The year is 1930 and J. Walther Christie is approached by Soviet OGPU agents through a trade organization named AMTORG to purchase his M1930 tank chassis. This move was apparently illegal given that such a sale was considered exportation of war material. Given the Soviets actually deceived the US gov. in our timeline and managed to ship the chassis back to Russia as an "agricultural tractor", where this design was refined over time to produce the BT series of tanks and eventually the T-34; what if the US gov. caught wind of the sale before it was finalized, or the shipment was confiscated after being proven to violate legislation over the non-exportation of war materials? What alternative tank design could have taken the place of the Christie suspension system? How could the lack of the BT series have affected the Soviet-Japanese Border Skirmishes, Spanish Civil War, or the Winter War? What would become of the T-34 design?
WI: Soviet Union without Christie Suspension
- Thread starter ArmchairSamurai
- Start date
It won't change much for the Russians, there are other suspension systems for them to use that are just as good or better than the Christie system. It does derail the British cruiser tanks series though as they're inspired by the Soviet BT tanks.
What about Horstmann. Invented in 1922. Used by one of the greatest tanks ever, the Centurion. HVSS from the later Sherman’s was a version.
But without the inspiration of the very fast BT tanks Britain may not split the medium tanks into the Infantry and Cruiser lines.
I do appreciate the feedback, it gives me a few ideas... although I did notice no one addressed the fact that if the BT series is but an extensive modification of the Christie chassis, then would it not be reasonable to presume without said purchase of said chassis, the BT series never comes to fruition? Yes, there may be other suspension systems and perhaps even other chassis, but will these alternatives live up to the BT's reputation as a fast tank? Could the Soviet Union instead stick to more traditional tank designs? Also, I did a backward search on your post KACKO, and I found this site https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2018/11/13/soviet-t-34m-tank/ which claims that said suspension system was an afterthought in development of the T-34. It says the Panzer III, which the Soviet Union apparently bought two of in 1940, inspired the design. I am currently trying to confirm this, but I will propose that if said information is true, then the T-34 wouldn't exist at all if the BT never came to be itself. Thoughts?
Maybe something like this
