Tamiya 35306 Russian Anti-Tank Team

In the 1920s and - especially - in the 1930s, the Red Army underwent rapid development, increasing both its personnel and its "technical park". Of course, anti-tank weapons (in short: anti-tank) were also developed, and before 1941, 37 and 45 mm anti-tank guns entered service. However, in the second half of the 1930s, the Red Army command decided to supplement these guns with light anti-tank weapons dedicated to infantry units, which eventually materialized in the form of anti-tank rifles such as PTRS and 14.5 mm PTRD. It is worth adding here that a similar weapon was also developed in the German (PzB 39) and Polish (UR rifle) armies. The introduction in the Red Army entailed changes in the organization. In 1941, an anti-tank rifle company consisting of three platoons, with a total of 27 PTRS or PTRD rifles, was to serve in the infantry regiment. In 1942, specialized companies armed with 16 anti-tank rifles were established at the infantry battalion level. In the summer of the same year, the companies in the battalions were reduced to a platoon armed with 9 anti-tank rifles. While at the beginning of the German-Soviet war, anti-tank rifle units turned out to be an unpleasant surprise for the German Panzerwaffe, along with its development and the introduction of increasingly heavily armored vehicles, their effectiveness dropped significantly.