Swedish Tanks – Part XX: Ikv 103 & Ikv 65

Author: sp15 (US server)

The list of previous parts is at the bottom of the article.

IKV 103(SPHF)

In 1956, along with the refit of the Ikv 72 to Ikv 102 (see previous part), it was decided to start the production of a second batch of Ikv’s with the upgrades considered for the Ikv 72 built in to the design. This vehicle would become known as the Ikv 103 and a total of 81 vehicles of this type were produced between 1956 and 1957, making it the most widely produced assault gun in the Swedish army at that point. Although externally similar to the earlier models, the Ikv 103 featured a number of changes, such as the addition of a roof, a change of the main armament from a 75mm to 105mm and the addition of a more powerful engine. The engine, used in the Ikv 103 was a 150hp 4-cylinder boxer engine, originally developed by Svenska Flygmotor AB for use in the Saab Safir training aircraft. The air for the new engine did not need to pass through the crew compartment (something appreciated by crews in winter) and this also gave the vehicle its distinctive “grills” on both sides of the engine compartment.

Ikv 103 rear, here the “grills” can clearly be seen.

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Generally the vehicle was well liked by its crews, who enjoyed its great maneuverability and high top speed. After the Ikv 103, there would be an almost 10 year break before the development would start on the next Ikv project, but in the meantime, there were some interesting things going on with the Ikv 103. Sometime during the early 60′s, three Ikv 103 had their guns removed and were experimentally fitted with a new upgraded 6-cylinder engine called B61. The new engine almost doubled the horsepower of the original, going from 150hp to 230hp. This increased the mobility of the vehicle considerably and gave it a power to weight ratio of over 25hp/t. However, it was found out that the new engine was insufficiently cooled and therefore the project was cancelled and the vehicles were restored to their original condition.

One of the three Ikv 103 refitted with the experimental engine

IKV 103 prototyp med E.P.

In addition to these tests, attempts were made to sell the Ikv 103 design to both Switzerland and India with a new 199hp Ford engine. There were even plans for a troop carrier version for India, but nothing ever came of it. That’s not the end of it however, since there seems to have been an attempt to sell an unarmed variant of the vehicle as a reconnaissance version.

Drawing of reconnaissance version of the Ikv 103

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After the Ikv 103, it would be until the mid-60s before the Ikv concept was brought up again, but this time with an emphasis on being able to fight tanks and other AFV’s. In total three different companies were asked to submit their designs for the new Ikv, which they called Ikv 65. First there was Landsverk, who had produced the other Ikv’s. Then there was Hägglunds, who had just started producing their armoured personell carrier design for the Swedish army and finally there was Bofors, who was also developing the S-tank. Of all these companies, Landsverk was the most experienced, having produced virtually every Swedish tank design from the 1930s to the 1950s. Landsverk had however fallen on hard times lately after losing the contract for the army’s new APC to Hägglunds, but it was decided to make a last ditch effort to keep the military part of the company going and five different designs were submitted for the new Ikv project. The first proposal was essentially a rebuilt Ikv 103 with a bigger superstructure and bigger engine. The main armament, shared between all the proposals, was a Bofors 90mm L/54 low pressure gun, developed from the Pvpj1110 recoilless rifle. There was however a number of versions of this gun considered (although not directly by Landsverk).

Ikv 65 proposal 1

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The other Ikv 65 proposals used their own original suspension and did not vary that much from each other, except for the final design, which was to be based of the Pbv 302 APC chassis and was to have a fully traversable turret

Ikv 65 proposal 2

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Ikv 65 proposal 3

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Ikv 65 proposal 4

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Ikv 65 proposal 5

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Despite the Landsverk design being the one preferred by the Army, it was ultimately decided to go with the Hägglunds design due to the greater interchangeability of parts between the new Ikv and the Hägglunds-designed and built Pbv 302 APC. Eventually, this led to the production Ikv 91 in 1975, but that is a story for another part. After losing the contract for the Ikv 91, Landsverk did shut down its military design section and focused on the production of civilian excavators. After that, it wasn’t long until the remaining part of the company was sold off to Volvo BM and by the mid-70s, Landsverk was shut down for good.

In World of Tanks

In the game, I expect the Ikv 103 to be an extremely mobile tier 5 TD, capable of outperforming even some light tanks in both mobility and stealth, however the main armament is only a 105mm Howitzer, that will probably struggle to penetrate anything without gold ammo and the vehicle is also very fragile with only 18,5mm of armor at the most. All in all, it should be an interesting vehicle. As for the Landsverk Ikv 65 designs, I personally want to use proposals 1 and 5 as tier 6 and 7 TD’s for the Ikv line with the rest as possible premium vehicles. The Ikv 65-1 should feature worse mobility, gun depression and stealth compared to the Ikv 103, but with much greater gun traverse and a much better 90mm gun. The Ikv 65-5 at tier 7 should be similiar to its predecessor, but with a fully traversable turret. Basically I would expect it to play like a pre-nerf Hellcat without the turret armor.

