38M Toldi


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

Production history

The 38M Toldi was produced and developed by Hungarian engineers after the army bought the license of the main base hull and turret from Swedish company AB Landsverk between 1939 and 1942. 202 were produced.

Variants

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 effective against Soviet light tanks widespread during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, such as the obsolete T-26 and BT-5. However it was totally inadequate against the Soviet T-34 medium tanks encountered widespread during the later stages of the war on the Eastern Front.

Survivors

Two known surviving 38M Toldi tanks are preserved on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum.