EuropeSwedenCold WarMain battle tank
Stridsvagn 103C
Strv 103
The only turretless MBT of the Cold War to be mass-issued.
Specifications
- Crew
- 3
- Combat weight
- 42.5 t
- Engine
- 540 hp
- hp / tonne
- 12.7
- Road speed
- 50 km/h
- Range
- 390 km
- Main gun
- 105 mm L74 (fixed, autoloaded)
- In service
- 1967–1997
Diesel + Boeing gas turbine boosting to ~540 hp combined
Armor: Extremely sloped frontal plate plus optional grille/dozer; no turret to hit
Secondary: 2× 7.62 mm Ksp 58
Briefing scores
Relative 1–10 for teaching, not a wargame rating.
- Firepower
- 7/10
- Protection
- 6/10
- Mobility
- 6/10
- Awareness
- 4/10
- Logistics
- 6/10
Ammunition natures
APDSAPFSDSHEAT
History
Sven Berge’s design. Nothing else like it entered service. Accurate in hull-down positions, awkward on the move against flanking targets. Retired for Leopard 2 (Strv 122).
Doctrine
Sweden planned to fight in forests and on reverse slopes. A turretless hull aims the gun by pivoting the whole vehicle (and a hydropneumatic suspension). The driver is also the gunner. Unique, and only possible with a defensive doctrine.
Strengths
- Tiny frontal target
- Fast autoloader
- Superb hull-down
Limits
- Cannot fire on the move at a traverse target
- No turret pop-up
Related hulls
14 of 25 in the atlas