Strv m/40L

Strv m/40L

Strv m/38

Strv m/40L

Strv m/38

Sweden

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.0	2.0	2.0

Class:

Light tank

Research:5 900

Purchase:6 300

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Description

The Stridsvagn m/40L (shortened Strv m/40L) is a rank I Swedish light tank with a battle rating of 2.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.97 "Viking Fury".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull43 / 13 / 13

Turret50 / 13 / 13

Crew3 people

Visibility70 %

The Strv m/40L is essentially the Strv m/38 with increased frontal armour. The frontal hull armour is increased to a maximum of 43 mm, while the turret is uparmoured to 50 mm. This provides a decent degree of protection against autocannons and heavy machine guns as well as low calibre anti-tank guns. However, the rest of the tank's armour profile remains identical (13 mm), and it is thus still very vulnerable from directions other than the front.

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	13 mm (58°) + 30 mm (46°-58°) Upper glacis 13 mm (45°) Lower glacis 13 mm (30°) + 35 mm (29°) Upper plate 13 mm + 35 mm Driver's cupola	13 mm	13 mm (33°) Lower 9 + 15 mm (14°) Upper	4-13 mm
Turret	15 mm + 35 mm (14°) Turret front 15 mm + 35 mm (9°-72°) Gun mantlet	13 mm	13 mm	5-8 mm
Cupola	13 mm	13 mm	13 mm	5 mm

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB51 / 6 km/h

RB and SB46 / 6 km/h

Number of gears4 forward

1 back

Weight9.4 t

Engine power

AB271 hp

RB and SB142 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB28.8 hp/t

RB and SB15.1 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	51	6	9.4	220	271	23.4	28.83
Realistic	46	6		126	142	13.4	15.11

The engine of the Strv m/40L is identical to that on the Strv m/38. However, the tank is considerably heavier due to the increased armour, thus somewhat worsening its acceleration. Mobility characteristics are otherwise almost identical to its predecessor.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB249 → 320

RB286 → 368

SB359 → 462

Total cost of modifications5 970

4 540

Talisman cost410

Crew training1 800

Experts6 300

Aces75

Research Aces135 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

20 / 20 / 30 %

106 / 106 / 106 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 400 Cost: 300 75 Suspension Research: 330 Cost: 250 65 Brake System Research: 330 Cost: 250 65 Filters Research: 500 Cost: 380 95 Transmission Research: 390 Cost: 300 75 Engine Research: 390 Cost: 300 75	Improved Parts Research: 400 Cost: 300 75 Improved FPE Research: 330 Cost: 250 65 Crew Replenishment Research: 500 Cost: 380 95	Horizontal Drive Research: 400 Cost: 300 75 Adjustment of Fire Research: 330 Cost: 250 65 Elevation Mechanism Research: 500 Cost: 380 95 Artillery Support Research: 390 Cost: 300 75 37mm_sw_m39_APHE_ammo_pack Research: 390 Cost: 300 75 37mm_sw_kan_APDS_ammo_pack Research: 390 Cost: 300 75

Armaments

Main armament

37 mm kan m/38 cannon

Ammunition100 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

4.1 → 3.1 s

Vertical guidance-14° / 20°

The Strv m/40L uses the same 3,7 cm kan m/38 gun as the Strv m/38. The turret mounting has been modified, however, to provide an even greater amount of gun depression (15°). The ammunition choice is identical: it starts with the unremarkable slpprj m/38 APBC shot. At tier IV, the slpgr m/39 APBC and slpprj m/49 APDS rounds can be unlocked. The former round has a small explosive filler while having only slightly less penetration than the stock APBC shot. The APDS round has over 100 mm of penetration at close range and a muzzle velocity of 1,150 m/s and is capable of penetrating anything the Strv m/40L is likely to face. The high velocity makes it good for sniping, but the APDS round tends to be less accurate than the APBC rounds.

It should be noted that if the "Camera from tank gunner sight" option is enabled, there is a protrusion in front of the gunner's sight that can block part of the gunner's sight view when depressing the gun.

37 mm kan m/38					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	100	-15°/+25°	±180°	N/A	15.2	21.1	25.6	28.3	30.1	4.03	3.57	3.29	3.10
Realistic					9.5	11.2	13.6	15.0	16.0

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 m/38	APBC	59	55	41	28	19	13
slpgr m/39	APBC	55	51	37	26	17	12
slpprj m/49	APDS	105	103	97	89	82	75

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 m/38	APBC	785	0.74	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	60°	65°
slpgr m/39	APBC	800	0.74	1.2	9	15	47°	60°	65°
slpprj m/49	APDS	1,150	0.71	N/A	N/A	N/A	75°	78°	80°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	10th rack empty	11th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
100	81 (+19)	71 (+29)	61 (+39)	51 (+49)	41 (+59)	34 (+66)	28 (+72)	21 (+79)	14 (+86)	8 (+92)	1 (+99)	No

Ammo racks of the Strv m/38 (identical)

Machine guns

2 x 7.62 mm ksp m/39B machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition3 500 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate649 shots/min

The tank is also armed with two 8 mm ksp m/39B machine guns mounted alongside the main gun.

