T27

T27 (often written as T-27) refers most prominently to a Soviet light tankette from the interwar period. Developed in the early 1930s, it was based on the British Vickers 6-Ton design as part of the Soviet effort to field compact, inexpensive armored vehicles for reconnaissance and infantry support. The vehicle had a small, two-man crew and a turret-mounted machine gun, with light armor and modest armament appropriate to its role and era.

Production took place during the early 1930s, resulting in several hundred units built at Soviet factories. The T-27 was intended to be a simple, readily produced platform that could operate with infantry and alongside other armored units. In practice, it demonstrated the trade-offs of tankette design: high mobility and low cost came at the expense of protection, firepower, and versatility.

Operational history of the T-27 was concentrated in the 1930s, with usage primarily in peacetime exercises and early, limited operations. As armored doctrine and technology evolved, the T-27 was gradually phased out of front-line service in favor of more capable light and medium tanks and tankettes. Nevertheless, the T-27 is cited in studies of Soviet interwar armor as an example of early attempts to adapt foreign designs into domestic production and as part of the broader trajectory of Soviet armored vehicle development.

The designation T27 has occasionally appeared in other, non-Soviet contexts in cataloging or discussion of armor programs, but the Soviet T-27 remains the most well-documented and widely recognized use of the name.