-man tank in his garage and showed it to theWar Office, who agreed to production of a few (known as theMorris-Martel) for testing. The publicity causedJohn Carden andVivian Loyd to produce their own. Both types were developed further, but the two-manCarden Loyd tankette was considered the classic and most successful design,[3] with many other tankettes modelled after it. While the design was influential, few Carden Loyd tankettes saw combat,[citation needed] other than those the Bolivian side used during theChaco War. However, the design did lead to the 'Bren Gun Carrier' which in final form as theUniversal Carrier had an extensive operational history in the Second World War.[5] In 1928, theBritish Army Council objected to the use of the word "tankette," noting that the "mechanization of the Army" was still in its infancy.[6]
TheItalian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) equipped three armoured divisions and three "fast" (celere) divisions withL3/33 andL3/35 tankettes. The L3s were used in large numbers during theItalian invasion of Ethiopia, theSpanish Civil War, and almost every place Italian soldiers fought duringWorld War II. Some L3s went with theItalian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano, CSIR) as late asOperation Barbarossa.
TheFrench armoured reconnaissance type (automitrailleuses de reconnaissance, "machine-gun scout") of the 1930s was essentially a tankette in form, specifically intended for scouting ahead of the main force.
In 1935, the Soviets experimented with transportingT-27s by air, suspending one under the fuselage of aTupolev TB-3 heavy bomber.[3]
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TheImperial Japanese Army (IJA) became one of the most prolific users of tankettes, producing a number of designs for reconnaissance and infantry support inSecond Sino-Japanese War[7] andjungle warfare. However, by the time of the Second World War, many were already obsolete and some were proven unsuccessful in their appointed task. Many were relegated totractor duties for artillery or logistics units.[3][8]
Due to their limited utility and vulnerability toanti-tank weapons (even machine guns), the tankette concept was abandoned, and their role largely taken over byarmoured cars.
However, inVietnam, theUS Marines employed the similar, somewhat larger,M50 Ontos tank destroyer with some success.
The 1980s saw the renaissance of a similar concept in theGermanWiesel AWC, introduced to provide airborne troops with armoured reconnaissance capability;[9] while these are called "armoured weapons carriers", they fit the definition of a tankette.
Tanks of theFirst World War | |
|---|---|
| Light | |
| Medium | |
| Heavy | |
| Prototypes, experimentals | |
| Main battle | |
|---|---|
| Light /medium | |
| Prototypes, experimentals | |
Background:History of the tank,Tank classification | |
