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PanzerKampfwagen 35(t) / LT vs 35

The Panzerkampfwagen 35(t), commonly shortened to Panzer 35(t) or abbreviated as Pz.Kpfw. 35(t), was a Czechoslovak-designed light tank used mainly by Nazi Germany during World War II. The letter (t) stood for tschechisch (German: "Czech"). In Czechoslovak service, it had the formal designation Lehký tank vzor 35 (Light Tank Model 35), but was commonly referred to as the LT vz. 35 or LT-35.

A total of 434 were built; of these, the Germans seized 244 when they occupied Bohemia-Moravia in March 1939 and the Slovaks acquired 52 when they declared independence from Czechoslovakia at the same time. Others were exported to Bulgaria and Romania. In German service, it saw combat during the early years of World War II, notably the Invasion of Poland, the Battle of France and the invasion of the Soviet Union before being retired or sold off in 1942. It was used for the remainder of the war by other countries and as a training tank in Bulgaria into the 1950s.

In October 1934 the Czechoslovak army ordered two prototypes of a medium wagon called S-11-a (or T-11), whose construction was completed the following year. In June 1935 the evaluative tests began at the departments and many defects were found, due to the hasty development of the vehicle. Without waiting for the defects to be eliminated, a first batch of 160 vehicles was ordered in October 1935; the first five copies were delivered the following year, but many defects were found that the vehicles were returned to Skoda for the appropriate modifications. An additional batch of 138 vehicles was ordered for the Czechoslovak army, which baptized the LT vs 35 wagon while Romania ordered 126 under the R-2 designation. Most of the defects were gradually eliminated and the vehicle acquired a good reputation.

The Germans took over the remaining vehicles, which they called Panzerkampfwagen 35 (t), and they built another 219 specifically for their army in the Skoda factory. At that time it was such a deficiency of wagons in the German army that the 6th armored division was provided with the PzKpfw 35 (t) just in time to participate in the invasion of France in 1940. These wagons remained in service until 1942, when most of them were converted to other roles: tractors for mortars (Mörserzugmittel), artillery tractors (Zugkraftwagen), vehicles for maintenance in tank battalions.

The hull of the wagon LT vs 35 consisted of riveted steel sheet steel whose thickness ranged from 12 mm to a maximum of 35 mm. The pilot's seat was at the front of the vehicle on the right, while to his left was the machine gunner who operated the 7.92 mm ZB vs 35 or 37 machine gun. The captain-gunner and the loader-radio operator were in the tower capable of accommodating two men installed at the center of the hull. The main armament was a 37.2 mm Skoda vs 34 cannon with a 7.92 mm ZB 35 or 37 machine gun mounted coaxially to the right. The ammunition of the on board ammunition was 72 shots of 37 mm and 1800 for the machine guns.

Engine and gearbox were in the back of the hull, the gearbox had six forward gears and one reverse gear. The suspensions consisted of each side in eight small supporting wheels (two per trolley); the driving wheel was behind and that of returning forward; there were also four guiding rollers. Unusual feature, the gearbox and steering assembly were served by a compressed air device to reduce pilot fatigue, which allowed the wagon to travel long distances at high speed. These systems had drawbacks when the wagons were used on the eastern front, due to the very low local temperatures.

The LT vz 35 was a light Czechoslovak tank, later used also by the Werhmacht with the name of Panzerkampfwagen 35 (t) ( PzKpfw 35 (t) ) or more commonly Panzer 35 (t). In the period between the two world wars in the new Czechoslovak nation grew a cutting-edge military industry, able to design and implement in a completely independent light and medium tanks. In October 1934, the Czechoslovak army requested the Skoda workshops to develop a new medium-light tank model; the vehicle, initially called S-11-a and based on a previous Škoda study for an 8-ton wagon, was built in two prototypes the following year. Practical tests showed that the vehicle was far from being ready for production and that it needed many modifications and improvements, yet already in October 1935 it was ordered a first batch of 160 specimens ] ; the rush to put the new wagon into production was motivated by the concern aroused in Czechoslovakia by the neighbor's new chancellor Adolf Hitler, who made no secret of his sympathies for the German minority present in the country.

The first vehicles began to be delivered in July 1936, officially denominated LT vz. 35 (abbreviation for "light wagon, model 1935"). In November 1937, a second batch of 103 vehicles was ordered, followed by a third of 35 units in 938; in the meantime the Romanian army had also shown interest in the Czech wagon, and in August 1936 issued an order for 126 wagons, called R-2 and delivered from May 1937. Ten more units, ordered by the Afghan government in 1938 with the name of T-11 (and equipped with an improved main armament), were diverted to the Bulgarian army the following year on the orders of the new German occupants (in this country they remained in service until 1950). The latter also ordered, after the occupation of Czechoslovakia, 219 vehicles, while before the war among the buyers figured, in addition to those already mentioned, also Austria, Hungary, Latvia, Peru, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.

