PPG tankette

3D Model

The PPG tankette (Russian: Подвижное пулемётное гнездо, Podvizhnoye pulemyotnoye gnezdo, literally “mobile machine-gun nest”), also known by the prototype name Obiekt 217, was a Soviet tankette produced for fighting in Finland. This vehicle never saw combat.

Soviet infantry took huge losses attacking Finnish fortifications in the Winter War. To compensate, they sometimes assaulted them in armoured sledges towed by tanks. The PPG tankette was an attempt to create an infantry carrier to fulfil this role. About a hundred were produced at the Kirov Factory in Leningrad in 1940 and rushed to the front, but didn’t make it to Finland in time to be used in combat.

The PPG tankette had partial armoured cover of 5 to 8 mm thickness protecting the front and sides, for two infantrymen riding in a prone position. It was armed with two 7.62mm DT machine guns. The tankette was powered by a twenty-five horsepower motorcycle engine allowing it to reach a speed of about 25 km/h, and weighed about 2.5 tonnes.