Hello,

before we start will clear something up, the last article from sp15 it was indeed a reupload, In a momentary “brainfart” I clicked Publish on the wrong article right before heading off to the Armour and Embarkation event, this is the article that was meant to go up.

My apologies to sp15, who has a patient of a saint.

Author: sp15

Hi, everyone!

Today I thought we should take a look at one of the branches that I have never covered in depth before. The light/medium tank line is the Swedish counterpart of the French medium tank line. At tiers 2-8 the line consists of light tanks which are exchanged for fast medium’s at 9-10. Unlike their French counterparts Swedish light tanks focus on a mix of conventional guns excellent gun depression and mediocre mobility. In general, I would expect these vehicles to play much like the American light tanks.

Like with my article on Swedish turreted TD’s we are unlikely to see this branch in the near future. With that said this branch has stronger candidates and practically all research for this branch has already been done. However, I suspect we won’t see it anytime soon due to the lack of well-known vehicles. Anyway, lets get to it.

L-120

The L-120 was a light tankette type vehicle first constructed in 1937. A total of three prototypes were built, 2 of which participated in Swedish army trials. Although the L-120 lost the trials to the Czech TNH-IV tankette it still received interest from Poland and Norway. After the trials, one of the partially completed prototypes were sold to Norway where it became known as Rikstanken. The L-120 weighed in at only 5,1 tonnes and had armour between 5 and 10mm thick. It’s armament consisted of either 2 machineguns or a 20mm autocannon, although plans were made to fit a 37mm gun.

The L-120 is probably the most traditional light tank in the whole line. With a power to weight ratio of over 20hp/t and the ability to mount either a 37mm or a 20mm gun, the L-120 should be a pretty solid vehicle. The lack of armour, however, makes it very vulnerable, and comparable to vehicles like the Pz 1.

Weight: 5,1 tons
Top speed: 60 kph
Engine: Volvo DC (85 hp), Scania-Vabis (110 hp), Maybach (130 hp)
Armament: 20mm Madsen, 20mm Pvlvkan m/40B, 37mm Strvkan m/38
Hull armour: 10/9/8 mm
Turret armour: 10/8/8 mm

Strv m/31

In the fall of 1930 the Swedish army placed an order for three prototypes tanks from AB Landsverk. What resulted 4 years later was one of the most modern tanks of its time the Strv m/31. This vehicle was heavily based on German ideas on tank design and was one of the first to make use of sloped welded armour. Other innovations included the use of prisms instead of viewports and the addition of a 2-way radio. Only three Strv m/31 were built due to a lack of funding and extensive use of foreign components in its construction. The Strv m/31 would be succeeded by the L-60 series of light tanks.

One of the best-looking tanks in this line in my opinion. The Strv m/31 should be a decent but unremarkable tier 3 light tank. It’s Mobility, armour and firepower are all good enough for its tier and offers something different compared to the Strv m/40k in the main line.

Weight: 11,5 tons
Top speed: 35 kph
Engine: Maybach DSO 8 (150 hp)
Armament: 37mm Infkan m/34, 47mm (unspecified)
Hull armor: 24/24/14 mm
Turret armor: 24/24/24 mm

Terro

Terro was an attempt to create something in between the L-60 series of light tanks and the Lago medium tank. A shortened Lago chassis would be combined with the turret of a L-60. It had been designed mainly as an export tank but was offered to the Swedish army in 1941, but was rejected as it had no major advantage over the L-60 series which was already in production. In response, Landsverk started researching a 14-tonne version armed with a 57mm gun. Interestingly enough the Swiss military showed interest in the design, but this never went anywhere and no vehicles were ever built.

The Terro is somewhere in between a medium and a light tank. Although it lacks mobility compared to other light tanks it has armour and firepower comparable to its medium tank counterparts at tier 4. Overall I think Terro would play something like a better-armoured version of the Type 5 Ke-Ho.

