Turan I/II Tank

In 1939 Hungary was searching for a medium tank which they could manufacture under license. Škoda offered the Hungarians the S-IIc, a design they had been working on and with further refinements the design become to be known as the T-22.

Shown to the Hungarians in May 1940, an agreement was reach between the two parties in August 1940, but before going into production the Czech design went through a series of modifications. These modifications included the alteration of the original two-man turret into a three-man turret and the installation of a Hungarian built engine.

Armed with the 40mm 41M gun which fired the same ammunition as the 40mm 37M Bofors Anti-aircraft gun and two 8mm 34/40M machine-guns, the first prototype of the Turán I was completed in August 1941 and went into production in October that same year.

Delivering to the troops begun in the beginning of 1942 and they were used to equip the 1. and 2. Armored divisions and the 1. Cavalry division in 1942-43. However, the Turán I was hopelessly outclasses by the Soviet T-34 and it was concluded that a minimum main armament of at least 75mm in caliber was needed.

Such a version of the Turán was on the drawing board as early as 1941 and was originally intended as a support vehicle to the Turán I. Armed with the short-barreled 75mm 41M gun, the new design become known as the Turán II.
The Turán I and II continued to see heavy fighting during 1944 despite their inferiority to Soviet armor of the time. Regardless of this fact, the chassis of the Turán was used in the design of the Zrínyi II Assault gun and was the basis of a design intended to mount the 75mm gun of the German Panther.