Strv 128
| Stridsvagn 126 Pantera II | |
|---|---|
 Acrean Strv 126A2 | |
| Type | Main Battle Tank |
| Place of origin |  Acrea |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2016-Present |
| Used by | Acrea |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Landrut AB Rjukan Industrier ASA Kobalt-Zeiss ASA Thyssen AB |
| Designed | 1996-2016 |
| Manufacturer | Landrut AB |
| Produced | 2016-Present |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 67 tonnes |
| Length | 7.7 metres (hull) |
| Width | 4.0 metres |
| Height | 2.55 metres |
| Crew | 4 |
Main armament | KvK M181 120mm smoothbore gun |
Secondary armament | 7.62mm MG 59 Various Top-Mounted 7.62mm and 12.7mm machine guns |
| Engine | Thyssen MFH-160HP hydrobar diesel engine 1,270 kw (1,703 hp) |
| Power/weight | 18.6 kw/t (25 hp/t) |
| Transmission | Thyssen CVTM-TC Continuously Variable Transmission |
| Suspension | Hydropneumatic suspension |
Operational range | 500 km |
| Speed | 75 km/h (Road) ~50 km/h (Cross-Country) |
The Stridsvagn 126 Pantera II is a main battle tank developed by Landrut AB for the Acrean Armed Forces. It entered production in 2016, and is a direct development of the Strv 124 main battle tank and is intended to replace it in Acrean service. Development of the Pantera II initially began in 1996 as part of a complete upgrade package for the Pantera. The improvements developed during the initial development period from 1996-2001 were instead applied as improvements to the Strv 124 fleet, with the proposed Strv 126 withheld from production shortly following the start of the Zemplen War. Acrean experience in the conflict was the catalyst for the restart of development; excellent performance by the Pantera during the war solidified it as the basis for which the new tank would be developed on, in particular the adaptability and upgradability that the Pantera displayed in not only accepting new developments during the first phases of Pantera II's development, but in its ability to be rapidly and effectively modified for the Ruvelkan military's needs during the conflict which would allow further upgrades on the Pantera II to be retrofitted to allied tank fleets.
History
Development
Design
Armament
The Strv 126 was originally produced with the conventional 55 calibre M171 120mm smoothbore cannon, identical to that used on the Strv 124. Beginning in 2020, the Strv 126 has been produced with the M181 120mm smoothbore gun, an ETC-derivative of the conventional M171.
Electrothermal-chemical propulsion began development as a joint project between the government Royal Army Defence Research and Development Laboratory and Landrut Systems in 1984. The first successful test firings of the pre-production gun took place in 2019, and the gun entered production in late 2019 after being fitted to a production Strv 126. Mass of the M181 is slightly greater than that of the M171, and the system is further modified by a longer recoil mechanism to accommodate the greater muzzle energy of the M181.
The gun does not produce the originally desired muzzle energy equivalent to that of 140mm guns, however the maturity of the technology provided a performance increase considered suitable to being put into a production cannon. Specifications regarding the cannon remain unreleased and classified, however reports indicate that its performance compare favourably to both the Acrean-designed 130mm main gun, and estimates of performance of the Azurlav Mammut 3's 130mm main gun in testing.
The Strv 126 utilises an autloader fitted with an automatic magazine in the turret bustle, directly developed from the automatic magazine fitted to Landrut's proposed compact autoloader which is fitted to "V"-variant Strv 124s. A moderate increase in the size of the turret bustle and modernisation of components for the magazine allowed the stowed ready ammunition within the bustle to reach 38 rounds.
Mobility
The Pantera II is equipped with a 1600 horsepower MFH-160HP hybrid diesel powerplant. The HP indicates that the powerplant utilises a hyperbar system, in which the primary diesel engine's turbocharger is replaced with a gas turbine which acts both as the engine's supercharger and auxiliary power unit. Engine exhaust which is redirected to the top of the vehicle is cooled to reduce the thermal signature, and the hull design integrates other materials to reduce the engine's thermal signature.
The suspension system as originally designed technically allows independent control of each road wheel, however this capability was considered unnecessary and so the final design implemented on Strv 126 is a simplified hydropneumatic suspension system akin to the Strv 124's, and simply allows the tank to change the angle of the hull relative to the terrain with ease. Leaning the hull forward or back to gain gun depression and elevation, or tilting the hull on sloped terrain to level the gun were features well-regarded by crews during testing and so this feature taken from the Strv 124's hyrdopneumatic suspension were maintained. Likewise, the overall height of the tank can be adjusted, although the tank is either limited in movement or forced to be stationary when not at standard ride height depending on the attitude. An automatic track tensioning system was tested and implemented on some early prototypes, however added complexity, cost, and maintenance required by this system was not considered efficient and so the same simple tensioning system of the Strv 124 was retained.
Protection
The armour composition of the Pantera II is classified, but is reportedly a development from that of the Strv 124C. The composition is reported to provide equal protection at 60% of the weight as the armour of Strv 124 according to Landrut. The Strv 126 is occasionally referred to in media as a "heavy tank" due to its increased weight in spite of its new armour composition, which suggests increased armour protection. The internal redesign of the tank matching those changes made to the Strv 124C mean that it retains the same increase in space available to increase the frontal hull armour, alongside a new frontal geometry that steepens the front slope of the tank and increases protection along the frontal arc of the hull with the upper hull angled to shatter monobloc penetrators and the lower hull thickened.
Variants and upgrades
- Strv 126A: Initial production variant introduced in 2015.
- Strv 126A2: Upgraded variant equipped with the M181 cannon and accompanying improved fire control system
- Strv 126NI: Test production variant equipped with an M187 cannon, a shortened variant of the M181 with an overall length of 46 calibres