Since 1937, the Swedish army had been interested in the Czechoslovakian TNH tank. In March 1940, some 90 tanks were ordered from ČKD. They were never delivered as Germany, which had occupied Czechoslovakia in 1938, took them for its coming campaign in the East. After negotiations with the German authorities, Scania-Vabis were allowed to build their own tanks under license, as compensation for the seized TNH tanks.
Production history
In June 1941, 116 Stridsvagn m/41 SI were ordered. These were delivered from December 1942 - August 1943. The Stridsvagn m/41 was of rivetted construction which made manufacture easier. As with the preceding Strv m/38-Strv m/40, it was armed with a 37 mm Bofors m/38 gun, and the first batch had the same engine as the Strv m/40L, the Scania-Vabis type 1664.
In June 1942, a further 122 Stridsvagn m/41 were ordered under the designation Strv m/41 SII. These had thicker frontal armor and Scania's new type L 603 engine. The first SII vehicles were delivered in October 1943. The last 16 of the 122 ordered were rebuilt as assault guns (Sav m/43) and production of SII ceased in March 1944 after 106 vehicles had been delivered.
Service
The SI tanks were located to P3 regiment in Strängnäs, where they equipped the 10th Armored Brigade's light tank companies. The SII tanks were mainly located to the 9th Armored Brigade at P4 regiment in Skövde, while others belonged to the reserve of the P2 and P3 regiments. They were painted in a three-color camouflage.
Stridsvagn m/41 were used until the late 1950s, when they were rebuilt to APCs under the designation Pbv 301. The turrets of these tanks were used on fortifications.
All of the original m/41 were converted to armoured personnel carriers. A Sav m/43 rebuilt as a m/41 is displayed by the "Sveriges Försvarsfordonsmuseum Arsenalen" in Strängnäs.
Variants
From left to right the Pvkv IV, Pvkv III and Pvkv II.
A tank gun designated the 57 mm Pvkan m/43 was mounted in a large square open-topped turret on the chassis of the Strv m/41 and given the designation Pansarvärnskanonvagn III (Armor defense cannon car), or Pvkv III for short. The Pvkv III was a tank destroyer and the related Pansarvärnskanonvagn II, or Pvkv II for short used the same turret and chassis but was armed with a lvkan m/37 A 75 mm gun.
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.
The Stridsvagn 103, also known as the Alternative S and S-tank, is a Swedish post-World War II main battle tank, designed and manufactured in Sweden. "Strv" is the Swedish military abbreviation of stridsvagn, Swedish for chariot and tank, while the 103 comes from being the third tank in Swedish service to be equipped with a 10 cm gun.
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, manoeuvrability, and armament.
The Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun was an anti-tank gun designed by Swedish manufacturer Bofors in the early 1930s originally for Swedish use. It was exported to several countries during the 1930s of which several bought licences to produce it themselves. The gun was used in several conflicts but most of its fame comes from its use in the Spanish Civil War and the Winter War where it was used very successfully against light tanks and armored cars among other targets. Beyond its use as an infantry gun it was also used as the main armament in several armored cars and tanks such as the Dutch M39 Pantserwagen and the Polish 7TP to name a few. As the armor of tanks was increased during World War II the gun very quickly became obsolete as an anti-tank gun but was still used effectively as an infantry support gun for the entirety of the war, and well into the Cold War. This was due to its high fire rate, great mobility and effective high explosive shells.
The Pansarbil m/39 and Pansarbil m/40 were Swedish 4x4 armoured cars of World War II.
Stridsvagn 74 was a Swedish tank in use with the Swedish Army from 1958 to 1984. It was a modification of the older Stridsvagn m/42, 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 old anti-aircraft gun, 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.
The Landsverk L-180, L-181 and L-182 are a family of armored cars developed by the Swedish company AB Landsverk during the interwar years. They had a good international reputation for being fast, robust and reliable and were acquired in small numbers by Denmark, Estonia, Ireland and the Netherlands, among others.
The Leichter Kampfwagen II, 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.
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.
The Landsverk L-60 was a Swedish tank developed in 1934. It was developed by AB Landsverk as a light tank which included several advanced design features such as torsion bar suspension, periscopes rather than view slits and all-welded construction.
Stridsvagn m/37 was a Swedish-built version of the Czechoslovak ČKD AH-IV tankette.
Terrängbil m/42 KP, meaning "terrain car m/42 KP", colloquially known as "KP-car", was a Swedish infantry fighting vehicle developed during World War II. It is at its core a flatbed truck with 4 wheel drive for off-road driving, fitted with an armoured body elongated over and around the bed with a troop transport compartment behind the cabin for a panzergrenadier squad of 16.
Stridsvagn m/31 was a Swedish World War II era light tank built by AB Landsverk. It was armed with a 37 mm Bofors gun and a coaxial 6.5mm Ksp m/14-29 machine gun, and was equipped with 8–24 mm armor. The tank had advanced design features such as an all-welded construction and used periscopes for visibility rather than view slits. Only three were built and, despite being highly advanced when World War II broke out, they were dug in as static bunkers.
Stormartillerivagn m/43 was an assault gun based on Stridsvagn m/41 SII chassis, a Swedish development of a license-built Czechoslovak TNH medium tank. The Sav m/43 was first armed with a 75 mm gun; later they were rearmed with a 105 mm m/44 gun.
Emil, also known as the Kranvagn, KRV or Emil Olsson was a heavy tank developed secretly in Sweden during the early 1950s; Kranvagn, meaning mobile crane was a cover-name. The intention was to replace the Swedish Army's disparate tank fleet with a tank that could counter the Soviet IS series heavy tanks and be upgraded continuously. The initial design, in 1950, proposed mounting a 10.5 cm autoloader in an oscillating turret. Due to its size, weight and power to weight it was considered by many to be more of a medium tank than a heavy tank.
This article deals with the history and development of tanks employed by the military of Sweden, from the interwar period, and World War II, the Cold War and modern era.
The Pansarvärnskanonvagn m/43 was a tank destroyer developed by Landsverk.
The Bofors 57 mm anti-tank gun was an anti-tank gun that was designed by Bofors during the early 1940s and was designated the 57 mm anti-tank gun m/43. The gun was a scaled-up version of the 37 mm anti-tank gun m/38. The gun armed the Panzerskyddkompanies of infantry regiments. However, the increased weight of the gun made it difficult to pull by hand. The gun could be fitted with a 20 mm sub-caliber training barrel for gunnery practice. When heavier tanks began to become common in the late 1940s, the gun was quickly relegated to other roles. The gun was replaced by the 9 cm pvp 1110 recoilless rifle and guided anti-tank missiles.
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