44M Tas

The 44M Tas was a planned Hungarian medium tank design of World War II. Developed by the Ganz Works, it was intended to replace the earlier 40M Turán series. The design was heavily influenced by the German Panther tank, incorporating sloped armor and a powerful 75mm or 80mm gun.

The Tas aimed to address the Turán's shortcomings in firepower and protection against increasingly effective Soviet armor. While a prototype chassis was completed, the tank never entered mass production due to the Allied bombing campaign and the overall deterioration of Hungary's wartime industrial capacity. The planned armament included a 75mm 43.M gun or an 80mm 44.M gun, both intended to provide superior anti-tank capabilities. The thickest point of the frontal armor was to be around 120mm.

The project was ultimately cancelled, and no complete Tas tanks were ever deployed in combat. The prototype chassis was reportedly destroyed during the Soviet siege of Budapest in 1945. The 44M Tas represents a significant attempt by Hungary to modernize its armored forces and keep pace with the rapidly evolving tank technology of the Second World War, although resource limitations ultimately prevented its realization.