More armour rumbles out of the tank factory this week for Soviet armies – the OT-26 flamethrower tank:
Over 550 OT-26 (or KhT-26) Flamethrower variants were produced between 1932 and 1935. Initially developed in 1933, and based on the twin-turreted T-26 mod 1931 tank, it utilised just a single turret with the other being blanked off.
As with other T-26 variants, the OT-26 was manned by two crew. Supporting the KS-24 flamethrower was a co-axial 7.62mm machine gun. The flamethrower compromised a maximum range of 35 metres for the ability to fire up to 70 one-second bursts of liquid flame without needing to refuel.
Although several were captured by the Finnish only two were repurposed and they would be used for crew training rather than in a combat role.
The OT-26 joins these other tanks based on the T-26 chassis:
Dan Hewitson
Tom Mecredy
Craig Nixon