VII

Škoda T 17

Czechoslovakia·Light Tank·LT universal

After the end of World War II, the Czechoslovak Army had a motley fleet made up of Soviet, German, British, and American armored vehicles. This made it difficult to use the vehicles and to assign them to troops. The decision was made for Czechoslovakia to return to developing its own tanks, since the nation had a great deal of experience from before the war. Besides the development of medium tanks, projects for light ones were started too. In close cooperation with the Military Technical Institute, the Škoda construction bureau began work on the project for the Škoda T 17 tank. It had a hull and turret that were reminiscent of the Soviet IS-3 heavy tank. The vehicle was supposed to have decent armor for a light tank and a 75 mm gun. It was planned to install a more powerful, 500 h.p. engine, but for various reasons the project went no further than blueprints. Developing a medium tank became a priority.