38M Toldi

38M Toldi
38M Toldi (Toldi I variant)
Type	Light tank
Place of origin	Kingdom of Hungary
Service history
Used by	Kingdom of Hungary
Wars	World War II
Production history
Produced	1939–1942
Number built	202
Variants	Toldi I, Toldi II, Toldi IIa, Toldi III
Specifications
Weight	Toldi I: 8.5 t Toldi IIa: 9.3 t
Length	4.75 m (15 ft 7 in)
Width	2.14 m (7 ft 0 in)
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Crew	3
Armour	Toldi I: 20 mm maximum Toldi II: 35 mm
Main armament	20 mm gun (Toldi I and Toldi II) 40 mm gun (Toldi IIa and Toldi III)
Secondary armament	1x 8 mm machine gun
Engine	Bussing-Nag V8 7.9 litres 155 bhp
Operational range	200 km (120 mi)
Speed	47 km/h (29 mph) on road

The 38M Toldi was a Hungarian light tank, based on the Swedish Landsverk L-60B tank. It was named after the 14th century Hungarian knight Miklós Toldi.

Production history

The 38M Toldi was produced and developed under license from Swedish company AB Landsverk between 1939 and 1942. Only 202 were produced.

Variants

• Toldi I (k.hk. A20) - first variant armed with 20 mm gun, 80 made.
• Toldi II (k.hk. B20) - variant with thicker front armour, 110 made.
• Toldi IIa (k.hk. B40) - modification developed in 1942, armed with 40 mm gun - 80 tanks of earlier variant were rearmed this way.
• Toldi III (k.hk. C40) - improved variant, only 12 made.

Combat history

Toldi tanks entered Hungarian service in 1940. They first saw action with the Hungarian Army against Yugoslavia in 1941.

These tanks were mostly used against the USSR between 1941 and 1944. Because of their light armour, armament and good communications equipment, they were mostly used for reconnaissance. The design was not effective in head-on engagements with Soviet T-34 medium tanks encountered during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa.

Survivors

Two known surviving 38M Toldi tanks (one Toldi I and one Toldi IIa) are preserved on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum.

See also

• Strv L-60
• List of armoured fighting vehicles

References

• War Is Over - Russian Army Database

External links

• Hungary's Toldi Tank at wwiivehicles.com