Swedish Tanks – Part XXI: Ikv ny

Author: sp15 (US server)

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

In 1964, a project called Ikv ny was started. The goal of this project was to acquire a new cheap vehicle, which could offer good mobility and still be able to both support infantry like older Ikv’s, but also would be able to fight tanks. Essentially, the idea had come about as there simply weren’t enough modern tanks in the Swedish army and there was a need to re-equip a large part of the army, which was still using modified WW2 era vehicles.

In the discussions leading up to the project, a number of different armament options had been considered, ranging from ATGM’s to 10,5cm and 12cm tank guns, but to cut down the unit cost, it was decided that the new Ikv should use a 9cm gun capable of shooting modified ammunition from the newly developed Pvpj1110 recoilless rifle, which was entering service at the time. These discussions also set up series of other requirements for the vehicle, described as a lightly armored vehicle weighing only 15 tons, which was to have the top road speed of 70kph with a crew of no more than 4 men. The vehicle was to be able to operate in the harsh conditions of the northern parts of the country, have good gun traverse and the gun elevation of at least -10/+20 to allow it to make use of hull down positions.

As the project moved on in 1965, three different companies were contacted to propose their designs for the new Ikv. The first company was Landsverk, who had created the original Ikv’s and had been producing tanks since the 1930s. The second was Bofors, who was already working on the completion of the S-tank project. And finally there was Hägglunds, who was a newcomer to armored vehicles, but had recently won the contract for the Swedish army’s next APC.

Given their different backgrounds it’s not surprising that these companies came up with very different answers to the same requirements.

Landsverk’s Ikv ny proposals

The Landsverk proposals were probably the most traditional and realistic with mainly casemate designs, some of which were based on the old Ikv chassis. However, since both the other companies came up with turreted designs, Landsverk was asked to come with one of their own, which did lead to two rather interesting designs. Most of Landsverk’s proposals had been designed to make use of existing vehicles and many components were to be shared with the Pbv 302 APC to allow for greater interchangeability of parts between the vehicles. The main armament was a 90mm L/53 Bofors low pressure gun, which could fire HE and HEAT rounds. Overall, the Landsverk proposals were very light on the armor even when compared to the other Ikv proposals and a lot of the casemate designs had a maximum of only 15mm at the front. One thing the designs did have however was excellent gun traverse (40dg) and depression/elevation (-10/+35).

Bofors Ikv ny proposals

Bofors had an interesting mix of features, which borrowed from their ongoing work with the S-tank, all of their designs had – like the S-tank – frontally mounted engine and some models featured an autoloader. Initially, three versions, called Ikv 90 A, B and C were offered. The A and B models were pretty much the same vehicle but differed in the use of a casemate on the B model and a turret on the A model, both of which could be equipped with an autoloader. The C model was the smallest one and was designed with a shorter 90mm gun than the other two models, this model was however not liked and later dropped when the proposals were redesigned. To meet updated requirements on gun elevation Bofors redesigned the model A and B into models T and S. The model T differed very little from the model A but it did have changes to the turret and hull, however model S had turned into what was basically a miniature S-tank but with gun elevation and depression independent of the hull.

Hägglunds Ikv ny proposals

Unlike the other companies, Hägglunds had focused their efforts on mainly turreted designs for the new Ikv project. They had also probably overestimated some aspects of their vehicles, like the projected top speed and the use of autoloaders on certain models. In any case, Hägglunds had done a more thorough research of the possibility of using foreign engines or guns and had even based their projected vehicles around a French 90mm gun rather than the Bofors model. The guns, considered by Hägglunds, were the DTAT 90mm L/51,5 from the AMX-13, a licensed produced version of that gun by Motala Verkstad, the Bofors 90mm L/53, used on the other companies Ikv proposals and a DTAT 105mm low pressure gun using the same recoil mechanism and breach as the French 90mm. These guns were to be available for use with either a conventional loading system, a fully automated loader or a semi-autoloader with a 4 round magazine, which would be continually fed by the loader. The armor of the vehicle was – as with the other proposals – very light with a maximum of 20mm at the front, but unlike the other companies, Hägglunds made extensive use of spaced armor for the hull sides and sometimes rear. It was however very thin and was only meant to offer protection against small arms.

As the project continued into 1966, it became clear that the Bofors proposals were the most problematic, as they were completely new vehicles, sharing no parts in common with other Swedish vehicles. Because of this, it was decided that development of the Bofors proposals would be discontinued, it’s at this point where Landsverk and Hägglunds are asked to finalise their designs for the Ikv project. For Landsverk, this means redesigning the Alternative 5 design into a sort of half turret design seen below.

Landsverk’s redesigned Ikv Alt 5

Hägglund also redesigned their proposal 1 to be more viable, which meant the removal of the autoloader and a change in turret design and results in what would become the Ikv 91. It was said that the army actually preferred the Landsverk proposal, but that they ultimately chose Hägglunds proposal due to the greater interchangability of parts between their vehicle and the Pbv 302, also designed by Hägglunds.

Hägglund’s redesigned Ikv

In World of Tanks

Well where do I start… the different Ikv 91 proposals could be used for a lot of things, personally I have created a whole TD branch with them and there are still plenty left over for premiums/reward tanks. I think they would function like a mix of light tanks and tank destroyers in the game, offering little to no protection but with great mobility and some very nasty guns, if we include some of the autoloaders or the more exotic gun options.

