The Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) was one of two indigenous light tanks adopted by the German army when Germany occupied Czechoslovakia in 1938/39, the other being the excellent Pz.Kpfw. 38(t). Both these tanks equipped several German Panzer Divisions during the early months of World War Two, and were an important part of the German invasions of Poland in 1939, France and the Low Countries in 1940, and Russia in 1941. The Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) began as a project from Skoda to answer a requirement from the Czech Army for a light cavalry tank. Ceskomoravskâ Kolben-Danék (CKD) offered a small light tank, the P-ll-a, weighing 8.5 tonnes and having a maximum 16mm of armour. Skoda offered a heavier design based on their earlier SU design. It featured 25mm of armour and weighed 10.5 tonnes, and was of riveted construction. Frontal armour was 25mm on the hull and turret; side armour ranged from 15-16mm and rear armour from 15-19mm. The main gun was a 37mm L/40 Skoda A3 design that featured a "pepperpot" muzzle brake and could penetrate 37mm of armour at 100 meters and 31mm at 500 meters, enough to deal with most of the light and light-medium tanks of the mid-1930s. Secondary armament was two 7.92mm light machine guns, one in the driver's front plate and the other in the turret front. The turret-mounted MG could be locked to track with the main gun, or unlocked and aimed independently.
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