M / 43 SAV-101

m / 43 SAV-101
General properties
crew	4 men
length	5.05 m
width	2.14 m
height	2.29 m
Dimensions	12 tons
Armor and armament
Armor	Max. 45 mm
Main armament	105 mm Bofors m / 44 howitzer
Secondary armament	no
agility
drive	Scania-Vabis type 1664 petrol engine 145 HP (108 kW)
Top speed	42 km / h
Power / weight	12 hp / ton

M / 43 SAV-101 is a Swedish self-propelled howitzer . The Swedish designers had closely followed the course of the Second World War . Until 1944 the Swedish army only had power artillery. From 1944 attempts were made to motorize the artillery.

In 1944 the Swedish M / 41 S1 , which were still in service and were licensed to the Czech LT-38, were completely rebuilt as they were already out of date. The vehicle's hull and chassis have been retained. However, the rotating turret of the tank was replaced by a larger, solid structure. A 105 mm howitzer was located in it. This was simply dismantled from existing artillery pieces and fitted with trunnions. As all other components (engine and chassis) were retained, the performance of the vehicle, which was three tons heavier than the LT-38, deteriorated. The task of the vehicle was to provide artillery support to rapidly advancing tank units or to defeat fortifications such as machine gun positions in infantry attack strips. The howitzer was set up so that it could fire both indirectly and directly. The vehicle was named "Stormartillerievagn m / 43 101" and was in service with the Swedish armed forces from 1944 to the end of the 1950s.

literature

• Wolfgang Fleischer, "1000 tanks and military vehicles" Nauman & Göberl Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne ISBN 978-3-625-12224-1

Web links

[1] Pictures and additional information (s)