Strv 81

Strv 81

Strv 74

Strv 101

Strv 81

Strv 74

Strv 101

Sweden

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
7.7	7.7	7.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:95 000

Purchase:270 000

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Description

The Stridsvagn 81 is a rank V Swedish medium tank with a battle rating of 7.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.97 "Viking Fury".

General info

Survivability and armour

Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.

Mobility

Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	39	14	50.8	1007	1,240	19.82	24.41
Realistic	35	12		575	650	11.32	12.8

Armaments

Main armament

84 mm Kan Strv 81					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	65	-10°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane	19.0	__._	__._	__._	__._	8.1	_._	_._	_._
Realistic					11.9	__._	__._	__._	__._

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
slpprj	APCBC	232	229	216	201	187	173
slpprj m/54	APDS	285	283	262	239	218	198
slsgr m/53	HE	15	15	15	15	15	15

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
slpprj	APCBC	1,000	9.1	N/A	N/A	N/A	48°	63°	71°
slpprj m/54	APDS	1,400	3.2	N/A	N/A	N/A	75°	78°	80°
slsgr m/53	HE	600	7.5	0.4	0.5	1,130	79°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
rökgr m/53	250	9.3	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
65	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Optics

Strv 81 Optics
	Default magnification	Maximum magnification
Main Gun optics	X4.9	X6.0
Comparable optics	___

Machine guns

8 mm Ksp m/39B
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Rate of fire (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Coaxial	3,600 (250)	648	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The Strv 81 is an effective medium tank if played to its strengths. If one wants to keep it simple, just use the powerful gun to snipe from distance. More advanced tankers can utilize the not too impressive max speed (35 km/h (22mph)) to move with this medium tank into the flanks of enemy tanks (close to the border of a map) and search for positions like hills and ridges where one can make use of the amazing -10° gun depression to hide the vulnerable lower plate of this tank. Once in such a position, one should use the binoculars to scout for enemies without exposing the turret. If an enemy tank is spotted that could be a potential threat (dangerous tank / faced towards you) pop out a little bit and start to take out the enemies gunner/cannon barrel/cannon breech to prevent him from returning fire. Now utilize the quick reload to take out one crew member after the other to finish your opponent. If an enemy is spotted who is exposing their side or even the rear while not aiming towards you, shoot the engine first to immobilize and possibly even ignite the enemy tank, preventing him to take cover. The next shots should again disable the gun of the enemy, now finish your prey by shooting all crew members or if you feel lucky shoot an ammo rack.

The best choice to pierce enemy tanks is obviously the slpprj m/54 (APDS) although it is quite expensive in terms of Silver Lions. The slpprj (APCBC) works in most situation as well but lacks penetration compared to the slpprj m/54 APDS shot. The amazing penetration characteristics of this APDS shot enables this gun to pierce front plates of all Panther models (apart from the Panther II) to ranges up to 2000 m. T-44s and Panther IIs front plates can be penetrated to ranges up to almost 1000 m. Keep in mind though that the front plate of the T-44 is angled at 60°, so it bounces even this powerful APDS shot quite often. Even the front plate of the mighty Tiger II is not able to stop this APDS shot if not angled and the range is shorter than 100 m.

In a head to head situation with an enemy tank approaching try to angle the centurion not more than 5° degrees to either side since the side armour is quite weak (50.8 mm), try to hide your lower front plate which is a massive weak spot, while reloading turn the turret 10° to the right to maximize chances of bouncing shots (right side of the turret front has some extra armour) and keeping the gunner alive.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	slpprj m/54
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism	Smoke grenade
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support	rökgr m/53

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful and high penetrating gun, stock round is adequate and APDS can punch through anything it will face.
• Has a base reload time of 8.1 seconds, which can be lowered further into around 7.4 seconds (which is on average 2 seconds faster than its competitors).
• Excellent gun depression and elevation.
• Extremely strong gun mantlet.
• Somewhat bouncy armour.
• Gunner is on the right side of the tank.
• Neutral steering, can turn on the spot without having to switch into gear 1.
• Good maneuverability.
• Good reverse speed.
• Gun stabilizer.

Cons:

• Low top speed.
• Ammo rack in the front, penetration through the lower glacis will likely ends up destroying or detonating the ammo rack.
• Top armor covering the engine compartments is 8mm
• APDS shot causes only punctual damage (aim carefully).
• No explosive filler on any AP shells.
• Weak side armour, do not angle the hull to much.

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.