Leichter Kampfwagen II | |
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Type | Light tank |
Place of origin | Germany |
Specifications | |
Mass | 8.75 t |
Length | 5.1 m |
Width | 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) |
Height | 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) |
Crew | 3 |
Armor | 8-14 mm |
Main armament | 37mm Krupp/57mm Maxim-Nordenfelt |
Engine | Daimler-Benz 4-cylinder 60 hp (45 kW) |
Suspension | unsprung |
Operational range | 65–70 km (40–43 mi) |
Maximum speed | 14–18 km/h (8.7–11.2 mph) |
The Leichter Kampfwagen II ("light combat vehicle"), commonly known as the LK II, was a light tank designed and produced in limited numbers in Germany in the last year of World War I. A development of the LK I, it incorporated a fixed rear superstructure and had two distinct configurations; one variant being armed with the MG 08/15, and the other being armed with a 5.7 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt gun. Its armor was 8 to 14 mm thick, which led to a total weight of 8.75 tons. Power was provided by a Daimler-Benz Model 1910 4-cylinder 55-60 hp gasoline engine, giving a maximum speed of 14 to 18 km/h with range of 65–70 km.
The LK II was designed by German engineer and automobile designer Joseph Vollmer, who also designed the A7V, the K-Wagen and the LK I. Vollmer was appointed to the position of chief designer for the German War Department's motor vehicle section
Only two prototypes were produced by June 1918, and were followed by orders for 580 tanks, which were never completed.
Stridsvagn m/21-29 | |
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Type | Light tank |
Place of origin | Sweden |
Service history | |
In service | 1922-1939 |
Used by | Sweden |
Production history | |
Designer | AB Landsverk |
Manufacturer | AB Landsverk / NOHAB |
No. built | 10 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 9.7 short tons (8.8 t; 8.7 long tons) |
Length | 5.7 m (19 ft) |
Width | 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) |
Height | 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in) |
Crew | 4 |
Armor | 4-14 mm |
Main armament | 2x ksp m/14 (Stridsvagn m/21), 2x ksp m/14-29 (Stridsvagn m/21/29) |
Engine | Benz 1910 (Stridsvagn m/21), Scania 1554 (Stridsvagn m/21-29) 55 hp, 85 hp |
Maximum speed | 16 to 18 km/h (9.9 to 11.2 mph) |
After the war, the Swedish government bought parts for 10 examples in secrecy for 200,000 Swedish kronor. The parts were shipped under the pretence of being boiler plates and agricultural equipment and then assembled in Sweden as the Stridsvagn m/21 (Strv m/21 for short), which was essentially an improved version of the LK II prototype. The Strv m/21 was powered by a sleeve valve engine located in the front, the driver and crew being in the rear. The suspension and running gear was protected by armored skirts. Ten of these tanks were built, their armament a single 6.5 mm (0.26 in) Schwarzlose machine gun. [1]
In 1929, five were rebuilt to create the Strv m/21-29 variant which was armed with a 37mm gun or two machine guns and was powered by a Scania-Vabis engine. The Strv m/21-29 was an upgraded version of the fm/21. The modifications included a more powerful engine, a new alternator, and external lighting. [2] One of these improved vehicles was driven by Heinz Guderian during a visit to Sweden in 1929.
The Germans later bought a main share of the Landsverk Company and made Otto Merker the main designer and in 1931, it produced the Strv m/31 (L-10), which was the first tank produced in Sweden.
The Strv m/21-29 remained in service until 1938. A surviving example can be seen at the Deutsches Panzermuseum at Munster, Germany, and both strv m/21 and strv m/21-29 was displayed at the Axvall Tank Museum in Sweden.
One Strv m/21-29 is in the early stages of being restored to full working order in Sweden. As of 2018, the tank has been restored to running condition, and is now on display at the sv:Försvarsfordonsmuseet Arsenalen in Strängnäs. [3]
The Panzerkampfwagen 38(t), originally known as the ČKD LT vz. 38, was a tank designed during the 1930s, which saw extensive service during World War II. Developed in Czechoslovakia by ČKD, the type was adopted by Nazi Germany following the annexation of Czechoslovakia. With the German Army and other Axis forces, the type saw service in the invasions of Poland, France and the USSR. Production ended in 1942, when its main armament was deemed inadequate. In all, over 1,400 Pz. 38(t)s were manufactured. The chassis of the Pz. 38(t) continued to be produced for the Marder III (1942–1944) with some of its components used in the later Jagdpanzer 38 (1944–1945) tank destroyer and its derivative vehicles.
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The Centurion was the primary British Army main battle tank of the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is widely considered to be one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing combat into the 1980s. The chassis was adapted for several other roles, and these variants have remained in service. It was a very popular tank with good armour, mobility, and a powerful main armament.
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Stridsvagn 74 was a Swedish light tank in use with the Swedish Army from 1958 to 1984. It was a modification of the older stridsvagn m/42 medium tank, which was phased out of service in the early 1950s. Instead of scrapping the vehicles altogether, the chassis were used to build a new tank which could be used as a supplement to the newly bought stridsvagn 81. The turret of the strv 74 was completely new, with a 75 mm high-velocity gun based on an older anti-aircraft gun Bofors 75 mm Model 1929, engines and transmission were modified or changed from the strv m/42, wider tracks and a separate electrical motor for turret traverse was introduced while retaining manual traverse as a backup.
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Stridsvagn m/42 was a Swedish medium tank in service in the World War II period. Known by its manufacturer AB Landsverk as Lago II-III-IV, it fielded a 75 mm L/31 gun, the first of its size in a Swedish tank. It entered service with the Swedish Army in April 1943. Modern in design and mobile, a total of 282 were produced.
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The AH-IV was a Czechoslovak-designed export armored fighting vehicle, classed as either a tankette or light tank, used by Romania during World War II, but having also been acquired by neutral Sweden and Iran. Modified AH-IV versions were built under license by Romania (R-1) and Sweden. The Romanian vehicles saw action on the Eastern Front from Operation Barbarossa to the Vienna offensive. Twenty vehicles were sold after the war to Ethiopia, who used them until the 1980s.
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This article deals with the history of tanks employed by military forces in Czechoslovakia from the interwar period, and the more conventional tanks designed for the Czechoslovak Army before World War II, and the tanks that ended up as Panzers of the German Wehrmacht during World War II, or in the use of other countries who purchased them before the war began.
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The Pansarvärnskanonvagn m/43 was a tank destroyer developed by Landsverk.
Landsverk L-30 was a Swedish late interwar era medium tank constructed by AB Landsverk for the Swedish Army between 1930 and 1935, featuring welded armour joints and a "wheel-cum-track system", allowing for interchangeable wheeled and tracked propulsion.