Early Armor in Alcovia

The late Alcovian King Ilya Chubakov (1847-1920) and his heirs Ilya II, Ukko and Ullo were known for their fondness for armored vehicles. Ever since Ilya I saw their birth in Great War it had become his dream to one day hear the rumble and rattle of armored might crawling across Alcovia towards her enemies. Unfortunately, financial strife and a low technological base hampered Ilya's dreams beyond a few surplus German tanks, but it was a dream that burned on in his sons Ukko and Ullo.

In 1922, Prince Ukko, working with a conglomerate of Alcovian and Elistonian businessmen and a number of foreign investors, gambled on an enterprise to acquire several copies of foreign tanks for study by Alcovian engineers. The intent was to determine what designs were within the realm of possibility for the small nation both economically and technologically. If designs could be found that were within Alcovia's means, Ukko intended to begin production, either licensed or illegally, for the purposes of both national defense and export.

After considering several designs, Ukko's agents settled upon the now quite common FT-17 as a standard tank for use by the Alcovian military. The FT-17 was a widely used tank and Ukko figured that it would be nearly impossible for Alcovia to be cut off from supplies of parts and new vehicles until it was able to produce on its own. FT-17s were imported from a number of sources including France and Poland and were designated the TA22 for Tankovya Alcovia, Model 1922. In total, 35 of these tanks were initially imported.

By 1924, Alcovia had two factories manufacturing TA22s in both their original and the new TA22/24 which was a new version with more horsepower. In total, 54 TA22s and 32 TA22/24 tanks were built before the Royal Armories developed newer vehicles to phase out the FT-17 derived tanks. TA22s were never completely abandoned and continued in service into the 1940s in reserve roles.