The Carden Loyd tankette came about from an idea started, as a private project, by the British military engineer and tank strategist Major Giffard LeQuesne Martel.

Considered a reconnaissance vehicle and a mobile machine gun position, the Mark VI was the final stage of development of the Carden Loyd series of tankettes.

Czechoslovakia also bought three Mark VI tankettes in 1930 with a licence, and then improved the design, producing 74 Tančík vz.

The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) bought six Mark VIb tankettes from the UK, along with some French Renault UE Chenillette vehicles and field tested them.

[1] The IJA determined that the British and French vehicles were too small to be practical, and started planning for a larger version, the Tokushu Keninsha (TK, meaning "Special Tractor"), which developed into its own Type 94 Te Ke.

[1] Carden Loyd tankettes were operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Land Forces in Shanghai[2] and designated the Type Ka Machine Gun Car (カ式機銃車, Ka-shiki Kijūsha).

Carden Loyd Tankettes were also supplied in small numbers to France, India, Italy, Latvia (18 Mk.s IV in 1935),[3] the Netherlands (5), and Siam.

After experimenting with a rather straightforward tractor concept for the Belgian 47 mm Model 1931 anti-tank gun in 1931[9][failed verification], a more integrated approach was chosen, resulting in what has probably been the heaviest armed version of the Carden Loyd Mk VI tankette.

Pre-production tests of the 76 mm-equipped version found that the large recoil caused a high pitch movement after firing, leading to a completely unstable gun-laying platform.

They were still in use when the Battle of Belgium started in May 1940, albeit from fixed, ambush positions on the west-bank of the river Meuse (Maas) between Vivegnis and Lixhe.

[10] Due to the suspension design, riding the tankette for 10–20 minutes cross-country caused a headache, while longer journeys often resulted in motion sickness and physical exhaustion.

Vivian Loyd, who visited Warsaw during the TK's development, called its suspension the best of all vehicles based on his original idea.