Swedish army starts to increase its tank capability with the Stridsvagn 122 MBT

According to information released by the Swedish army, the new Gotland Regiment has now started reconstructing the tank capability using Stridsvagn 122 MBT (Main Battle Tank) after a twenty-year gap. Next year’s conscript training will focus on tanks and in 2025, the tank company Lärbro will be fully manned.
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Stridsvagn 122 main battle tank of the Swedish army. (Picture source Swedish MoD)

”The tanks are a considerable reinforcement of the capability of my unit. We have now secured the capability needed for training the next generation, starting next summer” says Ulf Hamberg, head of the 181st Tank Battalion.

During an exercise in the last two weeks of September, the tanks were reintroduced as part of the battalion and 20 September, 2021, the Gotland Regiment exercised live-firing with tanks for the first time since May 2000. The tanks were partly manned by temporarily employed personnel trained in Skövde, with wartime postings in Gotland.

Stridsvagn 122 (Strv 122) is a Swedish main battle tank based on the German Leopard 2A5 featuring improving components such as command and control systems, fire-control systems, as well as reinforced armor. The front of the hull, as well as the turret, are fitted with a 3rd generation of composite armour to increase protection against anti-tank guided missiles and  Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs). 

The armament of the Stridsvagn 122 includes one 120 mm Rheinmetall L44 smoothbore tank gun, one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and one 7.62mm machine gun mounted on the commander cupola. The tank is powered by a an MTU MB 873 Ka-501 liquid-cooled V-12 Twin-turbo diesel engine developing 1,479 hp at 2,600 rpm. It can run at a maximum road speed of 68 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 550 km.