Future development study by the armor committee of 1946
This study (dated 1946-07-02) presents what the armor committee of 1946 thinks future Swedish tank developments should focus on, in light of foreign developments, current technical limitations, requirements and desires from the army headquarters and various other factors. The study is about 50 pages long plus seven appendices, not all of which are present here.
The committee finds that research should focus on:
- raising the muzzle velocity of current anti-tank guns above 900 m/s
- improving current AP rounds so that they don’t shatter at impact velocities over 900 m/s, possibly by using a core of a harder material
- finding a way to make HEAT rounds work at high impact velocities
- developing an effective protection against HEAT rounds
- studying the actual damage effects of HEAT rounds
Further, it recommends that development should start on:
A) a tank, preferably no heavier than 25 tons, armed with either a 7,5 cm or a 10,5 cm gun, with a specific engine power of about 20 hp/ton and protected frontally against guns of up to 57 mm caliber at 400 meters.
B) a tank destroyer, no heavier than 30 tons, armed with either 10,5 cm kan m/34 or 10,5 cm lvkan m/42, with a specific engine power of about 17 hp/ton and frontal protection against guns of up to 7,5 cm caliber at 800 meters.
Finally, it also discusses re-use of older tanks, such as rebuilding strv m/41 into a TD with a 7,5 cm gun.
Archive reference: SE/KrA/0062/D/01/025:H/F I/8
