The chassis of the BT-7 served well to produce offshoot designs such as the close-support BT-7A artillery tank mounting the short-barreled 76.2mm cannon. The 76.2mm cannon was quickly found to be the cannon of choice when contending with the thicker German tank offerings and became standard armament of the upcoming - and highly successful - T-34 series of medium tanks. Beyond this variant, the BT-7 was also developed into a command tank under the designation of BT-7-I(U) with its increased communications equipment at the expense of additional ammunition. Offensives relied on such vehicles to promote clear communications and leadership between tanks in the field. The BT-7M (or BT-8) was later produced as an improved BT-7 form with a 500 horsepower V2 twelve cylinder diesel engine in a revised hull for improved survivability. Along with its 76.2mm main gun armament, the BT-7M also fitted a pair of 7.62mm machine guns for self-defense - one mounted in the turret and the other in the hull. Experimental versions went on to include bridging and amphibious models that never went to production.
As the previous BT-5s proved viable in the Spanish Civil War, it was only logical to expect success with the BT-7 when they were used en mass in the Soviet invasion of Poland. The tank became the primary armored vehicle to spearhead the Red Army in the operation. Poland was inevitably conquered by a combined force of Germans in the West and Soviets in the East with little help from the Allies.
However, the future of the BT-7 was put in doubt in subsequent actions in the Winter War with Finland and in the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Anti-tank weapons fielded by the Finns led to many a loss for the BT-7 ranks. By the time of the German invasion (under "Operation Barbarossa") in 1941, the BT-7 was in full operational service, available in some number, but essentially already having peaked in terms of effectiveness. Despite her having "modernized" Soviet tank forces some years before, the type was quickly shown to have major deficiencies, particularly in armor protection, when combating the new breed of German tanks. As can be expected, losses for the under-gunned and lightly armored system quickly mounted. Couple these inherent limitations with poorly trained commanders and crew and ill-maintained vehicles and one develops a recipe for battlefield disaster. After all, the BT-7 was, at its core, a light tank design and never truly meant to tangle with medium or heavy tanks by any regard. If anything, a light tank design was counted upon to provide armored reconnaissance or infantry support in carefully planned outings. As a direct assault implement, however, the BT-7 was obviously lacking in the key areas of protection and offensive output. By the end of 1941, large collections of BT-7 were either knocked out of action by the enemy or placed out of service through logistics. Any examples captured by the German army were reconstituted only for security duty to cover the rear from Soviet flanking maneuvers and not as frontline tools.
At any rate, the surprised Russians utilized whatever was in their stocks at the time to ultimately stave off extinction at the hands of the Germans. The German assault was eventually slowed down and halted, only to be repelled by a determined and, sometimes suicidal, Soviet resistance. Despite her obsolescence by the summer of 1941, the BT-7 no doubt played a role in the recovery of the Soviet Union and lent its successes into the design of the war winning T-34 medium tank still to come. In 1937, a new collection of Soviet talent was brought together to find the planned successor for the BT series. The group delivered the what ultimately became the T-34 itself.
With the BT-7's role all but completed in the West, Soviet authorities rerouted the tank for use in the August 1945 Soviet invasion of Manchuria in operations against the Japanese Army along the Russian border. The Soviet Army was put into action once more, just three months removed from the end of the European War, after an agreement was reached with Allied forces at the Tehran Conference in November of 1943. In these actions, the BT-7 proved far superior to all the armored infantry vehicles the Japanese could field. This would be the last recorded combat actions for all BT tanks, her legacy already having been secured in history. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria marked the largest operation in the 1945 Soviet-Japanese War with the end result being the liberation of Manchukuo (Manchuria) by the Russians. The resounding Soviet victory here played a role in the final surrender of the Empire of Japan to end World War 2.
Close to 5,000 examples of the BT-7 were ultimately produced, making up a large portion of the near 8,500-strong BT series family as a whole.
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