The Stridsvagn 103 (Strv-103) was the main battle tank of the Swedish Army during the Cold War. Popularly known as the S-Tank, it had two distinctive characteristics: it did not have a turret, as traditional tanks usually do, and it was fitted with two engines to drive it either forwards or backwards. The main rationale for not fitting it with one was to endow this chariot of war with a very low profile so that it could blend in and hide in the geographical features of the battlefield terrain. There were three versions of the tank; Strv-103A/B/and C.
The S-Tank was designed by Sven Berge, who was the chief of the Swedish Army Ordnance. After observing conventional tanks of that time, he had realized that their silhouettes protruded upwards to much from the horizon line, especially at the moment of firing their guns. He had noticed, too, that the French AMX-13 light tank, whose small turret was set up at the rear of its compact hull, exposed itself the least to the enemy’s eyes. This Swedish tank mass production began in 1967, and it entered service at the end of that year.
Technical Characteristics
As mentioned above, the main feature of the Stridsvagn 103 was its low profile, due to a lack of turret. Thus, its 105-mm rifled gun was mounted directly in its hull, which was manned by a crew of three. It was fitted with hydro-pneumatic suspension system, with four road wheels on each side of the chassis. This allowed the tank driver/gunner to change the pitch (degree of inclination) of the hull and, hence, of the gun at the commander’s order.
The Strv-103 had yet another distinctive peculiarity; it was the fact that its power plant was equipped with two engines instead of one: one Caterpillar 553 gas turbine, delivering 490 HP, for driving forwards, and one Rolls-Royce 6-cylinder 2-stroke diesel engine, capable of generating 240 HP, to reverse it. The gas turbine was very convenient for the Swedish winter, when temperatures can drop to -20 or -30° C. The Rolls-Royce engine was coupled to a hydro-kenetic, torque-converter automatic transmission, with its output being combined with that of the gas turbine to drive the track.
Specifications
Weight: 39 tons (loaded)
Hull length: 7 m
Width: 3.6 m
Height: 2.1 m
Armor: steel
Armament: one Bofors L/62 105mm; two 7.62mm axial machine guns; one 7.62mm external machine gun.
Below, the Stridsvagn 103B tank in 1971
A frontal view of the S-Tank as it drives through a small Swedish town
Below, side view of the Strv-103 in winter time
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