Characteristics

Honestly there just isnt enough space to fit all the data here so i will link you to my posts with the information on the American WoT forums

Next time we conclude the parts on the Ikv’s with the story of the Ikv 91 and its prototypes.

29 thoughts on “Swedish Tanks – Part XXI: Ikv ny”

Artakha on January 23, 2015 at 2:58 pm said:

What a sexy beast. I hope we will get it in WoT.
- elwiscomeback on January 23, 2015 at 3:06 pm said:
  
  so cute tank :3
- Neoros on January 23, 2015 at 3:28 pm said:
  
  SS! You swedish-tank-lover!
  21st part!?
  And what about PL tenks!?
  What with them in the game? – you surely know something! What do you say?
  - Karika on January 23, 2015 at 3:52 pm said:
    
    These are sp15′s articles, SS was just kind enough to give him an opportunity to publish them on his blog.
    All we all knew is that WG is seriously thinking about implementing Swedish tanks into their game, along with many other European tanks. Although, no details are known yet.
  - mr_hanky on January 23, 2015 at 5:32 pm said:
    
    Man- just in this single article there is 17 interesting tank projects and some of them are looking really original compared to what we already had in WOT. And what we can bring to EU tree except of copies of soviet stuff and “Czolg Pancernik” – a 5 minutes sketch done on toilet (with all the respect for Stanislaw Lem) which looks like monkey doodle in comparison to every drawing in this article. Let’s face it- Swedish tanks looks: fresh, original and interesting. And this is what we need in WOT. Now what we don’t need is a 1253353754835743573′th copy of T55. And I’m polish btw.
    - Karika on January 23, 2015 at 5:49 pm said:
      
      Feel free to educate yourself about the European tanks and AFVs. For example take a look at the FTR’s ‘History’ tab.
      There are plenty of other Italian, Czechoslovak, Hungarian, Swiss, Yugoslav, Romanian – and so on – tanks that are “original” or “interesting”.
      - mr_hanky on January 23, 2015 at 5:55 pm said:
        
        By [And what we can bring to EU tree except of copies of soviet stuff and “Czolg Pancernik”] I was referring just to polish AFVs. I’m interested in Italian, Czechoslovak and Hungarian stuff as much as you…
CyberMaroon on January 23, 2015 at 3:01 pm said:

That’s a lotta tanks.
imperiumgraecum on January 23, 2015 at 3:07 pm said:

It seems Sweds seem to fancy peculiar tank designs :)
Verus on January 23, 2015 at 3:10 pm said:

Hägglund’s redesigned Ikv looks awesome!
Hokum on January 23, 2015 at 3:12 pm said:

Don’t forget the Diesel armour! These tanks have fuel cans and fuel tanks for anti HEAT protection!
- veryoldman on January 23, 2015 at 3:24 pm said:
  
  And it is surprisingly effective. Even a 4mm plywood plate placed some 40 cm away from the mail hull can make HEAT ammunition become pthetically weak.
  - ExoNut on January 23, 2015 at 3:25 pm said:
    
    This an be useful for tier X games
    - loner85 on January 23, 2015 at 4:05 pm said:
      
      Like the stereotypical blue-purple E-100 player, HEAT-only.
ExoNut on January 23, 2015 at 3:14 pm said:

Holy shit, those designs are just fucking awesome.

10/10 would grind ;__;
FlakEater on January 23, 2015 at 3:28 pm said:

hey, SS have you made the article about the 103 in wot? or have i just missed it? because, you know the one with the 103 has no part about how it would work in wot.
Ferdinand Porsche on January 23, 2015 at 3:32 pm said:

Now you know why I am so proud swedish and believe that we saved the war…
- Woras on January 23, 2015 at 4:08 pm said:
  
  Proud? Lol.
plitterusmaximus on January 23, 2015 at 3:44 pm said:

SS do you know if wg is actually going to implement these? would def grind
tronicson on January 23, 2015 at 3:47 pm said:

Ha! Dat IKEA Tank :)
- TheGreatWolf on January 26, 2015 at 11:53 am said:
  
  It may be pretty cheap but you still have to put it together yourself tho
- TheGreatWolf on January 26, 2015 at 11:53 am said:
  
  It may be pretty cheap but you still have to put it together yourself :)
gunsrlove on January 23, 2015 at 4:01 pm said:

I hope someone from Obsidian is reading this.

Be a shame to let them go to waste
loner85 on January 23, 2015 at 4:04 pm said:

Ahh…as a TD lover this makes me happy to see that the swedes even had something for me there…god bless this beautiful country!
Potilas on January 23, 2015 at 5:10 pm said:

And some say it’s problematic to complete a whole European tree…
- AppyRose on January 23, 2015 at 6:42 pm said:
  
  Swedes are getting their own tree now. Not part of a combined European Tree.
  Appy
  - red_warning on January 23, 2015 at 9:33 pm said:
    
    In about a year to be precise
    Big D
TankaTed on January 23, 2015 at 8:34 pm said:

I WANT IT ALL!

I WANT IT ALL!!

I WANT IT ALL!!!

AND I WANT IT NOW!
tiger61378 on January 23, 2015 at 10:31 pm said:

A whole line of E25s….Yes please!