It is no secret that Heinz Guderian, a leading thinker in the German school of armoured warfare, was greatly impressed by the Soviet T-34 tank. In October of 1941, one of his subordinates from the 4th Tank Division wrote: “Immediately create copies of the 26-ton Russian tank, and use captured 26- and 52-ton tanks. Each tank regiment should have one company of these tanks.” It is also known that Fast Heinz’ plan to clone the T-34 was unsuccessful. What is less known is what happened later, when Guderian ran into one of the more underrated tanks of the war, the T-60.
The T-60 was one of the most numerous tanks of the Second World War, but, as a light tank, it lacked the thick armour or impressive firepower of the T-34, IS, Tiger, Panther, and other famous tanks of the war. Little is written about it, which is a shame, as Guderian saw much promise in it. Torsion bars, that Russian hard steel he was a fan of, sloped armour, easily obtainable and reparable engines. The design was far superior to that of German light tanks, and even the captured Czech tanks in the Wehrmacht’s service were starting to show their age. The T-60, a modern light tank, was what the Wehrmacht needed. Better yet, the factory at Kharkov was not evacuated completely before the Germans captured it, giving them a manufacturing base.
