Jagdpanzer SK 105 Kurassier

History

The SK 105 light tank was a tank destroyer developed by Saurer-Werke for the Austrian Armed Forces during the Cold War. Its design focuses on mounting a powerful 105mm towed main gun armament in a movable turret superstructure on a light tracked undercarriage. As a tank destroyer, the SK 105 was naturally required to destroy enemy armor from a distance, filling the void in the Austrian mechanized forces - the Soviet heavy tank force was the main enemy at the time. Design work on the vehicle began in 1965, and then prototype testing was completed in 1967 - essentially based on the previous Saurer 4K 4FA armored personnel carrier from 1961. Saurer-Werke then became the now-dissolved Steyr-Daimler-Puch Consortium in 1970.

The tank was officially designated the SK 105 "Kurraisser" (sometimes "SK-105"), and licensed mass production began in 1971.

The SK 105 is a traditionally designed tank design. It features a simple hull, a well-raked front wing, a flat hull structure and a set back engine compartment. The turret was placed amidships to provide the required balance when driving and firing.

The hull is mounted on a track system consisting of five wheels on one side of the hull, with the drive sprocket at the rear and the track idler at the front. Three sprockets guide the chain over the wheels. The car is driven by three people: the driver, the tank commander and the gunner.

The driver sits on the left front of the hull, and the rest of the crew sits in the turret (commander on the left, gunner on the right). NBC protection for the entire crew, infrared equipment is located at the driver's and commander's positions.

Armor protection is 40mm thick at its thickest point to deal with threats of 20mm or less firepower. The total weight is about 19.5 tons.

The SK 105 is unique in its "swinging" turret design - the Fives-Cail Babcock FL-12 series based on the AMX-13 turret. Swing turrets are not common in general main battle tanks, but have been used successfully in the French AMX-13 light tank family and the Panhard EBR armoured vehicle family, to name a few. The advantage of this design is that the turret can accommodate a heavy, large-caliber main gun in a fairly modest light hull configuration.

The turret basically consists of two separate parts - an upper and a lower half, with the main gun mounted on the upper half to absorb the recoil of the firing action that moves with it during operation. The upper and lower parts of the tower are hinged and their connecting areas are covered with visible canvas.

Since the main gun is mounted in the upper part, the elevation angle is achieved by swinging the entire upper part of the turret over the lower part. When traversing, the tower swings to either side in the normal way to complete a 360-degree rotation.

The turret response function is powered, although a manual emergency system is provided for worst-case scenarios.

The main firepower comes from the aforementioned 105mm rifled main gun. The 105mm gun system was a proven tank killer at the time and was used in many of the prominent frontline main battle tank designs of the era.

Due to the lack of a special charge for the main battery, the SK 105 crew reloaded the main battery from a pair of "turret-like" magazines, each containing six projectiles. This design configuration allowed the required crew to be reduced to three (as opposed to the widely accepted four in most Western tanks) while keeping the turret small. This results in a smaller side and front profile while reducing building materials and costs.

However, reloading required one of the crew to disembark in order to reload the gun through the busy turret. Spent cartridges are automatically ejected through a door in the hubbub. Secondary armament consists of a 7.62mm machine gun mounted on a coaxial mount next to the main gun. The entire design holds a 42 x 105mm projectile while carrying 2,000 x 7.62mm machine gun ammunition. Ammunition types for the 105mm main gun include standard high-explosive (HE), high-explosive, anti-tank (HEAT), armor-piercing, fin stabilized abandonment (APFSDS) and smoke grenades.

Six smoke grenade launchers are arranged on each side of the turret in groups of three.

The SK 105 internally relies on an internal liquid-cooled Steyr 7FA 6-cylinder, 4-stroke, 320 hp turbo diesel engine. This gives the chassis a top speed of 43 mph and a range of up to 310 miles on ideal surfaces. The suspension system is a proven torsion bar design. Overall, the SK 105 offers excellent maneuverability and climbing conditions, making it suitable for combat in extremely rough terrain.

The tank can cross 1m open water, 0.8m high obstacles and 2.41m wide gaps. Gradients up to 75% can be mastered.

The SK 105/A1 production model was eventually upgraded to the new SK 105/A2 standard, the Fire Control System (FCS) was replaced, and a fully automatic main battery reloading system was implemented. Main guns are now stabilized for "moving" fire. The SK 105/A3 branding is a proposed prototype form with a new swinging turret design and increased armor.

The car will use the US M68 105mm main gun, which can fire NATO standard projectiles. This chassis was later used in three different but related production forms as the "Greif" ARV (armored rescue vehicle with hydraulic crane, winch and dozer blade), the "Pionier" CEV (combat engineering vehicle) and the SK-105 "Fahrschulpanzer". ", a derivative of the towerless trainer.

Since its inception, the SK 105 has only been in service with the armed forces of Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Morocco and Tunisia. Austria has by far the largest operational SK 105 fleet, with around 286 prototypes in service at peak. In total, about 716 SK 105 tanks were produced.

The Austrian Armed Forces have now discontinued the use of the SK 105 series.

The name "Curraisser" comes from the cavalry, armored and armed cavalry seen throughout Europe in the late 15th century.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

42 x 105mm bullet

2,000 x 7.62mm ammo

6 x Smoke Grenade

Changes