 | | General Characteristics | | Length: | 9.00 m (incl. Gun) | | Width: | 103 B: 3.60 m
103 C: 3.80 m | | Height: | 2.14 m | | Weight: | 103 B: 39.7 t
103 C: 42.5 t | | Speed: | 50 km/h (road)
6 km/h (water) | | Range: | 390 km | | Primary armament: | 105 mm rifled Gun | | Secondary armament: | two fixed 7.62 mm MG
one Anti-aircraft 7.62 mm MG | | Power plant: | 103 B: 490 hp (365 kW) Boeing gas turbine + 240 hp (179 kW) Rolls-Royce K 60 diesel
103 C: 490 hp (365 kW) Caterpillar gas turbine + 290 hp (216 kW) Detroit diesel | | Crew: | 3 (Commander, gunner/driver, rear driver) | The Stridsvagn 103 (Strv 103), or S-Tank, is a Swedish main battle tank. It is known for its unconventional turretless design that moves the entire tank in order to aim its main gun. The result is a very low-profile design with an emphasis on defence. S-tanks formed a major portion of Swedish armored forces during the 1960s and 70s, but has since been removed from service in favour of the almost universal Leopard 2. Swedish S-tank. ...
The metre (Commonwealth English) or meter (American English) (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ...
The word ton or tonne is derived from the Old English tunne, and ultimately from the Old French tonne, and referred originally to a large cask with a capacity of 252 wine gallons, which holds approximately 2100 pounds of water. ...
The word ton or tonne is derived from the Old English tunne, and ultimately from the Old French tonne, and referred originally to a large cask with a capacity of 252 wine gallons, which holds approximately 2100 pounds of water. ...
The horsepower (hp) is the name of several non-metric units of power. ...
The horsepower (hp) is the name of several non-metric units of power. ...
The US M1A1 Abrams tank is a typical modern main battle tank. ...
The Leopard 2 is a German main battle tank built by the German company Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann, developed in the early 1970s and first entering service in 1979, replacing the earlier Leopard in the MBT role in the Bundeswehr. ...
History
In the mid-1950s the Swedish army put out a contract tender for a new tank design to replace their Centurions. Although the Centurion was arguably the best tank in the world at the time, its performance lead over contemporary Soviet designs like the T-55 was only marginal, and any future designs would best it. A consortium of Landsverk, Volvo and Bofors responded with a new heavy tank design, known under the codename KRV, fitted with a 155 mm smoothbore gun, but this would be an expensive option. The Centurion was the primary British Main Battle Tank of the immediate post-war era, and considered by many to be one of the best British tank designs of all time. ...
Soviet redirects here. ...
The T-54 and T-55 main battle tanks were the Soviet Unions replacements for the World War II era T-34 tank. ...
Landsverk (AB Landsverk) was founded in 1872 as Firman Petterson & Ohlsen. ...
Volvo Cars is the car maker using the brand Volvo. ...
Bofors is an iron works, cannon maker, and defence industry located in Karlskoga, Sweden. ...
Sven Berge of the Swedish Arms Administration proposed an alternative in 1956, given the codename S. Noting that the chance of being hit in combat was strongly related to height, he proposed that any new design should be as low as possible. The only practical way to do this was to eliminate the turret, which would also make the tank much lighter and simpler. This is not the first time such a system had been used, it was common on World War II-era tank destroyers and assault guns for instance, but in the tank role the inability to quickly change aim that a turret provided always proved to be a serious problem. Berge's design provided this ability through the use of a fully automated transmission and suspension system, which would turn and tilt the tank under gunner control. The gun itself would be fixed to the hull. This made it impossible to use a stabilized gun, making it possible to fire only while sitting still. Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 8 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a military conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945. ...
A self-propelled anti-tank gun, or tank destroyer, is a type of armoured fighting vehicle. ...
The Brummbar was a German assault gun used in World War II An assault gun is an armoured fighting vehicle similar to a tank, but typically does not have a traversable turret, and may have an open roof. ...
Other features of the tank were equally "radical". The gun, a Bofors L/62, using the same ammunition as the British L7 105mm fitted to the Centurion, would be equipped with an autoloader, allowing the crew to be reduced to two (though a third man was added for psychological reasons). Most designs of the era used a crew of four, the S-tank would eliminate the loader and gunner. One of the three left was the rear driver, who was facing the rear of the tank equipped with a complete setup for driving. This allowed the tank to be driven "backwards" at high speed, keeping its frontal armor pointed at the enemy. Commander and gunner/driver both had the same set of sights and controls to fire the gun and drive the tank. Additionally the tank was powered by two engines, a 240hp Rolls Royce K60 diesel for cruising and turning the tank for aim, and a 490hp Boeing 502 turbine for "dashing" at high speed. Rolls-Royce is a set of companies, all deriving from the British automobile and aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Henry Royce and C.S. Rolls in 1906. ...
The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA)(TYO: 7661 ) is the worlds leading aircraft and aerospace manufacturer, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with its largest production facilities in Everett, Washington, about 30 miles north of Seattle, Washington. ...
The concept was interesting enough that Bofors was asked to build a prototype of the suspension/drive train, which they completed successfully. In 1958 a follow-on contract called for two full prototypes, which were completed in 1961. By this point the army was so happy with the design that they had already placed an order for an initial pre-production run of 10 in 1960. With minor changes the S-tank was adopted as the Strv 103 and full production started in 1966 and ended in 1971 with 300 delivered. The changes included a new commander's cupola and re-enforced frontal armour. A "fence" (seen in the image above) was also added to help defeat HEAT rounds, but was kept secret for many years and was only to be fitted in the event of war. A red-hot iron rod cooling after being worked by a blacksmith. ...
Strv 103B The turretless nature of the Strv 103 also made it fairly easy to make watertight. This was taken advantage of for the Strv 103B, which was fully amphibious. A floatation screen could be erected around the upper hull in about 20 minutes, and the tracks would drive the tank at about 6km/h on water. Other changes for the B model included the addition of a blade under the front hull that allowed the tank to dig itself into the ground for added protection. A full suite of image intensifiers were also added for night combat and driving. An image intensifier is a device that amplifies visable and near-infrared light from an image so that a dimly lit scene can be viewed by a camera or by eye. ...
Strv 103C An upgrade program was started in 1986 to fit all remaining vehicles with dramatically improved fire control systems. A further upgrade in 1987/88 replaced the Rolls-Royce engine with a newer 290 hp (216 kW) Detroit Diesel with additional fuel tanks, and added a new laser rangefinder. There was some consideration of adding reactive armor in the early 1990s, but in the end the S-Tank was instead phased out of Swedish service in favour of the Leopard II, which started arriving in 1997. Rolls-Royce plc (LSE: RR.) (also known as Rolls-Royce Aero Engines) is the second-largest aircraft engine maker in the world, behind General Electrics GE Aircraft Engines division. ...
Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC), headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is part of the Freightliner - Trucks NAFTA Business Unit, and is a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler AG. The company produces on-highway medium and heavy-duty Diesel engines for the commercial truck market, and for other commercial and automobile use. ...
This article or section should include material from Explosive reactive armour Reactive armor or explosive reactive armour (ERA), is a type of armour used primarily on tanks to lessen the damage from explosions caused from missile warheads, exploding shells, grenades, or dropped bombs. ...
The Leopard is the primary post-WWII German tank design, a design that has been in use as the primary main battle tank for most European countries in various versions since the early 1960s. ...
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