Weight: 12,5-14 tons
Top speed: 45 kph
Engine: Scania-Vabis L 603 (162 hp), Scania-Vabis L 801 (220 hp)
Armament: 37mm Strvkan m/38, 57mm Pvkan m/43
Hull armour: 50/25/20 mm
Turret armour: 50/25/20 mm

Strv m/41-S/IV

After having studied captured T34 tanks in Finland, Scania-Vabis came up with two proposals to modernise the Strv m/41 tank. The more extensive of these featured a completely new hull and turret with sloping armour and better armament. The proposed tank would be powered by a Scania-Vabis 220hp engine, which would give the 15-ton vehicle a top speed of 45 kph. In 1944, Bofors proposed a new turret with a 57mm autoloader for the vehicle. Ultimately all plans for this project were scrapped and Scania-Vabis switched production to the Sav m/43 assault gun instead.

The Strv m/41-S/IV is one of the most problematic vehicles in this line. I don’t think it’s fit for the role of a tier 5 light tank thanks to its low power to weight ratio and top speed. This does not mean that the Strv m/41-S/IV is a bad vehicle, however. The 57mm autoloader has plenty of potential, and the armour is surprisingly good for a light tank. However if implemented as proposed here the vehicle would probably need standard +-2 matchmaking to be competitive. If this proves to be a problem it could mean that some vehicles must be down tiered and that tier 6-8 would be very similar to each other.

Weight: 15 tonnes
Top speed: 45 kph
Engine: Scania-Vabis L 603 (162 hp), Scania-Vabis L 801 (220 hp)
Armament: 57mm Pvkan m/43
Hull armour: 40/35/20 mm
Turret armour: 50/35/35 mm

Pilen

In 1947 Landsverk drew up plans for a new series of export tanks based on their experience from tank production during ww2. Pilen (meaning arrow) was a highly mobile light tank in the same class as the American M24 Chaffe. It made use of components from the Strv m/42 such as the gun and drivetrain but had a lower and wider chassis, better-sloped armour and a bigger turret. The short 75mm was however seen as inadequate and soon plans were made for redesigned version of the Pilen with the larger turret and gun of the Leo medium tank.

In the game, the Pilen would be a fairly standard tier 6 light tank. The mobility is a bit on the mediocre side but the tank retains the excellent gun depression of earlier vehicles and the firepower should be pretty good. The Pilen could mount anything from a 105mm howitzer to a long barreled 75mm. The armour is actually pretty decent for a light tank but still not enough to matter all that much.

Weight: 17-19 tons
Top speed: 55kph
Engine: x2 Scania-Vabis L 603 (324 hp), x2 Rolls-Royce (360 hp)
Armament: 7.5cm Strvkan m/41, 10.5 cm Strvkan L/18 , 7.5cm Pvkan m/43
Hull armor: 35/18/18 mm
Turret armor: 38/30/20 mm

Lansen

By the end of the 1940’s Landsverk had refined the idea behind the Pilen and come up with a 19-21 tonne light tank which they named Lansen (meaning lance). Compared to its predecessor the Lansen was a much more complete design which was built around the long barreled Pvkan m/43 gun from the start. The tank was marketed around the world and by 1950 Landsverk had received a lot of interest in the design most notably from Switzerland and Pakistan. Pakistan actually ordered 36 vehicles, although this deal later fell through (for unknown reasons). The Swiss proposed that the Lansen should use a Swiss 84mm gun. Drawings for a modified turret capable of fitting this gun were completed in late 1950.

The lansen would be an interesting tier 7 light tank, with one of the better guns of its tier combined with 10° of gun depression. The biggest drawback would probably be a lack of mobility compared to other light tanks. Its possible that the top speed would have to be buffed.

