| Stridsvagn 103 | |
|---|---|
 A Stridsvagn 103C during a demonstration at the Swedish Army's Revingehed training ground, April 2022 | |
| Type | Turretless main battle tank |
| Place of origin | Sweden |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1967–1997 |
| Used by | Swedish Army |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Sven Berge |
| Designed | 1956 |
| Manufacturer | Bofors AB |
| Produced | 1967–1971 |
| No. built | 290 |
| Variants | A, B, C, D |
| Specifications (Strv 103C) | |
| Mass | 42.5 t (46.8 short tons; 41.8 long tons) |
| Length | 9 m (29 ft 6 in) incl. gun |
| Width | 3.80 m (12 ft 6 in) |
| Height | With topmounted MG: 2.43 m (8 ft 0 in) To cupola: 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) To vehicle roof: 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) To barrel centre when horizontal: 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Crew | 3 (Commander, gunner/driver, rear driver)[1] |
| Armor | LOS: ≈192–337 mm Actual: 40–70 mm |
Main armament | Bofors L74 10.5 cm L/62 rifled gun with autoloader and 50 rounds |
Secondary armament | Two fixed 7.62 mm KSP 58 machine guns one anti-aircraft 7.62 mm KSP 58 machine gun two 71 mm Lyran mortars |
| Engine | Detroit diesel 6V53T, 216 kW (290 hp) and Caterpillar 553 gas turbine, 365 kW (489 hp) |
| Power/weight | 13.6 kW/t (18.3 hp/t) |
| Transmission | 2 forward and 2 reverse speeds |
| Suspension | Gas-hydraulic hydropneumatic suspension |
Operational range | 390 km (240 mi) |
| Maximum speed | 60 km/h (37 mph) maximum road speed forwards or reverse[2] |
The Stridsvagn 103 (Strv 103), also known as the Alternative S and S-tank,[3] is a Swedish Cold War-era main battle tank, designed and manufactured in Sweden.[4] "Strv" is the Swedish military abbreviation of stridsvagn, Swedish for tank (literally combat wagon, it also is the Swedish word for chariot), while the 103 comes from being the third tank in Swedish service to be equipped with a 10.5 cm gun.
Developed in the 1950s, it was the first main battle tank to use a gas turbine engine and the only mass-produced tank since World War II to not use a turret besides the German Kanonenjagdpanzer (which is not a tank by role not design).[5] It has an unconventional design with a unique gun laying process:[6][7][8] it is turretless with a fixed gun traversed by engaging the tracks and elevated by adjusting the hull suspension.[5] The result was a very low-profile design with an emphasis on survivability and heightened crew protection level.
Strv 103s formed a major portion of the Swedish armoured forces from the 1960s to the 1990s, when, along with the Centurions, it was replaced by the Leopard 2 variants Stridsvagn 121 and Stridsvagn 122.[9]
While most turretless armoured fighting vehicles are classified as assault guns or tank destroyers, the Strv 103 is considered a tank since its designated combat role matched those of other tanks within contemporary Swedish doctrine.
- ^ Bovington Tank Museum
- ^ Berge, Sven (March–April 1973). "Engine Design and Placement". Armor. p. 17.
- ^ Mizokami, Kyle (4 April 2016), Sweden's "S-Tank" Had a Super Strange—But Not Stupid—Design
- ^ Chant, C. & Jones, R. (2004). Tanks: Over 250 of the World's Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles. Summertime Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 0-7603-1871-9. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
- ^ a b Ogorkiewicz, Richard M (1991). Technology of tanks. Jane's Information. ISBN 0710605951.
- ^ "Stridsvagn 103 s tank clutch and break manoeuvre". 17 December 2007. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Tekniskt Magasin – Stridsvagn 103". 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Trafikmagasinet provkör STRIDSVAGN S". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ Strv 121 & strv122