Type Medium / Heavy tank Used by Kingdom of Hungary Designer Manfred Weiss Works | Place of origin Kingdom of Hungary Wars World War II Designed 1943 | |
The 44M Tas was a Hungarian medium/heavy tank design of World War II. The only prototype built was destroyed when the Manfred Weiss factory was bombed in 1944.
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Design
Designed as a cheaper and home-made alternative to German-built Panthers in 1943, a sole mild steel prototype was built by the Manfred Weiss factory. When the factory was bombed by American aircraft on 27 July 1944, both the factory and the prototype were destroyed and no further production followed.
Like its German counterpart, the 44M Tas was to be armed with the powerful and modern 7.5 cm KwK 42 anti-tank gun. It also shared a similar layout and suspension, with six road wheels on semi-elliptical springs. As the Germans were unwilling to offer their Hungarian allies the powerful Maybach HL230 engine, the 44M Tas was powered by two 260 hp gasoline-powered "Manfred Weiss-Z" engines, identical to those already in production for the 40M Turán I tank.
Related development
In parallel to the 44M tank, development of the 44M Tas Rohamlöveg tank destroyer was started; this vehicle shared most of the new tank's elements.