Polish 7TP light tank - Paperback

by Luca Stefano Cristini (Author)

Between 1932 and 1933, Poland acquired its first batch of 16 double-turret tanks (Model A) and 22 single-turret tanks (Model B) of the British Vickers Mk E, manufactured by the Vickers company. The double-turret variants were equipped with two Ckm wz. 25 Hotchkiss 7.92 mm machine guns, while the single-turret versions featured a 47 mm cannon alongside a Browning wz. 30 7.92 mm machine gun. Following a series of standard tests, the technical department of PZI, responding to military demands, initiated the VAU-33 (Vickers-Armstrong-Ursus 33) program. This project aimed to develop new single- and double-turret tanks inspired by the design of the Vickers Mk E Model A.

Polish soldiers informally referred to these two versions as "dw" and "jw," abbreviations of the Polish terms dwuwieżowy (double turret) and jednowieżowy (single turret). Initially, the double-turret model was the standard, but over time, both configurations became widely known as the 7TP. This transition marked the evolution of the British design into a distinctly Polish tank.