PMI0309A 7TP

Polish light tank from the beginning of World War II. The 7TP tank, along with the tankettes (e.g. TKS), was the basic element of the Polish armored forces in 1939. 7 TP was designed at Państwowe Zakłady Inżynierii in Ursus, where it was also produced since 1935. The tank is a development of the British Vickers E, the license of which was acquired by Poland in the early 1930s. The first 24 examples of the 7TP were twin-turret vehicles, the next serial ones (built from 1937) already had one turret, and the main armament was the anti-tank gun. 37mm by Bofors. The 7TP tank was a technically advanced design for its time. It was one of the first in the world to have a diesel engine, a reversible periscope, and in some copies also radio stations (RKBc 2N / C) with a range of up to 25 km. During the September campaign, around 130 tanks of this type of all variants were used. The 7TP proved itself on the battlefields of September 1939 as an opponent towering over the German Pz.Kpfw I and II, and at least equal to the Pz.Kpfw III and IV. Technical data: weight 9.4-9.9t, engine power: 110HP, speed: 37km / h, armament (single turret version): 1 Bofors 37mm cannon, 1 machine gun wz. 30 cal. 7.92mm.