The Jagdpanzer MOWAG Cheetah is a

Jagdpanzer ''Jagdpanzer'' ("tank destroyer") (JgPz) is the name given in German to an armored, tracked tank destroyer, although it may also be used for other kinds of self-propelled guns. Translated from German, ''Jagdpanzer'' meaning "hunting tank". I ...

(tank hunter) made by

Mowag Mowag is a Swiss company founded in 1950, which develops, designs and produces armoured fighting vehicles for military applications in both land-only and amphibious configurations. These vehicles have gross vehicle weights ranging from 9 tonn ...

in Switzerland.

History and development

In 1960, the West German

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

started a development project with the purpose of creating a new casemate tank destroyer armed with the 90mm

anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...

from their obsolete

M47 Patton The M47 Patton was an American medium tank, a development of the M46 Patton mounting an updated turret, and was in turn further developed as the M48 Patton. It was the second American tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commande ...

tanks. Three different proposals were offered by the companies

Henschel Henschel & Son () was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons. Georg C ...

Hanomag Hanomag (Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG, ) was a German producer of steam locomotives, tractors, trucks and military vehicles in Hanover. Hanomag first achieved international fame by delivering numerous steam locomotives to Finland, Romania and ...

and Mowag. Each company completed a single prototype for a comparison test. The Bundeswehr eventually chose the Hanomag prototype and put it into production as the

Kanonenjagdpanzer The Kanonenjagdpanzer (''KanJPz'') was a West German Cold War tank destroyer. Its design was very similar to that of the World War II Jagdpanzer IV. Name The Kanonenjagdpanzer is also known as the Jagdpanzer, Kanone 90mm ("tank destroyer, 90mm ...

. Built in early 1960, the ''MOWAG Cheetah'' has

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

NBC protection Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) or Nuclear, biological, and chemical protection (NBC protection) is a class of protective measures taken in situations where chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclea ...

, and an automatic fire detection and extinguishing system in the engine compartment. The only prototype is now in the Military Museum Full.Militärmuseum Full Switzerland Marcus Bauer, Nutzfahrzeuge der MOWAG Motorwagenfabrik AG, Fachpresse Goldach, Hudson & Company, 1996

References

{{Fire support vehicles Self-propelled anti-tank gun Armoured fighting vehicles of Switzerland Tank destroyers Abandoned military projects of Switzerland