PPG tankette

PPG tankette
Type Tankette
Place of origin  Soviet Union
Specifications
Weight 1.73 tonnes
Length 2500mm
Width 1630mm
Height 860mm
Crew 2
Armor 8 mm
Main
armament
 2 x DT machine guns
Engine 16 horsepower (12 kW)
Power/weight 10 hp/tonne
Operational
range
 100km
Speed 18 km/h

The PPG tankette (Russian: Подвижное пулемётное гнездо, Podvizhnoye pulemyotnoye gnezdo, literally "mobile machine-gun nest"), also known by the prototype name Obiekt 217, was a Soviet tankette produced for fighting in Finland. This vehicle never saw combat.

Soviet infantry took huge losses attacking Finnish fortifications in the Winter War. To compensate, they sometimes assaulted them in armoured sledges towed by tanks. The PPG tankette was an attempt to create an infantry carrier to fulfil this role. About a hundred were produced at the Kirov Factory in Leningrad in 1940 and rushed to the front, but didn't make it to Finland in time to be used in combat.

The PPG tankette had partial armoured cover of 5 to 8 mm thickness protecting the front and sides, for two infantrymen riding in a prone position. It was armed with two 7.62mm DT machine guns with 1,575 rounds. The tankette was powered by a engine PMZ two-stroke, 2-cylinder, liquid cooled petrol engine of 16 hp allowing it to reach a speed of about 18 km/h on and 7km/h off roads while weighed 1.73 tonnes.


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