Light tank
It is smaller with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of transport and logistics.
Numerous small tank designs and "tankettes" were developed during this period and known under a variety of names, including the "combat car".
Modified IFVs are assuming these roles in many militaries due to their immediate availability, and as a cheaper versatile alternative to developing and fielding a pure light tank.
The FT was in many respects the first truly modern tank having a layout that has been followed by almost all designs ever since: driver at the front; main armament in a fully rotating turret on top; engine at the rear.
Previous models had been "box tanks", with a single crowded space combining the role of engine room, fighting compartment, ammunition stock and driver's cabin.
[i] The Carden Loyd tankette and its derivatives were adopted by several nations as small tracked vehicles carrying a machine gun for armament.
At a time of limited military budgets, tankettes were relatively cheap and functioned as reconnaissance vehicles and mobile machine gun posts.
In 1928, the British firm of Vickers-Armstrong started promoting another design by John Carden and Vivien Loyd as the "six-ton tank".
As the only tank fit for immediate manufacture, it was a key element in the expansion of the British Army in the period leading up to the outbreak of war.
The lack of radios with the light tanks was not seen as a major drawback, since French doctrine called for slow-paced, deliberate maneuvers in close conformance to plans.
At the start of World War II, the majority of all of the great powers' tank forces consisted of light designs.
The Soviet BT tanks[citation needed] were the most advanced in the 1930s, extremely fast and mounting high velocity 45 mm cannons.
[2] The Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank was equipped with a diesel engine, and although mounting a 37 mm cannon, it was a low velocity gun with a maximum effective range of about 700 meters.
[6] In this role, they were expected to remain behind the main reconnaissance force as the support element and augment the firepower whenever enemy contact was made.
The US fielded small numbers of the M41 Walker Bulldog with a high velocity 76mm gun, and better armor, but it suffered from range limits, and its weight was too heavy for most air transport of the day.
Light tanks based on infantry fighting vehicles chassis include the CV90105T, 2S25 Sprut-SD, Tanque Argentino Mediano, ASCOD LT 105, K21-105,[10][11] and Sabrah.
[12][13] Type-15 tank is fitted with explosive reactive armor, remote weapon system, and laser warning receivers for multi-layered protection.
Crews simply raise the easily accessible cloth sides around the hull, cover the hatches, turn on the bilge pump and shift the transmission to water operations.
Some light tanks, such as the M551 Sheridan, ZTQ-15 and 2S25 Sprut-SD armored reconnaissance vehicle, could be rigged for low-velocity airdrops from transport aircraft.
