43M Turán III

The 43M Turán III or 44M Turán III was a Hungarian medium tank of World War II. It was based on the 41M Turán II medium tank but was equipped with a significantly larger turret and a much more powerful long-barreled 75 mm gun.

Development
By 1943, Hungarian tanks currently in production were becoming obsolete and struggling against more modern and well-armored Soviet tanks. The cannons of the Hungarian tanks were too weak and could not destroy the tough Soviet tanks they were encountering. To solve this problem, the Hungarians came up with several plans, including buying modern German tanks, developing the Zrínyi assault guns, and developing an indigenous heavy/medium tank – the 44M Tas. On top of trying to acquire new vehicles, the Hungarians also tried to upgrade their current tanks, developing their 41M Turán II medium tank further in an attempt to increase its firepower. This involved redesigning the turret and replacing the short-barreled 75 mm gun of the Turán II with the long-barreled and much more powerful 7.5 cm 43M tank gun. The armor was also improved, and the resulting tank became the Turán III.

Two 7.5 cm 43M tank guns were manufactured; these were built into the Turán III and the 44M Zrínyi I. The Hungarian 7.5 cm 43M was developed from the blueprints of the German 7.5 cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun. Being a heavily modified derivative that was converted into a tank gun, it is not a direct copy of the Pak 40.

The armor of the vehicle was reinforced to around 75-95 mm on the front of the turret and the hull, which further increased the weight and slowed the vehicle down compared to the earlier Turán variants.

Production
Two Turán III vehicles were produced, a prototype and a fully functioning vehicle for the trials. The Turán III with the actual turret was finished in February 1944. Mobility and firing tests were then carried out. However, no more 43M Turáns (Turán III or Turán 75 long) were constructed because of a lack of materials and the fact that after the Occupation of Hungary in March 1944, Germany did not allow further tank and gun production, and restricted Hungarian industry to only spare part manufacturing level. However, this was most likely circumvented in the case of the 44M Tas' development.

Service
After successful trials, the tank was accepted for service and designated as the 43M Turán. There are no records indicating if it did or did not serve in combat and the fate of the Turán III is unknown. Although it didn’t see combat, its successors did and for quite a while.