10TP

10TP
The Polish light cruiser tank 10TP.
Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	Poland
Service history
In service	1938-1939 (prototype)
Used by	Polish Army
Specifications ()
Weight	12.8 t
Length	5.4 m
Width	2.55 m
Height	2.2 m
Crew	4
Armor	Hull: front, sides, back: 20mm, bottom and top: 8 mm Turret: front and sides: 16mm
Main armament	1x37 mm Bofors wz. 36
Secondary armament	2x7.92 mm Ckm wz.30
Engine	12 cylinder American La France engine 210 (actual)/240 (stated) HP
Transmission	5 gear mechanical gearbox
Suspension	Christie
Ground clearance	40 cm
Fuel capacity	130 l
Operational range	On-road range:210 km Off-road range:130 km
Speed	50-75 km/h

Hull: front, sides, back: 20mm, bottom and top: 8 mm

On-road range:210 km

The 10TP was a Polish light cruiser tank that never left the prototype status. While advancing the Polish armour development programme, the prototype was deemed unsuccessful. Discoveries made during testing that led to the design phase of the newer 14TP model, which was never completed due to the onset of World War II.

The 10TP prototype itself was of an original design implementing some general ideas suggested by John Walter Christie but also many new technical solutions.

At the end of the 1920s, the Polish Armed Forces felt that they needed a new tank model. The Military Institute of Engineering Research (Wojskowy Instytut Badań Inżynierii, WIBI) sent Captain Ruciński to the United States to legally acquire a Christie M1928 tank, its blueprint and license. The tank was to be used as a base for a new Polish light tank. The Poles however never received the machine and Christie fearing legal charges, refunded the purchase.

Due to this failure to purchase the master model and the possible license, at the end of 1930 the WIBI Tank Design Bureau began preliminary design work on their own wheeled/tracked tank, based on the Christie M1928 and Christie M1931 models, known under the working name "A la Christie".

The work was based on available data and advertising leaflets as well as notes and sketches that Captain Ruciński obtained from Christie. In 1932 the design drawings and a list of details were ready but soon the work slowed down because the designers were put in charge of a just-bought British Vickers Mark E tank that led to the 7TP light tank which was developed soon after.

At the end of 1934, because of the liquidation of WIBI and establishing of the Design and Testing Centre of the Armoured Forces reporting directly to the Armoured Forces Command, most of the "A la Christie" project documentation was destroyed under the supervision of a special commission. Only a few hand-written notes and calculations were left.