Strv 127
| Stridsvagn 127 | |
|---|---|
 Acrean Strv 127A | |
| Type | Main Battle Tank |
| Place of origin |  Acrea |
| Service history | |
| In service | Undergoing Trials |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Rjukan Industrier AB Landrut AB Kobalt-Zeiss & Co KG Thyssen AB |
| Designed | 1998-2016 |
| Manufacturer | Rjukan Industrier AB |
| Produced | 2016-Present |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 48 tonnes |
| Length | 7.7 metres (hull) |
| Width | 3.6 metres |
| Height | 2.4 metres |
| Crew | 3 |
Main armament | KvK M050 120mm smoothbore gun |
Secondary armament | 7.62mm MG 59 Various Top-Mounted 7.62mm and 12.7mm machine guns |
| Engine | Thyssen MTU M21B-27 hyperbar diesel 1110kw (1500 hp) |
| Power/weight | 27.2 kw/t (28 hp/t) |
| Transmission | Thyssen ML500 Automatic Transmission |
| Suspension | Hydropneumatic in-arm suspension unit |
Operational range | 550 km |
| Speed | 75 km/h (Road) ~55 km/h (Cross-Country) |
The Stridsvagn 127 is a main battle tank developed by Rjukan Industrier AB with technical assistance from Landrut AB. Originally designed as a technology demonstrator in the late 2000s, the Strv 127 finished development in order to undergo testing and trials. In comparison to the Strv 126 which is a more advanced development of the Strv 124, the Puma is a substantially different design focused around lighter weight and the integration of new technologies from the drawing board. In comparison to the Pantera, the Puma is much lighter; the most heavily armoured variants of the Pantera come in at nearly 70 tonnes, whereas the heaviest variant of the Strv 127 reaches 48 tonnes. Although the Pantera is considered to be more heavily protected, the heavy protection comes at a cost in strategic mobility that the Strv 127 is intended to cover. The other prominent features include the Landrut-designed autoloader first tested on the Pantera with a brand new turret design, and an in-arm suspension unit which allows control of individual roadwheels in comparison to the Pantera's simpler hydropneumatic suspension. If adopted, Strv 127 will serve as part of the organic armoured component of Acrean infantry divisions, where its lesser logistial requirements provide the greatest advantage.
History
Development
Design
Armament
Originally equipped with the same M171 55-calibre smoothbore cannon as the Strv 124, since 2020 the Puma is equipped with an Kvk M050 smoothbore 120mm cannon functionally identical to the KvK M181 used on the Strv 126. The Strv 127 utilises an autloader fitted with an automatic casette magazine in the turret bustle, a predecessor to the the automatic magazine fitted to Landrut's proposed compact autoloader that was tested on but did not enter service with both variants of the Pantera. Integration of the autoloader was a key design feature of the Strv 127.
Mobility
The Strv 127 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 also being able to function as an 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 127 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. 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.