Infanterikanonvagn 72


The Infanterikanonvagn 72 was a light assault gun developed by Landsverk.

History

In early 1949, the Swedish Army initiated a project for an assault gun was to provide direct fire support for infantry attacks. The vehicle was intended to replace towed guns in the infantry support role. Requirements for the new vehicle included low cost so that many vehicles can be constructed and small, lightweight design with a limit of 6 tons.
In 1952, Landsverk took part in this project.
From 1953 to 1954, 36 Ikv 72s were delivered to the Swedish Army.

Description

The Ikv 72 has a casemate design with an open top superstructure. The superstructure is at the front of the vehicle, while the engine and gearbox were placed at the rear. An unusual feature of the Ikv 72 is that the drive wheels were placed at the rear. The weight of the vehicle was 8 ton. The Ikv 72 was to be manned by a crew of four.
The gun was mounted at the front of the vehicle and gun traverse was limited to 5 degrees. Although gun caliber for the Ikv 72 was supposed to be at least 105mm, no 105mm gun was available at that time. Hence, the vehicle was armed with the 75mm m/41 gun L/34 of the Stridsvagn m/42 as a temporary measure. The Ikv 72 fires HE shells.

Variants

Infanterikanonvagn 102

From 1956 to 1958, Ikv 72 was modified to Infanterikanonvagn 102. Armour hatches were attached to the top of superstructure so as to protect the crew from shrapnel and sniper fire.The 75mm gun was replaced by 105mm gun with a muzzle brake developed by Bofors. The weight of the vehicle was increased to 8.80 tons. In the 1960s, the Ikv 102 was given HEAT shells for defense against other armoured fighting vehicles in addition to HE shells.

Infanterikanonvagn 103

Infanterikanonvagn 103 was a minor improvement of the Ikv 102. The Ikv 103 still retained the 105mm gun. It received an engine upgrade and was equipped with the B42 horizontally-opposed four-cylinder engine developed by Volvo Aero. Air intake was not via the crew compartment anymore but via grills on the rear of the vehicle. The weight of the vehicle still remained at 8.80 tons.
There were attempts to export the Ikv 103 design to India and other countries. In the early 1980s, Ikv 103 was converted to Pansarvärnsrobotbandvagn 551 and Luftvärnsrobotvagn 701.