T - 70 The T - 70 was a light tank used by the Red Army during World War II , replacing both the T - 60 scout tank for reconnaissance and the T - 50 light infantry tank for infantry support . The T - 80 light tank was a more advanced version of the T - 70 with a two - man turret — it was only produced in very small numbers when light tank production was abandoned . The T - 90 self - propelled anti - aircraft gun was a prototype vehicle with twin machine guns , based on the T - 70 chassis . The T - 70 was armed with a 45 - mm L / 46 gun Model 38 with forty - five rounds carried , and a coaxial 7 . 62 - mm DT machine gun . The tank was operated by a driver and a commander who loaded and fired the gun . Armour thickness on the turret front was 60 mm , hull front and sides : 45 mm , rear and turret sides : 35 mm , roof and bottom : 10 mm . Production history . By 1942 , light tank s were considered inadequate by the Red Army , unable to keep up with the T - 34 medium tank and unable to penetrate the armour of most German tanks , but they could be produced by small factories which were unable to handle the large components of medium and heavy tanks . The T - 70 was an attempt to remedy some of the shortcomings of the T - 60 scout tank , which had very poor cross - country mobility , thin armour , and an inadequate 20 - mm gun . It also replaced the very short production run of the T - 50 light infantry tank , which was more sophisticated , but also much too complicated and expensive to produce . The T - 70 was designed by Nicholas Astrov ' s design team at Factory No . 38 in Kirov . The first batch of T - 70s were built with a GAZ - 202 automotive engine on each side of the hull , one driving each track . This arrangement was seen to be a serious problem , even before the first tanks were issued . It was quickly redesigned as the T - 70M ( although it continued to be referred to as just " T - 70 " ) , with the engines in - line on the right side of the tank and a normal transmission and differential . The conical turret was replaced by one more easily welded out of plate armour , and moved to the left side of the hull . Curiously , even after the T - 70 ' s production line was redesigned , SU - 76 self - propelled guns started to be built with the same unsatisfactory unsynchronized two - engine layout , and all of them were later recalled for factory rebuilding as SU - 76Ms . T - 70s were put into production in March 1942 at Zavod No . 37 , and along with T - 60 production at GAZ and Zavod No . 38 . They completely replaced T - 60 production in September 1942 , although that tank remained in use until the end of the war . Production ended in October 1943 , with 8 , 226 vehicles completed . In April 1942 , the conical turrets on early - production machines were replaced with new welded turrets . The end of the T - 70 ' s production run was built with two 85 - hp GAZ - 203 engines , a Mark 4 commander ' s periscope replacing a vision slit , and other improvements . The T - 70 remained in service until 1948 . Decline of light tanks . The one - man turret of the Soviet light tanks made co - ordinating a tank platoon nearly impossible , because the commanders were kept busy acquiring targets , loading and firing the main gun and machine gun , and commanding their drivers . The infantry tank role was already considered obsolete . The SU - 76 self - propelled gun was better suited for infantry support , its 76 . 2 - mm gun capable of firing a larger high explosive shell . Industrial resources could be redirected from light tanks to building SU - 76s . In an attempt to compensate , the T - 80 light tank was designed , a more robust version of the T - 70 with a two - man turret . But there was enough lend - lease equipment available to fulfill the reconnaissance role of the light tanks , and armoured car s were better suited for light scouting and liaison . All light tank production was cancelled in October 1943 , after only about 120 T - 80s were built . No further light tanks would be built during the war . In November 1943 Red Army tank units were reorganized : light tanks were replaced by the T - 34 and new T - 34 - 85 , which started production the following month . Light tanks continued to be used in self - propelled artillery and some other units . The Soviets did start development work on an amphibious light tank in 1945 , resulting in the post - war PT - 76 , introduced in 1954 . T - 90 self - propelled anti - aircraft gun . The Soviet Union lacked tracked , armoured self - propelled anti - aircraft guns at the beginning of World War II . The first serious design of a real air - defence vehicle was in 1942 , when a twin 12 . 7 mm DShK machine gun turret with optical sights was built for mounting on the T - 60 scout tank . The T - 70 became available in the meantime , and was adopted as the basis for the T - 90 self - propelled anti - aircraft gun . The program was cancelled in 1943 , in favour of the ZSU - 37 37 mm self - propelled anti - aircraft gun , built on an SU - 76 chassis ( Zaloga & Grandsen 1984 : 119 ) . The ZSU - 37 used the cannon developed for the M1939 towed carriage .