Pc.KTr.37 Tas
| Pc.KTr.37 Tas | |
|---|---|
 An early prototype of the Tas Tank | |
| Type | Medium tank |
| Place of origin | Granzery |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Granzery |
| Wars | Second Great War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Werner Kraftwerke Iparag |
| Designed | 1941-1943 |
| Manufacturer | Werner Kraftwerke Iparag |
| Produced | 1943–1947 |
| Number built | About 11,000 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 38 tonnes (37 long tons; 42 short tons) |
| Length | 9.2 metres (30 ft 2 in) gun forward |
| Width | 3.5 metres (11 ft 6 in) |
| Height | 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) |
| Crew | 5 |
| Armor | 50–120 mm (2.0–4.7 in) |
| Main armament |
1 × 76mm PL 43M tank gun |
| Secondary armament |
2 × 34/40A M 8 mm machine gun |
| Engine | 2 x gasoline WKW-Z 520 hp (390 kW) 2 x 260 hp (2 x 195 kW) |
| Power/weight | 13.68 hp/ton |
| Operational range |
200 km (120 mi) |
| Speed | 45 km/h (28 mph) |
The Pc.KTr.37 Tas was a Granzerian medium tank design of the Second Great War. It was developed to counter contemporary Stasnovan and Gorbatovic tanks such as the T-34 which outperformed most Granzerian armour of the time. Until 1944 it was also the heaviest armoured vehicle in the Granzerian arsenal, and often filled the role of a heavy tank prior to the introduction of the Pc.KTr. 68. It was considered one of the best medium tanks of the war, alongside its very similar Elesarian counterpart, the Pantera.
Although both the Tas and Pantera were loosely based on the same initial joint Granzo-Elesarian prototype from 1938, known in Granzerian nomenclature as the WK-1701. The Tas was vastly different both in terms of armour, armament and internal design, retaining only a loose external resemblance to the Pantera. The Tas incorporated the PL 43M main gun, a licence production of the Tennish Gu-1B tank gun, with greater penetrative and high explosive properties compared to the 76 and 75mm guns used by its counterparts.
Design[edit]
In 1941 Granzery already realized that its tank productions were mostly obsolete and had little chance of survival against Stasnovan medium tanks. To solve the problem, a number of stopgap measures were immediately taken to rectify the issue, including the introduction of the long-barrelled Sárközy III medium tank and Ppsz 216 tank destroyers, which would be capable of matching modern Stasnovan armour. The abandoned joint Granzo-Elesarian WK-1701 project was separately restarted at this same time and the Institute of Military Technology (KTI) began work on a new medium tank incorporating the sloped armour of the T-34 with the upgraded engine and drivetrain of the WK-1701. Although this project was ultimately scrapped later that year, the efforts would go on to inspire both the Elesarian Pantera and Granzerian Tas.
In test trials the Tennish Gu-1B 76.2mm gun was tested against both Elesarian 7.5cm and Granzerian 80mm tank guns, and was found to be the most effective at dealing with sloped armour and would be capable of defeating all but the heaviest tanks in the Stasnovan or Vazandian arsenal. Other changes compared to the Pantera included marginally thicker armour with a more extreme sloping angle, greatly increasing its effective armour thickness. These changes were primarily to compensate for the Granzerian lack of heavy tank designs, and would allow the Tas to perform the role of a heavy tank if the situation demanded it.
Rohamlöveg 38[edit]
The Chassis of the Tas was also used to mount the 76.2mm tank gun in a turretless tank destroyer/assault gun, called the Rohamlöveg 38, this was intended to help deal with the growing threat of Vazandian and Stasnovan armour.