44M Tas

44M Tas
44M Tas
Type	Medium / Heavy tank
Place of origin	Kingdom of Hungary
Service history
Used by	Kingdom of Hungary
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	Weiss Manfréd Works
Designed	1943
Manufacturer	Weiss Manfréd Works
Produced	1943–1944
No. built	2 prototypes (unfinished)
Specifications
Mass	38 tonnes (37 long tons; 42 short tons)
Length	9.2 m (30 ft 2 in) gun forward
Width	3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
Height	3 m (9 ft 10 in)
Crew	5 (commander, gunner, loader, driver, radio operator)
Armor	20–120 mm (0.79–4.72 in)
Main; armament	Intended production armament:; 1 × 80 mm 29/44M L/58 tank gun; Prototype armament:; 1 × 7.5 cm 43.M tank gun
Secondary; armament	2 × 8 mm Gebauer 1934/40A M machine gun
Engine	2 × 8 cylinder gasoline Weiss Manfréd Z-V8H-4; 2 × 260 hp (2 × 195 kW); for a total of 520 hp (390 kW)
Power/weight	13.68 hp/ton
Suspension	two-wheel leaf spring bogies with shock absorbers
Operational; range	200 km (120 mi)
Maximum speed	45 km/h (28 mph)

The 44M Tas was a Hungarian heavy tank/medium tank design of World War II. It was developed to combat heavily armored Soviet tanks encountered on the Eastern Front and to replace the older Turán I and Turán II tanks which Hungary operated, modernising Hungary's armoured forces. The Tas somewhat resembled the German Panther tank in terms of both looks and capabilities. It was to be well armored – up to 120 mm thick and with sloped armor. The main armament would likely have been a Hungarian built heavily modified anti-tank version of the 80 mm Bofors AA gun. The only prototypes built were destroyed when the Americans bombed the Weiss Manfréd factory in July 1944.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e For The Record website.
^ ^a ^b ^c Németh, Károly (18 May 2017). "44M Tas". Tank Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21 November 2022.

[FTR-1] For The Record website.

[:TE-2] Németh, Károly (18 May 2017). "44M Tas". Tank Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21 November 2022.

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