“PT-76” – theSoviet/ Polish light floating tank

The task to starting the development of a new floating tank was received in 1949 in October 15. This task was entrusted to two construction brigades from VNII-100. This brigade was geographically separated by a considerable distance, one was in then Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the other - in Chelyabinsk. This was done due to the fact, that construction work on two machines had to be carried out in parallel. These machines had to have the maximum number of mutually unified parts and have different purposes. The floating tank had the code name Object 740 and the floating armored vehicle - Object 750 (later became BTR-50). VNII-100 in 1950 in the spring submitted his version for state tests, and KBZ No. 2. at that time, he had just completed the construction of his samples - the К-90 tank and the К-78 armored car. However, this did not prevent in June 1950s. to conduct comparative tests of "Object 740" and K-90. The Object 740 performed significantly better, than its competitor, especially in cross-country tests. Since 1951 during the production process, the tank was constantly improved. Three major modernization's of the tank were carried out, as a result of which, the tank index also changed. In 1962 the tank was fundamentally modernized - the shape of the hull changed, the hull became 130 mm higher, the cannon was changed to D-56TS with a two-axis stabilizer, the radio station was changed to 10-RT-26E (10-РТ-26Э), an additional fuel tank was installed. The engine compartment lid was made with a steep slope to allow water to drain faster. This tank was marked with the index PT-76B (ПТ-76Б). Another modernization was for the Navy. The upper part of the hull was inflated, but this did not give the expected results and, for economic reasons, the same PT-76B was produced for the fleet, only with a coupling on the ventilation pipe to prevent waves from flooding the engine. This tank had the index PT-76M (ПТ-76М). The third modernization was started in 2000. This modernization is carried out by the Moscow company «Специальное машиностроение и металлургия». The old cannon is replaced by a new automatic 57 mm cannon S-60 (С-60), this cannon was adapted for the tank by the company KB «Буревестник». The maximum firing range of the cannon increased to 6000 m, two types of projectiles are used, fragmentation-tracking and anti-armor-tracking. This cannon has a ventilated hood and a loading machine, the stock of tank shells has increased to 90 units. An automatic fire control system has been installed. The sight is replaced by the sight "Lyga-S" (Лига-С), which has optical, infrared and laser channels, and the sight also has a doubler - the anti-aircraft sight 1P67 (1П67). Also, the engine is changed to UTD-23 (УТД-23), which has a power of 300 horsepower. The transmission is also changed to the one, used in the BMD-3 combat vehicle. PT-76 received its first combat baptism in 1965. Having received these tanks from the USSR, India used them in the Kashmir province during the Indo-Pakistani war. Since 1967 in all conflicts between Israel and its neighbors, Israel used PT-76 tanks. In 1968 PT-76 tanks began fighting in the Vietnam War. More than 300 of these tanks were delivered to Vietnam. Also took part in military operations in Africa, Middle and Far East.

A medium-complexity well-designed model without internal equipment with a very simplified undercarriage and tracks. Therefore, it can be perfectly glued even by a beginner and a modeler with little experience, working under the supervision of a more experienced colleague. Antiquarian publication.