TANKIETKA TK-3 Z 7.62 HOTCHKIS WZ.25 (8.BATALION PANCERNY, POLSKA 1939)

The TK-3 is a Polish light tank (tankette) from the Second World War. The first prototypes of the vehicle were created in 1930, and serial production continued in the period 1931-1933, ending with the production of about 300 copies of this vehicle. The TKS was powered by an engine Ford A with a power of 40 HP. The vehicle was armed with 1 Hotchkiss wz.25 machine gun, caliber 7.92 mm. At the end of the 1920s, the Polish command, noticing the need for partial mechanization and motorization of the Polish Army, became interested in the Carden-Lloyd tankettes created by the Vickers-Armstrong concern. Several copies of these vehicles were purchased relatively quickly, on the basis of which own vehicles called TK-1 and TK-2 were developed. However, they did not meet the assumed parameters, and only after modernization, the TK-3 version appeared, which entered mass production in 1931. In the course of operation, the disadvantages of the design became apparent: first of all, the armor was too weak, the observation from the inside of the car was very difficult, and the engine was not efficient. These defects were later fixed on the TKS vehicle. Two experimental designs were created on the basis of the TK-3: the TKD vehicle (a self-propelled gun with a 47mm gun) and the TKW (a vehicle with a rotating turret), but neither of them entered mass production. Due to the large number of TK-3s produced by Polish standards, they were one of the basic elements of the Polish armored forces during the September campaign in 1939. Cars of this type also took part in the capture of Zaolzie in 1938.