The Infanterikanonvagn 72 (Ikv 72) is a light

assault gun An assault gun (from , , meaning "assault gun") is a type of armored infantry support vehicle and self-propelled artillery, mounting an infantry support gun on a protected self-propelled chassis, intended for providing infantry with heavy di ...

vehicle developed by Swedish firm

AB Landsverk AB Landsverk (full name: Aktiebolaget Landsverk, ) was a Swedish heavy industry company, manufacturing a wide variety of tracked and wheeled military vehicles, such as tractor units, off-road vehicles and armored car (military), armoured vehicle ...

in the early 1950s.

History

In early 1949, the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

initiated a project for an assault gun was to provide

direct fire Direct fire or line-of-sight fire refers to firing of a ranged weapon whose projectile is launched directly at a target within the line-of-sight of the user. The firing weapon must have a sighting device and an unobstructed view to the target, ...

support for

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

attacks. The vehicle was intended to replace towed

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

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 A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...

design with an open top

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

at the front of the vehicle, and an engine and gearbox 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 tons. The Ikv 72 had 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 105 mm, no 105 mm gun was available then. Thus, the vehicle was armed with the 75 mm m/41 gun L/34 of the

Stridsvagn m/42 Stridsvagn m/42 (Strv m/42) was a Swedish medium tank in service in the World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of ...

as a temporary measure. The Ikv 72 fires

high explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

(HE) shells.

Variants

Infanterikanonvagn 102

From 1956 to 1958, Ikv 72 was modified to Infanterikanonvagn 102 (Ikv 102). Armour hatches were attached to the top of superstructure so as to protect the crew from shrapnel and sniper fire.The 75 mm gun was replaced by 105 mm gun with a

muzzle brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral (ported barrel) to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter re ...

developed by Bofors. The weight of the vehicle was increased to 8.80 tons. In the 1960s, the Ikv 102 was given

high-explosive anti-tank High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity ...

(HEAT) shells for defense against other armoured fighting vehicles in addition to HE shells.

Infanterikanonvagn 103

Infanterikanonvagn 103 (Ikv 103) was a minor improvement of the Ikv 102. The Ikv 103 still retained the 105 mm gun. It received an engine upgrade and was equipped with the B42 horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine developed by

Volvo Aero Volvo Aero was a Swedish aircraft engine, aircraft, guided missiles and rocket engine manufacturer. It became ''GKN Aerospace Engine Systems'' following the company's acquisition by British engineering conglomerate GKN during 2012. It was ori ...

. 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 India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and other countries. In the early 1980s, Ikv 103 was converted to

Pansarvärnsrobotbandvagn 551 The Pansarvärnsrobotbandvagn 551 (pvrbv 551) was a tank destroyer developed by Landsverk and Hägglund & Söner. History When the Infanterikanonvagn 102/103 was replaced in 1975 to 1978 with the Infanterikanonvagn 91, the Swedish Army used t ...

and Luftvärnsrobotvagn 701.

References

{{ColdWarSwedishAFVs Landsverk vehicles Fire support vehicles Armoured fighting vehicles of Sweden Assault guns of the Cold War Tank destroyers of the Cold War Military vehicles introduced in the 1950s