ABSTRACT
Trips abroad by Red Army officers to examine and purchase tanks and tank parts, especially in Great Britain and the United States, are well documented. In addition to assimilating foreign models, the Red Army was actively engaged in developing its own tank prototypes, some of which predated the purchase of British and United States ones. Documents regarding the tank features that were adapted by the Soviets in the R&D process, convey that the skillful combination of foreign and indigenous tank characteristics went far to aid the Soviets in weapons innovation and aided them in a speedy fashion. The influence of British tank design on early Soviet tank programs is well documented in Soviet, German, and British sources. Although the American Christie tank was initially hailed by Khalepskii as "unbeatable in terms of its speed," features such as its armaments were incompatible with Soviet design and production capabilities.