The Romanian army also developed an R-2, called TACAM ( tun anticar pe afet mobil in Romanian). The studies, begun in mid-1943 and directed by Lt. Col. Constantin Ghiulai, led to the construction of a prototype that was ready on October 24th, and was immediately tested in the surroundings of the city ofSuditti. In February 1944, 40 were ordered, but only 20, in addition to the prototype, could leave the factory Leonida, because many technical problems arose.

The vehicle failed to enter service before the Soviets conquered the country, so the TACAM was eventually used against the Germans by the Red Army military.

The weaponry consisted of a M1936 or M1942 cannon, both captured in the Red Army and 76.2 mm, mounted in an open, slightly armored structure above the hull, in place of the turret. There were no other technical changes, and the transportable projectiles were thirty. The total weight amounted to 11,500 kg, road autonomy was 190 km and the maximum speed of 34 km / h. Due to the scarcity of Soviet munitions, Romania produced its own projectiles to equip the vehicle, capable of destroying a T-34/85 at 600 m distance.

The 8 cm PaK 43 /41 L / 70 or the local 75 mm model 1943, but in practice these ideas found no application. Rather, the TACAM was also produced based on the Soviet tankT-60, giving life to the TACAM T-60 , manufactured in about 35 specimens during 1943 and used to counter the invasion of Stalin's troops in 1944. Tests were also conducted with T-26 tanks and BT. Hungary bought two LT vz 35 in 1940 to develop from them a new medium tank, which will be called S-IIc (T-22) .

Starting from 1942, and until 1944, the Turan I (40M) was produced , derived from the T-22 and armed with a 40mm L / 51 cannon, followed in 1943 by the Turan II (41M) , equipped with a cannon from 75 mm L / 25, and in 1944 from the Turan III, which however remained only a prototype and would have had to mount a 75 mm L / 43 piece. The Zrinyi (40 / 43M) , an assault cannon produced since 1943, also came to life from these models.

From a technical point of view, for it time the LT vz.35 adopted valid and modern solutions, and possessed very good operational skills. The suspensions consisted of four carriages on each side, each with two small wheels; the carts were joined by groups of two, equipped with lamellar pack suspensions. To complete the rolling train there were four chainring wheels, one rear drive wheel and one front transmission wheel.

The armor was made up of almost vertical plates held together by rivets; the thickness ranged from a minimum of 8 mm to a maximum of 35 mm. The engine was a Škoda T-11 gasoline 120-horsepower, mounted rearward and combined with a gearbox with six forward and one forward gear. The gearshift and the steering were assisted by a compressed air servomechanism, which allowed an easy use and long distances (over 200 km a day) without fatigue of the pilot, but this system suffered numerous failures due to the low temperatures of the eastern front.

The crew consisted of three men: turret-gunner in the turret, pilot and machine gunner / radiophonist in the hull. The turret armament was made up of a 37.2 mm Škoda semi-automatic cannon type A3 vz. 34, one of the most effective weapons of the period, which was combined with a 7.92 mm coaxial type ZB vz machine gun. 35 (ZB vz.37 from 1938). Another identical machine gun was present in the front of the hull. The equipment was 72 shots for the main weapon, and 1,800 for the machine guns. The turret was equipped with a large dome for the gondola, which could observe the outside thanks to four armored periscopes. The radio was not common in armored vehicles of the 1930s but these vehicles were among the first to own it as standard equipment.

In terms of service, the vehicle was initially used by the Czechoslovakia, but after being annexed by the German side, it also entered into service in the Panzerwaffe, which used it very widely. Initially, almost all the vehicles already produced were met, while the subsequent production involved another 219 vehicles. 79 vehicles remained in the Czechoslovak army, which assigned them to the 3rd Quick Division, sent later to support the Germans on the Eastern Front, and some of them also took part in the Slovak national insecurity.

In the German army, they were assigned the name of PzKpfw 35 (t) (the "t" was to indicate tschechisch, "Czech" in German), the tanks received a fourth crew member, a servant in turret for the cannon, in order to reduce the workload for the crew. For a long time it was actually an important vehicle in service in the Panzerwaffe. At that time the shortage of armored vehicles was such that they were promptly turned over to the first Leichte-Division, which used them in the poland campaign, and at the 6 panzre division later, just in time for the 1940 spring campaign. The wagons proved to be valid, sufficiently armed and mobile, even if relatively modestly protected. They also participated in thebarbarous operation of 1941 against theUSSR, where however it turned out to be quite old-fashioned.

In 1942, the last 178 LT vz 35 were relegated to second-line service (police or anti-partisan operations) and used as artillery tractors. Some turrets were disassembled from the hull and used as coastal artillery in Denmark, Greece and Corsica.