Weight: 19-21 tons
Top speed: 50kph (L 603)
Engine: x2 Scania-Vabis L 603 (324 hp), x2 Rolls-Royce (360 hp), x2 Scania-Vabis L 801 (440 hp)
Armament: 7.5cm Pvkan m/43, 8.4cm Strvkan L/65
Hull armor: 50/18/18 mm
Turret armor: 38/30/20 mm

Lansen m/51

As lansen development continued into 1951 it was decided to redesign the hull to be more compact and to develop a new turret better suited for the long 84mm gun. By late march drawings for this version of the lansen was completed. This was followed in early April with work on revised drawings for a mock-up of the vehicle, which was completed and shown to the Swiss military later that year. But just as the development of the lansen seemed to be wrapping up Landsverk was suddenly overwhelmed with work from the Swedish military. And around the same time, the Swiss military started pursuing its own line of tank development which would eventually lead to the Pz58. And with no other buyers the Lansen ended up never making it further than the mock up stage.

The Lansen m/51 should be a solid tier 8 light tank. Although it is similar to the tier 7 it has a smaller turret profile and a better version of the 84mm gun. Its main strength would be the 84mm gun which could be devastating if given the right stats in combination with the gun depression. Unfortunately like the tier 7 lansen the biggest problem with this tank is its engine. Its likely that it would need engines proposed for the Leo medium tank, or have to have the lack of mobility compensated in other ways like with good soft stats.

Weight: 25 tonnes
Top speed: 60kph
Engine: x2 Scania-Vabis L 801 (440 hp)
Armament: 8.4cm Strvkan L/65, 8.4cm Strvkan L/75
Hull armour: 50/18/18 mm
Turret armour: 50/30/20 mm

UDES 14A

The UDES 14A was a turreted medium tank developed in 1973. It was meant to share many of its components with the Ikv 91 tank destroyer and Bgbv 82 recovery vehicle. A 2nd version of the vehicle equipped with an autoloader was also proposed. In terms of armour and firepower, it was comparable to the Leopard 1 or AMX 30 but it placed the engine compartment at the front for added crew protection and made use of hydraulic suspension to lower the profile and weight of the vehicle. Work on the vehicle was discontinued in favour of other projects in 1974.

As stated above the UDES 14A would be comparable to other lightly armoured medium tanks. The advantages it has over those is a higher top speed of 70kph and a lower profile, however, the front mounted engine and the lack of armour will be a problem. Its also possible that the vehicle won’t get its 10° of gun depression as this would require implementation of its hydraulic suspension. In any case, what you have here is a logical extension of the light tank line.

Weight: 26,4 tons
Top speed: 70 kph
Engine: Scania DS14 (500 hp)
Armament: 10.5cm Strvkan L/45
Hull armour: 77/25/10 mm
Turret armour: 66/30/20 mm

UDES 15/16

The UDES 15/16 was the result of combining the best features from both of Hägglunds and Bofors best proposals for the UDES 14 project. This vehicle represented the ultimate development of conventional turreted tanks by Sweden preceding the introduction of the composite armour in western tank designs. The UDES 15/16 incorporated hydraulic suspension and a special low profile turret to stay as low as possible while retaining 10° of gun depression to the front and rear of the vehicle. It was armed with a 105mm L/45 gun which was fed by an autoloader at the rear of the turret. The well-sloped armour was in places up to 160mm thick on the turret but was for the most part rather lacking. Work on the UDES 15/16 stopped in 1976 due to army prioritisation of other projects, but the ideas behind it would later be used as the basis for the Strv 2000 project.

I would expect the UDES 15/16 to play something like a Bat.-Châtillon 25 without the autoloader. In WoT modern style autoloaders are given higher rates of fire at the cost of the burst damage of a cassette autoloader (see is3A or E25). This means the UDES 15/16 would probably rely on a strange mix of armour, dpm and mobility that is probably best compared with the Japanese STB-1. This is, of course, dependent on how WG decides to balance this vehicle and if they are able to implement the hydraulic suspension and 10° gun depression. In any case, the UDES 15/16 stands as the ultimate evolution of Swedish pre-composite tank design, and the final vehicle of the LT/MT branch.

Weight: 26 tonnes
Top speed: 70kph
Engine: Scania DSI14 (550 hp)
Armament: 10.5cm Strvkan L/45
Hull armour: ? mm
Turret armor: 125/160/20 mm