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Caid’s suggestion #93
I would like to suggest this interesting Russian interwar tank, the T-22 Grotte, sometimes also called TG or TG-1
the T-22 was a medium tank designed in Russia for Russia by German engineer Edward Grotte. A single tank was built in 1931 and was tested in Leningrad to become the new Russian medium tank (or rather the first). The T-22 was a very innovative tank that was very advanced for his time. the prototype already differed a lot from the original design, the tank was considered too advanced for the Russian factory. the T-22 was closer to the tanks from the 40s than those of the 30s. incorporating new concepts found later on the tanks such as a welded hull, low profile, and 76.2mm gun, but also features found in tanks from the mid-30s such as multi-turret design. the tank features a secondary turret on the top of the first who’s is armed with a 37mm. like was common from tanks of the 20s, this tank also features the multiple machine-gun port to cover all angles, a feature common from WW1. The tank also features new special gears with chevron pinching that allows the same speed forth and backward. at the time of the test, the T-22 was likely the best tank in the world by far. capable of rivaling with tanks from the middle of WW2, it features great firepower, mobility, and protection in a very balanced way making it capable of matching the early T-34 or M4 Sherman. the lower turret became stationary and the tank was powered by a M6 aircraft engine developed by Grotte during the assembly of the tank. the trial done in 1931, the tank showed many advantages and problems. while the T-22 showed impressive mobility, speed, and maneuverability, it was not reliable. notably caused by the poor quality of the parts used in comportment like the servo drives; track dysfunction; crowded fighting compartments and maintenance accessibility problems.
the T-22 was finally not accepted for production, not because the tank wasn’t good, but mostly because the Russian industry was just not capable of building so a complex and advanced tank. only a very few factories could build a handful of them a year and at a high cost. the development stopped when Edward Grotte was called back to Germany in 1932. the T-22 was then abandoned but the knowledge accumulated was used massively for the T-28 and T-35 tanks.
Firepower
been armed mainly by the 76.2mm A-19 gun this tank in-game would be better to consider the secondary 37mm PS-2 armament as the main armament as this one is in a fully turning turret. the 76.2mm A-19 gun has rather rare information that can be found but I came to assume it was a derivative of the 76.2mm M1902 adapted for a tank. the 76.2mm having a transverse of 10° left and right and an elevation -8°/+12° which allows it to be decently used without struggling too hard with the direction of the tank. the secondary armament is the 37mm PS-2 gun in a full 360° ration turret . the PS-2 is also a gun that the information is difficult to find but I came to assume that it was a 37mm M1930 1-K adapted for the tanks. the 37mm has an elevation of -12°/+30° which is very good and would offer an outstanding flexibility in the fire-arc. 50x 76.2mm rounds are carried and additional 80x 37mm rounds are carried for the secondary turret. the tank also features 3x 7.62mm Maxim machine-gun placed on the side and rear of the fixed turret to protect the tank from all angles, a feature often found in the tanks of the 20s.
Mobility
powered by a V-shaped 12-cylinder carburetor aviation four-stroke air cooling M-6 providing 300hp , the tank wasn’t lacking the power to move around. in-fact mobility was considered as one of his best assets of all. the gear box very advanced offered 4 forward gear and 4 backward gear . this makes the tank capable of going as fast in both directions making it particularly agile and mobile. the speed was not bad either was as fast as 34 km/h on the road and 15 km/h on rough terrain . the tank weighting 25 tons allow a decent acceleration with 12 hp/tons . in over this tank could be qualified to have Smooth mobility and would allow the player to easily change position, retreat to cover, and maneuver around the obstacles as if it was flying. the only flaw reported on the mobility was the lack of traction on the track when climbing a heavy sloop.
Protection
the main flaw is the big size of this tank which makes it rather easy to aim. but the protection isn’t bad at all for a tank of this tank with an armor of 44mm at the front and 24mm at the side and rear, the hull is not badly defended. the turrets are both having 44mm at the front and 30mm at the side and rear. The crew of 6 men** of which 5 are in the fighting compartment makes it rather crowded and a penetration in this area guarantees to take out many of them. the roof of 10mm allows a decent protection against aerial attack. the armour of the hull was all welded which was an innovative concept at this time
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