Teletank

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TT-26 teletank, February 1940

A teletank is a remotely controlled unmanned tank used in combat to minimize human casualties. A teletank is controlled by radio from a control tank at a distance of 500–1,500 meters, the two constituting a telemechanical group. Teletanks were used by the Soviet Red Army in the Winter War and fielded at least two teletank battalions at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

Teletanks were equipped with DT machine guns, flamethrowers, smoke canisters, and sometimes a special 200–700 kg time bomb in an armored box, dropped by the tank near the enemy's fortifications and used to destroy bunkers up to four levels below ground. Teletanks were also designed to be capable of using chemical weapons, although they were not used in combat. Each teletank, depending on model was able to recognize sixteen to twenty-four different commands sent via radio on two possible frequencies to avoid interference and jamming. Teletanks were built on the basis of T-18, T-26, T-38, BT-5 and BT-7 tanks.

Standard tactics were for the control tank (TU) to stay back as far as practical as the teletank (TT) approached the enemy. The control tank would provided fire support as well as protection for the radio control operator. If the enemy was successful at seizing the teletank, the control tank was instructed to destroy it with the main gun. When not in combat the teletank was driven manually.

Besides teletanks there were also remotely controlled telecutters and teleplanes in the Red Army.^[1] ^[2]