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AT-1 (artillery tank)

Based on the T-26 chassis (a British concept), some sources claim the AT-1 was the first Soviet SPG, but this honr clearly belongs to the visually similar SU-1 based on the T-26, which debuted in 1931. In 1934, work on the creation of an artillery support tank based on the T-26, designated AT-1 (artillery tank), began at Kirov Plant No. 185 named after Kirov. It was assumed that the new machine will go to replace the T-26-4 tank, the serial production of which was never possible to deploy. As the main armament of the AT-1, it was supposed to use the 76-mm PS-3 gun designed by P. Syachentov. This artillery system was designed as a special tank gun, had telescopic and panoramic sights and a foot descent. By power, the PS-3 exceeded the 76-mm gun mod. 1927, mounted on the T-26-4 tanks.

The design of the AT-1 was carried out under the leadership of the head of the design department for self-propelled units of the pilot plant No. 185 named after Kirov P. Syachentov. In the spring of 1935, two prototypes were made. The AT-1 self-propelled gun was a type of closed self-propelled gun. The fighting compartment was in the middle of the car in an armored wheelhouse. The self-propelled gun was armed with a 76.2-mm gun PS-3 mounted on a rotating swivel on a pin pedestal, and an autonomous 7.62-mm machine gun DT, located in a ball mount to the right of it (the second machine was equipped with a 76-mm gun L-7). The second machine gun DT was a spare and could be used by the crew for defense. For its installation in the sides and aft of the cabin there were special embrasures.

The crew consisted of a driver, who was stationed in the control compartment on the right side of the vehicle, an observer (also charging), located in the fighting compartment to the right of the gun, and an artilleryman located to his left. In the roof of the installation there were hatches for the entry and exit of the crew from the car.

The gun, which had an initial projectile speed of 520 m / s, was equipped with telescopic and panoramic sights, had a foot descent and was adapted for firing, both direct fire, and from closed firing positions. The angles of vertical guidance ranged from –5 ° to + 45 °, horizontal guidance in the sector of 40 ° without turning the machine. The ammunition of the installation was 40 rounds for the cannon and 1827 rounds of ammunition (29 disks) for machine guns.

Armor protection was bulletproof, made of rolled armored sheets with a thickness of 6, 8 and 15 mm. The conning tower was made of armor plates 6 and 15 mm thick. Armor parts were interconnected using rivets. Side and stern armored shields of the cabin to provide the ability to remove powder gases during firing, at half its height were hinged folding. However, 0.3 mm gaps between the hinged shields and the hull did not protect the crew from bullet spray damage from lead. The engine, transmission and chassis were the same as on the T-26. The engine was started by Scintilla electric starter with a power of 2 hp. (1.47 kW) or "MACH-4539" with a power of 2.6 hp (1.9 kW), or the crank. In the ignition system, the main magnetos of the Scintilla, Bosch or ATE VEO type and the starting magneto Scintilla or ATE PSE were used. The capacity of the fuel tanks was 182 liters. The range of the installation on the highway reached 170 km. The electrical equipment of the machine was made in a single-wire circuit. The voltage of the on-board network is 12 V.

As sources of electricity, a 6STA-144 rechargeable battery with a capacity of 144 Ah was used and a Scintilla or GA-4545 (GA-4561) generator with a power of 190 W (250 W) and a voltage of 12.5 V with a relay-regulator RRA-4547.

Tests of the AT-1, conducted in the spring – summer of 1935, showed good results: rate of fire up to 15 rounds per minute, the largest firing range from the spot - 10,550 meters, the possibility of aimed fire from the move. Therefore, the leadership of the ABTU RKKA decided to prepare the serial production of the AT-1, for which in 1936 it was supposed to release an installation batch of 10 cars. But due to the congestion of plant No. 174, the program for T-26 tanks did not succeed. Therefore, the production of AT-1 was postponed to 1937. In 1937, P. Syachentov, a leading designer of self-propelled units of plant No. 185, was declared an “enemy of the people” and repressed. This caused the cessation of work on many samples designed under his leadership.

Three years later, during the Soviet-Finnish war, one of the AT-1 buildings was used. In January 1940, at the request of the fighters and commanders of the 35th Tank Brigade, leading the fighting on the Karelian Isthmus, Plant No. 174 began work on the design of a “sanitary tank for the evacuation of wounded soldiers from the battlefield." This initiative work was approved by the head of the Armored Directorate of the Red Army D. Pavlov. As a base, one of the AT-1 buildings at the factory was used, which in the place, without drawings, was redone and adapted to transport the wounded.

The factory workers wanted to give this car to the tankers for the holiday of February 23 - Red Army Day. But due to the delay in manufacturing, the ambulance tank did not get to the front. After the hostilities ended, the sanitary T-26 (as it was called in the documents of the plant No. 174) was transferred to the Volga Military District. The further fate of the car is unknown. Thus, summing up, we say that the AT-1 is the world's first self-propelled infantry gun. For the time when the military was fond of machine gun wedges or tanks with a 37-mm caliber cannon, the AT-1 self-propelled gun was rightly considered a powerful weapon.