That is all for this part, next time we will be looking at the Hägglunds and Bofors proposals for the Ikv 91

Statistics

Ikv 103
Weight: 9 tonnes
Length: 4,81m (with gun 6m)
Width: 2,23m
Height: 1,89m
Crew: 4 (Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver)
Powerto weight: 17 hp/t (stock)
Max speed: 60kph
Ground pressure: 0,37 kg/cm^2
Ground clerance: 330mm
Track width: 400mm
Suspension: Torsion bar
Engine: SFA B42 (150hp), Ford 391 (199hp), SFA B61 (230hp)
Armament: 10,5cm Kan ikv 102 & 103
Ammo load: 42 rounds
Gun traverse: 10dg each side
Depression/Elevation: -20/+20
Armor: (18,5/7/5)
Carried ammo: 20 rounds

Ikv 65 proposal 1
Weight: 10,5 tonnes
Length: 5,15m (with gun: 8m)
Width: 2,8m
Height: 2,16m
Ground clerance: 0,4m
Track width: 0,42m
Crew: 4
Max speed: 60kph
Engine: Volvo TD 70A (190hp)
Power to weight ratio: 18hp/t
Armament: Bofors 90mm L/53 (Semi automatic)
Depression/elevation: -12/+35
Gun traverse: 40dg
Carried ammo: 38 rounds

Armour
Hull front: 10mm
Hull side: 10mm
Hull rear: 10mm
Roof: 6mm

Ikv 65 proposal 2
Weight: 11 tonnes
Length: 4,85m (with gun: 7,15m)
Width: 2,75m
Height: 2,3m
Ground clerance: 0,4m
Track width: 0,42m
Crew: 4
Max speed: 60kph
Engine: GM 6V 53 (215hp)
Power to weight ratio: 19,5hp/t
Armament: Bofors 90mm L/53 (Semi automatic)
Depression/elevation: -12/+35
Gun traverse: 40dg
Carried ammo: 40 rounds

Armour
Hull front: 10mm
Hull side: 10mm
Hull rear: 10mm
Roof: 6mm

Ikv 65 proposal 3
Weight: 13 tonnes
Length: 5,5m (with gun: 7,8m)
Width: 2,95m
Height: 2,3m
Ground clerance: 0,4m
Track width: 0,42m
Crew: 4
Max speed: 60kph
Engine: Volvo TD 100A (270hp)
Power to weight ratio: 20,8hp/t
Armament: Bofors 90mm L/53 (Semi automatic)
Depression/elevation: -12/+35
Gun traverse: 40dg
Carried ammo: 40 rounds

Armour
Hull front: 15mm
Hull side: 10mm
Hull rear: 10mm
Roof: 6mm

Ikv 65 proposal 4
Weight: 13 tonnes
Length: 5,5m (with gun: 7,8m)
Width: 2,88m
Height: 2,3m
Ground clerance: 0,4m
Track width: 0,42m
Crew: 4
Max speed: 65kph
Engine: Volvo TD 100B (302hp)
Power to weight ratio: 23,2hp/t
Armament: Bofors 90mm L/53 (Semi automatic)
Depression/elevation: -12/+35
Gun traverse: 40dg
Carried ammo: 40 rounds

Armour
Hull front: 15mm
Hull side: 10mm
Hull rear: 10mm
Roof: 6mm

Ikv 65 proposal 5
Weight: 14 tonnes
Length: 5,7m (with gun: 8,3m)
Width: 2,85m
Height: 2,5m
Ground clerance: 0,4m
Track width: 0,38m
Crew: 4
Max speed: 65kph
Engine: Volvo TD 100B (270hp)
Power to weight ratio: 19,3hp/t
Armament: Bofors 90mm L/53 (Semi automatic)
Depression/elevation: -10/+15
Turret traverse: 360dg
Carried ammo: 48 rounds

Armour
Hull front: 12mm
Hull side: 10mm
Hull rear: 8mm
Turret front: 12mm (25mm gun mantlet)
Turret side: 12mm
Turret rear: 12mm
Roof: 6mm

Part I: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/03/07/swedish-tanks-part-i-strv-m21-29/
Part II: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/03/12/swedish-tanks-part-ii-strv-m31-strv-fm31/
Part III: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/03/15/swedish-tanks-part-iii-landsverk-l-100-and-l-120/
Part IV: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/03/21/swedish-tanks-part-iv-landsverk-l-60/
Part V: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/03/27/swedish-tanks-part-v-strv-m37-and-strv-m41/
Part VI: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/04/08/swedish-tanks-part-vi-sav-m43/
Part VII: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/04/18/swedish-tanks-part-vii-strv-m42/
Part VIII: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/05/08/swedish-tanks-part-viii-pvkv-m43/
Part IX: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/05/12/swedish-tanks-part-ix-tlp-46-and-strv-leo
Part X: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/05/15/swedish-tanks-part-x-strv-lansen/
Part XI: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/05/17/swedish-tanks-part-xi-ls-50/
Part XII: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/06/01/swedish-tanks-part-xii-emil-1951/
Part XIII: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/07/15/swedish-tanks-part-xii-emil-1952-1958/
Part XIV: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/07/23/swedish-tanks-part-xiv-strv-81/
Part XV: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/08/06/swedish-tanks-part-xv-strv-a-strv-t-strv-k/
Part XVI: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/08/13/swedish-tanks-part-xvi-the-s-tank-1956-1961/
Part XVII: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/08/21/swedish-tanks-part-xvii-strv-103/
Part XVIII: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/08/27/swedish-tanks-part-xviii-strv-74/
Part XIX: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/11/15/swedish-tanks-part-xix-ikv-72-ikv-102/

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