"Finnish 6-ton Vickers Tank -- is it just a T-26?" Topic

I just don't have a picture book on Finnish tanks.

I would love to pit some Finnish 6-ton Vickers tanks against some Soviet T-26 tanks. But the more I look around, the more it comes back to the same question -- are they simply the same tank?

Thx. And if there's a picture book out there, can you point me toward it, too?

Not exactly the same tank. There were differences in the turret and the engine deck. But the suspension was largely the same, as well as much of the rest of the hull.

Here is an example of the 6-ton (albeit a model:

A different turret on the 6-ton:

Early T-26 turret:

Late T-26 turret:

Damon.

The T-26 is basically an unlicensed knock-off of the Vickers, so in that regard they are mostly the same tank. Different armament in the T-26 to meet Soviet standards.

I quite agree with the above.
I might add, for game purposes, the following…
The Vickers used by the Finns in The Winter War mounted a 37mm Bofors A/T gun, and a coaxial MG. The gun was an excellent weapon. Every bit as good as the German Pak 35/36. But the tank's armor was rather thin.
Later, during The Continuation War these tanks had been rearmed with captured Soviet 45mm A/T guns.
I suggest, from my research, that the earlier main gun has longer range, but poorer penetration capability. The later gun doesn't seem to have as great a range, but packs more punch.
There is also provision for an SMG to be used as a hull MG. I'm not sure just when this last feature was introduced. But one of the above photos shows a Vickers with the early main gun and the hull MG position.
Also, later versions of the T26 had somewhat heavier armor and might have been a bit slower.

Regarding armament, it is worth noticing that the original Vickers tanks were delivered to Finland unarmed sometime before the outbreak of war. This was a deliberate cost-cutting exercise by the Finnish government, with the intention to have them later armed with locally built weapons (like licence-built 37 mm Bofors guns), thus saving on previous foreign currency. Besides weapons, also some other items (like driver's seats) that could be locally produced were left out of the original order.

In retrospect, this proved to be a bit problematic policy, as there was not enough time to have the tanks armed properly by the outbreak of Winter War. Thus they only saw limited action late in the war.

As for picture books, may I recommend this: