The BT-7 was a tank produced by the Soviet Union in the years leading up to World War II. It was the final version of the Soviet BT series of light cavalry tanks, which were based on Walter Christie’s revolutionary tank design. Its most remarkable feature was the ability to shed its tank tracks and convert to a wheeled vehicle for rapid movement along paved highways. While this feature was not fully appreciated in the Soviet Union’s mainly dirt roads, the BT-7 could still attain a remarkable 31 mph (50km/h) off road. The BT-7 also had steeply sloped frontal armor, which gave it better ballistic protection than other light tanks designs of the day, and feature that would become standard of all Soviet tank designs tanks. The BT-7 was armed with a 45mm L/46 high-velocity anti-tank gun, which gave it a noticeable advantage against contemporary light tanks of Germany and Japan. More than 2700 BT-7 light tanks were built during 1935-1940, after which T-34 Medium tank superseded all light and fast tanks in production. Many BT-7s were lost during Operation Barbarossa, but they continued to play a role throughout the war, including the Manchurian Strategic Offensive of 1945.