AH-IV
Sign in to saveThe AH-IV was a Czechoslovak-designed export armored fighting vehicle, classed as either a tankette or light tank, used by Romania during World War II, but having also been acquired by neutral Sweden and Iran. Modified AH-IV versions were built under license by Romania (R-1) and Sweden (Strv m/37). The Romanian vehicles saw action on the Eastern Front from Operation Barbarossa to the Vienna offensive. Twenty vehicles were sold after the war to Ethiopia, who used them until the 1980s.
Key facts
- Weapon.designer
- ČKD
- Weapon.name
- AH-IV
- Weapon.image
- AH-IV Czechoslovak tank original prototype.jpg
- Weapon.image_size
- 300
- Weapon.caption
- The original AH-IV prototype. It was different compared to the production vehicles of Romania, Sweden, etc., which had bigger turrets among other modifications.
- Weapon.origin
- Czechoslovakia
- Weapon.type
- Tankette/light tank
- Weapon.is_vehicle
- yes
- Weapon.service
- 1934−85?
- Weapon.used_by
- See users
- Weapon.wars
- World War II, Eritrean War of Independence, Ethiopian Civil War, Ogaden War, 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War
- Weapon.design_date
- 1935−37
- Weapon.manufacturer
- ČKD, Malaxa
- Weapon.production_date
- 1936−39, 1949−50
- Weapon.number
- 155 + 4 prototypes (Czechoslovakia)46 (Sweden, Strv m/37)1 (Romania, R-1)
- Weapon.variants
- R-1, RH, Strv m/37, AH-IV-Hb, TACAM R-1
- Weapon.spec_label
- Original AH-IV prototype
- Weapon.suspension
- leaf spring
via Wikipedia infobox
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
16 sectionsContents
- Description
- Variants
- Iran: RH (AH-IV-P)
- Romania: R-1 (AH-IV-R)
- Sweden: Strv m/37 (AH-IV-Sv)
- Ethiopia: AH-IV-Hb
- Operational history
- Iran
- Romania
- Sweden
- Ethiopia
- Users
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
The AH-IV was a Czechoslovak-designed export armored fighting vehicle, classed as either a tankette or light tank, used by Romania during World War II, but having also been acquired by neutral Sweden and Iran. Modified AH-IV versions were built under license by Romania (R-1) and Sweden (Strv m/37). The Romanian vehicles saw action on the Eastern Front from Operation Barbarossa to the Vienna offensive. Twenty vehicles were sold after the war to Ethiopia, who used them until the 1980s.
== Description == Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk (ČKD) was determined not to repeat the problems of its earlier Tančík vz. 33 tankette and gave the gunner a turret for better observation and all-around fields of fire for its new AH-IV tankette. It was assembled from a framework of steel "angle iron" beams, to which armor plates between thick were bolted. The driver sat on the right side using an observation port protected by bulletproof glass and an armored shutter. To his right was a small vision slit. Also to his right, in all models except the Swedish Strv m/37, was a Zbrojovka Brno ZB vz. 26 or ZB vz. 30 light machine gun that was usually locked in place and fired using a Bowden cable. The gunner sat on the left and manned a small turret fitted with a ZB vz. 35 or ZB vz. 37 machine gun in a ball mount. Most of the machine gun's barrel protruded from the mount and was protected by an armored trough. He had a large vision port to the right of the machine gun mount in the turret and a small vision slit on the left side of the superstructure. 3700 rounds were carried for the two machine guns. No radio was fitted on the AH-IV, though its Swedish version, the Stridsvagn m/37, carried a radio.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “AH-IV” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.