T-26-4

T-26-4

T-60

T-26-4

T-60

USSR

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.0	1.0	1.0

Class:

Light tank

Research:2 900

Purchase:700

Description

The T-26-4 is a rank I Soviet light tank with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.51 "Cold Steel". It is a variant of the T-26 with a 76 mm howitzer.

The T-26-4 is a rather unusual tank, combining average speed, thin armour and a large gun. It uses the same hull as T-26 and an enlarged turret not dissimilar to the T-28's main turret, able to mount the 76 mm KT-28 howitzer.

This tank and its gun can be roughly compared to its German peer, the Pz.IV C, and its 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24. However, it is vastly inferior to it in ALL terms.

The penetration is almost two times lower, and shell travel speed is by about 1/4 lower as well. Reloading also takes a bit more time. Armour wise, they are the same, but Pz. IV C has 30 mm of armour at the front. The German tank is also a lot faster, with the HP/ton ratio almost two times better. To complete the list, it also has a mere -5° of gun depression, compared to -10° of the Panzer. Lastly, Pz.IV C can also equip HEAT shells, to deal with better-armoured targets.

General info

Survivability and armour

15mm armor covers most of the visible parts of the tank, and that's paper even in BR 1.0, and with just 3 comrades and the low speed of the tank, chances of surviving for more than 10 minutes are low. However, if we account the Russian bias, then you're good to go, and use your 76mm APHEBC shell and try to destroy light and medium targets. Easily outmaneuvered by light tanks and outmatched by the Pz IV.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	15 mm (18°) Driver's plate 15 mm (1°) Front plate 7 mm (64-80°) Front glacis 15 mm (6-52°) Lower glacis	15 mm (0-1°)	15 mm (1-31°) Top 15 mm (11°) Bottom	10 mm Hull 6 mm Rear
Turret	15 mm (0-3°) Turret front 15 mm (6-7°) Gun mantlet	15 mm (0-1°)	15 mm (1°)	10 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheel is 10 mm thick while tracks are 15 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 6 mm thick

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	34	4	11	141	174	12.82	15.82
Realistic	31	4		80	91	7.27	8.27

Armaments

Main armament

76 mm KT-28
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
50			-5°/+21°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	9.5	13.2	_._	_._	_._
Realistic	9.5	11.2	_._	_._	_._
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
5.2	_._	_._	_._

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
SH-353	Shrapnel	27	25	21	19	16	12
BR-350A	APHEBC	37	37	33	30	27	24
OF-350M	HE	11	11	11	11	11	11

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
SH-353	Shrapnel	381	6.2	0.5	8.0	85	+0°	62°	69°	73°
BR-350A	APHEBC	370	6.3	0.15	10.0	155	+4°	48°	63°	71°
OF-350M	HE	387	6.2	0.05	0.1	710	+0°	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks for the T-26-4.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
50	38 (+12)	25 (+25)	13 (+37)	1 (+49)	Yes

Turret empty: 25 (+25)

Machine guns

7.62 mm DT
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,890 (63)				600	N/A	N/A
Rear mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,890 (63)				600	N/A	N/A

Usage in the battles

This tank should be used as either a close range ambusher/flanker or as a direct supporter of friendly vehicles. Use its speed to exploit other tank's weak side or rear armour to deal a crippling blow. Try to concentrate your fire on lightly armoured vehicles, to which your gun is deadly. It's dangerous to go alone, take friends, otherwise you risk an encounter with a tank that you won't be able to penetrate. Don't use HE shells on anything other than unarmoured vehicles, they are not as good as its calibre might suggest. Stay away from mass enemy groups, since your vehicle can be countered easily.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Gun can easily kill any tank it meets with a single shot
• Manoeuvrability is quite good, although somewhat limited by its low top speed (30 kph)
• Decent reload speed and fast turret traverse speed

Cons:

• Mediocre accuracy, combined with one of the slowest shell travel speeds in the game
• Very thin armour, can't stop even the autocannon shells from AA vehicles
• Very bad gun depression
• Very low reverse speed
• Has very little chance of causing any harm at all to tougher tanks
• Most aeroplanes can pierce your armour rather easily

History

The T-26-4 light tank is a variant of the T-26 light tank in Soviet services. Instead of mounting a 45 mm cannon as its main armament, the T-26-4 mounts the 76.2 mm KT tank gun and is intended to fill the role of an artillery tank. The turret looks similar to the T-28 medium tank, if not the same.

The T-26-4 design was tested in October 1933 after five were built. It was in this test that the 76.2 mm KT cannon was chosen to arm it instead of the more powerful and innovative 76.2 mm PS-3 cannon. A production of 50 of these tanks was scheduled in 1935, but an incident on September 19, 1934, with a shell case destruction caused the military to cancel the T-26-4. The T-26-4 turret was then used on the BT-7A light tank intended for the same role.

In-game description

"In 1940, the T-26 light tank was modernised for the last time. The vehicle's underturret box was equipped with homogenous armour with sloping plates and its thickness was increased to 15 mm. The frontal section of the turret was welded. A distinctive feature of the tank was the special defensive cover over its radiator grille. An extra DT machine gun was mounted on the turret's roof and was used as an anti-aircraft gun.

All these changes led to the T-26's mass exceeding 10 tonnes. In spite of its strengthened construction, its undercarriage was pushed to the limit. Often, particularly when turning, the tank started losing its tracks. Test results showed that the tank's armour did not meet modern requirements, and there was no weight allowance for increasing its armament. Other flaws in the tank's design included its low speed, poor weight distribution and low reliability.

However, the tank was easy to control, simple to service and did not require much effort in the field. Although the tank had an engine with horizontally placed cylinders, the tank's profile remained low, which made it harder to hit. Many technical solutions applied to the T-26 were used later on other tanks. When used correctly and in the hands of an experienced crew, the light tank could cause serious damage to the enemy forces. The T-26 made a significant contribution to routing the enemy at Moscow, and took part in practically all combat operations right up to 1944.

A significant number of these tanks, after being captured and modified in various ways, served in the German and Finnish armies. Some of them were used by Finland until the beginning of the 50s."

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

• [Devblog] Pz-35t & T-26-4

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.