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LT vz. 34

1934 WORLD WAR 2

History

In 1930 Czechoslovakia acquired the local production rights (along with three working prototypes) from the UK for the Carden-Loyd Tankette, which was used to build the Tancik vz. 33 tanks (detailed elsewhere on this page), of which 4 prototypes were built before the 70 production vehicles. When the design, along with the Kaden-Lloyd example, failed to impress even the Czech Army authorities during testing, it was decided to develop a completely new indigenous light tank solution rather than trying to modify an existing tank design.

This gave engineers a neat approach and was able to introduce modern features such as a fully enclosed/fully movable turret for mounting the main gun armament - a quality early vz lacked. 33 vehicles.

Ceskomoravska Kolben-Danek (CKD) was established in 1927 with the task of designing new tanks, which lasted from 1932 to 1934. After a successful evaluation, production began during the latter period and continued until 1935, with 50 of the production cars becoming prototypes. The car weighs 8.3 tons (short) and has an overall length of 15 feet, a width of 6.9 feet, and a height of 7.3 feet.

Inside, Meise consists of a crew of 3 equipped with 37.2mm UVVz. 34 anti-tank guns (AT) and 2 x 7.92 mm ZB vz. 35 series machine guns. Power comes from a liquid-cooled Praga 4-cylinder engine with 62.5 hp.

The drivetrain allows for four forward gears and one reverse, and the suspension system is a leaf spring variant. Road speeds reach 20 miles per hour and range is up to 100 miles. Armor protection ranges from 8mm to 15mm thick.

50 cars arrived in scheduled batches - 6 of which were pre-production units to complete various design issues before full service, the vehicles were delivered in April 1934. This was followed by a batch of twenty-four and twenty cars, the last of which was received in August 1936.

Issues related to general quality control and overall design plague vz. 34 production stages and some models were sent back to the factory to correct their defects.

Once in service, vz. The 34 series was used as a tanker trainer while working in a more powerful form in the LT vz. 35 series of light tanks (LT vz. 34 was considered to lack the armor protection required against more modern threats). Hence, vz. 35 succeeded directly in vz.

The Series 34 was launched almost immediately after the introduction of the former.

With the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938, the conquerors took over 23 Czech vz. 34 tanks, but 18, were rescued from this fate by the Czechs and transferred to the newly formed Slovakian 3rd Tank Regiment.

Some of these were used in the Slovak uprising of 1944, which eventually captured some 27 light tanks under their banner.

vz. The 34 was primarily used as a training platform, and those who managed to see action did not perform well against more modern tank types and anti-tank solutions. As far as the Germans are concerned, there is little evidence that these tanks were used in actual battlefield roles, and it is believed that many were deliberately destroyed after being captured - considering the Germans preferred captured rebuilt enemy vehicles for police execution /Defense missions, this is a rare action to gain new territory.

The condition of the tanks may justify such a measure.