Tanks of The Interwar Period - Others

Others

Many other nations that desired tanks could not design or build their own. The 1920s and 1930s saw a widespread export business as smaller or less-industrialized nations purchased tanks abroad. Sometimes, the import of foreign tanks led to the birth of a tank industry in the importing nation.

Poland imported the British Vickers Six-Ton tank and began production of improved models. The pinnacle of this improvement program was the 7TP, which featured a diesel engine and 37 mm gun. Poland also produced the TKS series of tankettes, similar in concept to the Vickers-Carden-Lloyd machinegun carriers of Britain and the UE of France. These vehicles had two-man crews, thin armor, and a single ball-mounted light machinegun.

Czechoslovakia produced several light tanks. In general the Czech designs were very reliable mechanically and comparable in combat value to other light tanks. The CKD tankette was armed with two machineguns and was used in combat in WWII on the Eastern Front. The Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) was a light tank with a 37 mm gun and two machineguns. 434 were built before the Czechoslovak army was disbanded; production continued after the German occupation. The tank was taken into German service and used in the Battle of France and on the Eastern Front crewed by German, Slovakian and Romanian units. The more advanced Panzer 38(t) light tank was also used in great numbers by other powers. Almost one-quarter of the tanks used by Germany in Operation Barbarossa were of Czech manufacture. Both of these vehicles were used as substitutes for the Panzer III but were not its equal. The 38(t), in particular, formed the basis for several important self-propelled guns.

Turkey imported Soviet T-26 and a few T-28 tanks but did not begin series production of any tank.

Sweden's Landsverk firm designed several advanced light tanks, including the 20 mm armed L-60, which also had welded construction and some sloped armor. The L-60 was adopted as the Toldi light tank by Hungary. With its 20 mm gun it was roughly comparable to the German Panzer II or Soviet T-60. The L-60 was also the chassis on which the Landsverk L-62 self-propelled 40 mm anti-aircraft gun was built. Although designed as tank destroyer, the vehicle saw service with Hungarian forces on the Eastern Front as a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun under the name Nimrod. Six were used by Finland after 1942.

Hungary produced the Toldi as well as a medium tank, the Turan. The Turan I was based on an enlarged Czech 35(t) suspension, had rivetted construction, and a 40 mm gun. The later Turan II had a 75 mm gun. During WWII these tanks were supplemented by several dozen imported German vehicles.

Latvia and Lithuania imported a few light vehicles such as Vickers-Carden-Lloyd tankettes, FT-17s, and Six-Tonners.

Romania imported some R-35 light tanks from France, as well as some Panzer 35(t)s.

Italy imported the French FT-17 and produced a slightly improved clone, the Fiat 3000. A native Italian design was the L6/40, a very small light tank with a 20 mm Breda cannon and rivetted construction. A better light tank, based on the Vickers Six-Tonner, was the M-11-M13 series. This tank had a very good 47 mm gun, but very thin armor. Italy also produced a large number of CV-33 and CV-35 tankettes based on the Vickers-Carden-Lloyd concept.

In Latin America, the first war where the tank was employed was the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay, in which the former used a small number of British-built tanks and tankettes, whereas the latter had no tanks at all.