TKW or TKW-1 was a Polish prototype tankette from the interwar period. Vehicle prototypes were made in the period 1932-1935. The TKW was probably powered by a single 40hp Ford A engine. The vehicle is armed with a single wz.25 or wz.30 7.92 mm machinegun mounted in a rotating turret.
The TKW was a modification of the TK-3 tankette already in use in the Polish Army. The fundamental change consisted in placing the main armament in the rotating turret, which forced the reconstruction and modernization of the central part of the hull. Better optical equipment of the vehicle was also used. Besides - many TKW elements were similar to the TK-3 components. The creation of the TKW was determined by the desire to create a vehicle with greater combat properties and a much better angle of fire for machine guns. However, despite several years of work, no satisfactory results were achieved - the TKW turned out to be an overloaded vehicle, not ensuring proper communication between the crew members. For these reasons, work on it was canceled, and the tankettes in the Polish Army were to be replaced by the 4TP tank.
TKS is a Polish light tank (tankette) from the Second World War. The first prototypes of the vehicle were made in 1933, and serial production continued in the period 1934-1936, ending with the production of 280 copies of this vehicle. The TKS was powered by an engine Polish Fiat 122B with 46 HP. The vehicle was armed with one 7.92 mm Hotchkiss wz.25 machine gun or one of the heaviest wz. 38 FK-A with a caliber of 20 mm.
TKS was created as a modernization and development of the TK-3 vehicles. Compared to the original, the front part of the fuselage has been changed, a new engine with a little more power has been added, the armor has been strengthened - especially in the front part of the car, the running gear and electrical system have been modernized. The changes led to a virtually completely new vehicle. However, the existing weaponry, i.e. a single machine gun, was retained, and it was planned to be replaced with a 20 mm caliber weapon. However, the outbreak of war in 1939 thwarted these plans and only about 20-30 TKS were modernized in this way. Due to the large number of TKS produced by Polish standards, they were the basic element of the Polish armored forces during the September campaign in 1939. TKS tankettes were also exported to Estonia, and the copies obtained in 1939 were used by both the German and Soviet armies.
The TK-3 is a Polish light tank (tankette) from the Second World War. The first prototypes of the vehicle were created in 1930, and serial production continued in the period 1931-1933, ending with the production of about 300 copies of this vehicle. The TKS was powered by an engine Ford A with a power of 40 HP. The vehicle was armed with 1 Hotchkiss wz.25 machine gun, caliber 7.92 mm.
At the end of the 1920s, the Polish command, noticing the need for partial mechanization and motorization of the Polish Army, became interested in the Carden-Lloyd tankettes created by the Vickers-Armstrong concern. Several copies of these vehicles were purchased relatively quickly, on the basis of which own vehicles called TK-1 and TK-2 were developed. However, they did not meet the assumed parameters, and only after modernization, the TK-3 version appeared, which entered mass production in 1931. In the course of operation, the disadvantages of the design became apparent: first of all, the armor was too weak, the observation from the inside of the car was very difficult, and the engine was not efficient. These defects were later fixed on the TKS vehicle. Two experimental designs were created on the basis of the TK-3: the TKD vehicle (a self-propelled gun with a 47mm gun) and the TKW (a vehicle with a rotating turret), but neither of them entered mass production. Due to the large number of TK-3s produced by Polish standards, they were one of the basic elements of the Polish armored forces during the September campaign in 1939. Cars of this type also took part in the capture of Zaolzie in 1938.