In service, tankettes were generally used for scout duties and infantry support functions, offering a cross-country capability and shock quality once fulfilled by cavalry units. World War 1 ended the reign of cavalry as a useful battlefield measure and the tankette fulfilled a niche role in most modern armies as secondary to the main armored fighting elements. However, some national powers were forced to rely on tankettes as primary frontline solutions simply due to cost.
There was never much faith instilled in the Tancik vz. 33 series design by some in the Czech Army ranks and this was proven some in exercises held from 1934 on. The driver was burdened by not only controlling the vehicle but also managing one of the two fitted machine guns. Accuracy was also reduced due to the herky-jerky nature of the vehicle's motion when on the move. Cross-country performance was lacking and situational awareness was deemed poor. Furthermore, the vehicles were completed without radio forcing crews to rely on hand signals or other visual means across a hectic and dangerous battlefield.
Nevertheless, the commitment to the new tankette had been made and the series was interspersed throughout the Czech Army inventory. First-use was in border control and national security. In 1938, the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia as the world watched and some forty of the tankettes are believed to have fallen to the conquerors who preceded to use them in second-line roles before the tankettes met their end on the scrap heap. Some of the original Czech stock also fell to the Slovakians in the middle of 1939 and were used later in the Slovak National Uprising of 1944. Beyond these instances, the tankettes did little during the war.
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