Landsverk L-101 Tank Destroyer

[Tzoli]

Hello

I wish to know more about this elusive Swedish tank. The few articles I could find about it is regarded to the L-100 tank with 20mm AT gun. Do you guys know more about this vehicle? A drawing or photo maybe? Does even the Swedish built the L-101?

 

[Tzoli]

Not a single one of this forum have any info about this vehicle???

 

[Nico]

Hi Tzoli,
I never researched such topic but your post raised my curiousity.
More or less all the available sources read:
In 1933-4 the tank department of the company (Landsverk) had also turned their attention to ultra-light tanks of less than five tons in weight. They designed two such machines, the L-100 and the L-101. The L-100 prototype, developed in 1934, was a small 4.5ton tank armed with a single machine-gun and with a striking speed of 55kph. It seems that the L-101 design (which actually preceded the tank possessing the earlier designation) was dropped soon after the first drawing-board studies.

That seems to mean that no prototype was ever built and that were only some drawings, but as the only known photograph of the L-100 depicts a prototype armed with a 20-mm gun instead of the machine-gun, we could speculate that the light tank was completed (or modified later) as L-101, but it is only a possibility.
I think it is better to have the opinion of some experts on Swedish armour
Nico

 

[Grey Havoc]

To add to that, one source describes the L-101 as a proposal for a 'ultra-light tank destroyer', apparently intended as a way of getting around some rather ridiculous Swedish traffic laws which were then restricting the movement of armoured vehicles on public highways.

It's likely, but not confirmed, that the original L-101 concept was a turretless design with heavier armor (15mm at it's thickest?) than the L-100 (9mm at it's thickest), with a fixed Madsen 20mm A/T gun (confirmed) as it's intended primary armament. For some reason, the design team didn't consider the Bofors 37mm anti-tank gun, although this may have been because a (domestically produced) tank mounted version wasn't readily available at the time the concept was drawn up.


Madsen 20mm A/T gun (also known as the Madsen 20mm cannon) specs:

Overall length of gun: 73 inches; Barrel length: 47.5 inches.
Weight of gun: 134.25 Ibs.; Operation: Recoil & spring.
Weight of magazine: 19.5 Ibs (with 15 rounds), 8 Ibs (empty).
Method of firing: By hand or electrical control. Air cooled.
Practical weight of fire: 150 rounds per minute.
Ammunition: T2 Practice Tracer; AP Armour Piercing;
APES Armour Piercing Explosive Shell;
APT Armour Piercing Tracer.
Muzzle velocity: 773 m / sec (APT)

APT penetration: 22mm of nickel chrome at 1,000 yards (claimed);
30mm of same at 600 yards (claimed).

Specifications taken from Irish Army Vehicles - Transport and Armour since 1922, by Karl Martin [2002 edition].

 

[Tzoli]

I'm searching for a drawing for the Tank Destroyer, and looks like some drawing were made?

 

[Tzoli]

Nobody found new info or drawing about this Tank Destroyer vehicle?

 

[Apophenia]

... For some reason, the design team didn't consider the Bofors 37mm anti-tank gun, although this may have been because a (domestically produced) tank mounted version wasn't readily available at the time the concept was drawn up.

You're right that at a domestic tank-mount wasn't available in 1933-34. Some sources list the tankgun m/38 variant as not appearing until 1938 (although that seems odd since the first L-10 aka Stridsvagn m/40s had been delivered in 1935).

It may also be revealing that the Swedes bought Carden-Loyds to test towing m/34 Bofors guns not carry them.

 

[Tzoli]

(although that seems odd since the first L-10 aka Stridsvagn m/40s had been delivered in 1935).

I could answer this: according to my friend these m/xy numbers represent not the development date but when the Swedish military accepted the weapons.

 

[Apophenia]

I could answer this: according to my friend these m/xy numbers represent not the development date but when the Swedish military accepted the weapons.

Thanks Tzoli. So does that imply that the L-10 was prototyped in 1935 but not accepted by the Swedish Army until 1940? If so, the timing of the tank gun makes more sense.

 

[Boxman]

** PLEASE MOVE IF THERE IS A MORE APPROPRIATE EXISTING TOPIC **

I am not sure if this is the appropriate place to put this, but since it does appear to be a related development to the armored vehicles discussed herein, here is British Pathe newsreel footage of the prototype AB Landsverk L30 / Stridsvagn fm/31 (Strv fm/31) tank (or is it an armored car ("armoured car")?), which featured tracks and deployable wheels.

The vehicle is still extant and is an exhibit at the Swedish Tank Museum (Arsenalen Tank Museum, Strängnäs, Sweden). As per this site - http://tank-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/stridsvagn-strv-fm31-swedish-tank.html

The Swedish Strv fm/31 tank would have had a four man crew. It was designed to have been protected by armour plating that ranged from 8-24mm. It would have been armed with a 37mm Bofors cannon and two 6.5mm machine guns. The prototype was powered by a V12 Maybach DSO 8 petro engine that produced 150hp. The tank had a maximum road speed of 40 km/h. When the four road wheels were deployed it had a maximum road speed of 75 km/h which made it one of the fastest tanks in the world in 1932. It weighed 11,500 kg. Only one Stridsvagn fm/31 tank was ever built.

YouTube - British Pathé: "The Wheel And Caterpillar Car" (1934-1935)

 

[jsport]

** PLEASE MOVE IF THERE IS A MORE APPROPRIATE EXISTING TOPIC **

I am not sure if this is the appropriate place to put this, but since it does appear to be a related development to the armored vehicles discussed herein, here is British Pathe newsreel footage of the prototype AB Landsverk L30 / Stridsvagn fm/31 (Strv fm/31) tank (or is it an armored car ("armoured car")?), which featured tracks and deployable wheels.

The vehicle is still extant and is an exhibit at the Swedish Tank Museum (Arsenalen Tank Museum, Strängnäs, Sweden). As per this site - http://tank-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/stridsvagn-strv-fm31-swedish-tank.html

The Swedish Strv fm/31 tank would have had a four man crew. It was designed to have been protected by armour plating that ranged from 8-24mm. It would have been armed with a 37mm Bofors cannon and two 6.5mm machine guns. The prototype was powered by a V12 Maybach DSO 8 petro engine that produced 150hp. The tank had a maximum road speed of 40 km/h. When the four road wheels were deployed it had a maximum road speed of 75 km/h which made it one of the fastest tanks in the world in 1932. It weighed 11,500 kg. Only one Stridsvagn fm/31 tank was ever built.

YouTube - British Pathé: "The Wheel And Caterpillar Car" (1934-1935)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8qTyOGVBvA

reguardless, awesome vid. thank you very much for postin