Stridsvagn 103, Swedish S-tank

[19Delta]

The S-tank was anything but impractical. A tank with a high top speed is great if you are rolling over wide open terrain like a desert or plains, but that mobility becomes useless in terrain like what was present in Sweden. The S-tank was a great design. It had a crew of three but could be operated by a single man effectively. It could hide in forests and hills and in open terrain, it could dig itself in. The crews were very well trained and their equipment was kept in good condition. In a war with the Soviets, this tank would've done very well, mainly because of the terrain it was designed to fight in, but there were other factors involved. The Soviet war doctrine centered around throwing overwhelming numbers at the opposition. It was a conscript army with conscript equipment. They weren't as well trained and their equipment wasn't built as well as NATO equipment was. Another factor to consider was the arrogance of Soviet commanders. While the Soviets probably would've won a war with Sweden, the initial assault into Sweden's territory would've been very costly for the Soviet army. This is a design that could still be relevant today. With some slight modifications, airborne units could be equiped with an air-droppable S-tank.

 

[Wyrmshadow]

I think someting like this would be more versatile than an S-tank for airborne support.

 

[Ambrosia]

Don't forget, I like the tank. But if you throw a track any other tank could still fight, even tank destroyers at least had limited gun traverse. With this tank if you throw a track you have lost 100% of your fighting capability. Not a good thing. But they can hit targets very hard and are well protected for their size.

 

[Ozymandias]

I think someting like this would be more versatile than an S-tank for airborne support.

Interesting ... what is it? It looks like a chopped M113 converted into a MICV.

 

[jatibi]

It's a M113 converted into a StuG III F/StuH 42 + a machine gun.