Carden-Loyd Mark VI Tankette

Last updated on February 17th, 2019 at 09:48 pm

The Carden-Loyd Mark VI tankette was a small two-man machine gun carrier. It weighed less than two tons, and was designed primarily to be used for reconnaissance.

Variants included a mortar carrier and a smoke projector.

The machine gun, either a 0.303 inch or a 0.500 inch Vickers, was placed on a tripod at the front of the hull.  The gun had limited traverse, since it was not supposed to be fired directly from the tankette.

The Carden-Loyd Mark VI tankette was the used as the basis for several tanks that were built in other countries, including the Soviet Union’s T-27 tankette, which was used to defend the USSR from invading German troops during World War II.
Carden-Loyd Mark VI Tankette Source: Florida State University
France, Poland, Japan, Italy and Czechoslovakia also used the Carden-Loyd Mark VI tankette design.

Great Britain

Carden-Loyd Mark VI Tankette

Active: 1927
Crew: 2
Weight: 1.48 tons (1,500kg)
Length: 8ft 1in (2.46m)
Height: 4ft 0in (1.22m)
Width: 5ft 7in (1.75m)
Weapons: Main – 0.303in (7.7mm) or ) .5 inch (12.7mm) Vickes machinegun
Armor Maximum – 0.35in (9mm)
Engine: Ford Modle T 4-cylinder gasoline, 40hp
Speed: 25mph (50kph)
Range: 90 miles (144 km)