Panzer 61 (Pz 61)

History

With the military and political commitment of the United States and Europe, the Korean War (1950-1953) focused on the Korean peninsula, the Swiss Army needed a modernized armored force to withstand the threat of a Soviet invasion during the Cold War and could not trust them and the usual sources to get new mounts. This prompted the establishment of an independent tank business in Switzerland, which led to the first Swiss tank design in the "Panzer 58" (Pz 58). The type was initially armed with a British 90mm gun in prototype form, and then as a follow-up pilot vehicle with a British 20lb (84mm) gun. The completed moulds - ten of which went into production - were made with British 105mm guns.

The production time span of this tank was from 1957 to 1961, and the units were in service from 1958 to 1964 before a more refined design with the Panzer 61.

Much of the groundwork for the improved Panzer 61 has been laid in the finished Panzer 51, which in every way justifies the Pz 61 in pre-production form. The Pz 61 was also equipped with a Mercedes-Benz 8-cylinder diesel engine (producing 630 hp) and was equipped with the excellent Royal Ordnance L7 series towed 105mm main gun, in contrast to the T-54/T-55 widely used at the time main battle tank. The Pz 61 can handle a top speed of 31 mph and a range of 160 miles - both improving on the Pz 51's top speed of 19 mph and a range of 100 miles. Auxiliary armament includes a 7.5mm coaxial machine gun (earlier versions had a coaxially mounted 20mm machine gun) cannon and a roof-mounted 7.5mm anti-aircraft machine gun.

Six smoke grenade launchers are mounted on the sides of the turret in two rows of three to enable the vehicle to provide its own smoke screen.

Like the Pz 51, the tank consisted of four people - the driver in the front central hull, the commander and gunner on the right side of the turret, and the loader on the left (two roof hatches on the turret). ). The landing gear includes six dual tire wheels on the fuselage side, three track return rollers, a rear mounted drive sprocket and a front mounted track idler. Suspension is achieved with a torsion bar arrangement for good off-road capability. The hull was rather sturdy in shape, typical of Western main battle tanks at the time, while the turret was carefully cast for basic ballistic protection. The engine is mounted in the rear compartment in the usual way.

Overall, the Pz 61 proved to be the most conventional main battle tank design of the Cold War era, being classified as a Swiss "medium tank" at a time when "main battle tanks" began to play a major role in the armored formations of major world powers.

The Pz 61 has an operational weight of 43 tons, a length of 9.45 meters, a width of 3 meters and a height of 2.7 meters. Armor protection is provided by approximately 120mm thick Rolled Homogeneous Armor (RHA) on key panels.

The main gun was loaded with 56 rounds and the two machine guns were loaded with approximately 3,200 rounds of 7.5mm ammunition.

Since the Pz 58 series was mainly used as a pre-production bracket for the Pz 61, the Swiss government was able to quickly order 150 Pz 61 prototypes, as the design was a tried and true commodity at the time. The Pz 61 was delivered over the period from 1965 to 1967 and production was taken over by Eidgenossische Konstruktionswerkstatte Thun, the previous manufacturer of the Pz 51 series.

The focus also used the chassis as the basis for the proposed "Panzerkanone 68" self-propelled gun (SPG), although only four of this type were ever completed, since the Swiss Army decided to buy the American M109.

In practice, the Pz 61 series proved to be a viable vehicle for the Swiss Army, although further improvements were soon envisaged and implemented throughout the life of the tank. The Pz 61 was in service until 1994, which is a remarkable achievement considering the vehicle was introduced in 1965.

By this time, the improved Panzer 68, the immediate successor of the Pz 61, was already in service in limited numbers, with 390 units produced from 1971 to 1983.

From now on, all Swiss Army indigenous tanks will eventually be replaced by the excellent German Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks (like Panzer 87/Pz 87). No Pz 61 vehicles have ever been exported.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

56x105mm shells

3,200 x 7.5mm ammo

Changes