In the pre-war period, Polish tank construction was developing along two lines. The first, somewhat influenced by the British school, was based on original technical solutions. The second was premised on French ideas—unsurprisingly, since the country was buying French tanks at the time.

After the outbreak of World War II, some Polish designers left for Britain where they continued their work. One of their projects was the SDP 44 Burza tank destroyer, which had features typical of British assault tanks and proposals for the introduction of advanced technical solutions. However, after a while, the project was closed in favor of the A39 (Tortoise) assault tank.