The gun struggled against uparmoured Panzer IVs, and the frontal armour of Tigers and Panthers was essentially impenetrable. By 1943 combat experience had shown both were increasingly inadequate, but the upgunned T-34/85 with its three man turret was not yet ready. The original version was armed with a 76.2mm gun in a two man turret. The T-34īy far the most common, and most capable, Soviet tank at Kursk was the T-34. Like the KV-1, it would soon be withdrawn. Overall a third of the 3500 Soviet tanks at Kursk were T-70s, but in some units this proportion was considerably higher. It offered no significant advantages in mobility over a T-34 and its one man turret made it difficult to use effectively in combat, especially by unit commanders who needed to both operate their own tank and command others.Īll the T-70 really offered over the T34 was ease of production, and as the shortages of 1941-2 passed, even this advantage was fading. Its 45mm gun and thin armour were inadequate against even older German tanks. In common with the KV-1, by Kursk the T-70 light tank was also recognised as being no longer suited to the frontline. The T-70 light tank made up 1/3 of Soviet tank strength at Kursk.
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