8 mm ksp m/39B
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	1,750 (250)	649	-10°/+25°	N/A
Coaxial	1,750 (250)	649	-10°/+25°	N/A

Usage in battles

The Strv m/40L is a light tank with a large bite for its small calibre. Being armed with a 37 mm Bofors gun doesn't seem like a huge threat to most tanks that it faces, as its contemporaries will often equip similar or larger calibres. However, unlike other nations' tanks, the Strv m/40L is able to research potent APDS rounds.

The Strv m/40L excels in hull-down combat where it can exploit its outstanding gun depression and relatively good rounded turret armour. The powerful APDS round allows it to easily penetrate and disable even the heaviest of tanks it can normally encounter, such as the B1 bis and Valentine. However, it has relatively weak post-penetration effects, and will often require multiple shots to destroy larger tanks due to the larger crew compartments. The tank's mobility is quite respectable and allows it to keep up with other medium tanks and making it able to move around the battlefield with ease, not only fighting from hull down positions but also bringing the fight to the enemy side. The frontal armour is quite good, but quite thin elsewhere making the tank vulnerable to side shots and rear shots so it is best to always point the frontal armour towards the enemy.

Strv m/40L might have a lot of positives to it but there are also negative sides. Until the APDS round is researched, it has to deal with using the Slpprj m/38 and Slpgr m/39 APBC rounds which have 59/55 mm penetration at 10 m forcing it to fight up close and personal. The APDS also does not hit accurately at longer distances, making it mostly useful at medium range to close range to be a fully effective round. Though forward mobility is good, Strv m/40L lacks the means to reverse away out of danger, making it better for it to turn around fast and drive back into cover. Though doing that exposes the Strv m/40L's weak side armour and possibly the rear armour which will be a good chance for the enemy to knock it out with ease.

Enemies to be aware of include tanks like M4A3 (105), Pz.IV E and StuG III A, which have HEAT rounds that will easily knock out the Strv m/40L. With the crew compartment being so compact they can easily take out the 3 man crew with one shot making a lot of these targets a priority enemy for the Strv m/40L. Targets with large crew compartments and higher numbers of crew like B1 ter, LVT and T-28E can also be a threat to the Strv m/40L as having a lot of crew can make it hard for the Strv m/40L to knock them out fast, which forces it to try to knock out the enemy tank's gun and work down its crew one by one if necessary. But taking too long will expose it to being surrounded or outflanked by nearby enemies that will come to assist the target in need.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good frontal armour
• Access to an outstanding APDS round
• Good mobility
• Fast reload
• Excellent gun depression in combination with good turret armour makes it great at hull-down

Cons:

• APDS is somewhat inaccurate at long range and lacks post-penetration damage
• Very thin armour other than on the front
• Poor reverse speed
• APDS is tier IV modification, and without it you have to shoot terrible AP shell with 59 mm of max penetration and low post-pen damage

History

In 1934, a new light tank was designed for Sweden by Landsverk, the L-60. It was based on the Landsverk L-10/Strv m/31, but with a new torsion bar suspension system. The torsion bar suspension system was a large improvement over the Christie suspension system. The L-60 S/1 entered service with the Swedish military in 1938 as the Strv m/38. The L-60 S/1 Strv m/38 was armed with a Bofors 37 mm gun. In 1939, Sweden ordered an improved version of the Strv m/38. It was designated as the L-60 S/II Strv m/39. The Strv m/39 was armed with an improved Bofors 37 mm gun and had a new engine. During World War 2, the Strv m/39 was upgraded with additional armour welded onto the glacis and mantlet.

At the same time, there was a need for another upgrade of the Strv m/39. The turret mantlet was modified and a commander's cupola was added along with side hatches. These also received the upgraded armour of the Strv m/39, and were designated as L-60 S/III Strv m/40L. The L-60 served with the Swedish military throughout World War 2, and also became the basis of the L-62 Anti II SPAAG designed for Finland, which also saw service with Hungary as the 40M Nimrod. In 1960, 20 L-60 tanks were sold to the Dominican Republic by Sweden. Rebels, backed by the US Marine Corps, fought against the L-60 during the Dominican Civil War. 3 were destroyed by M48 Patton III's, M50 Ontos, and anti-tank fire. 12 were upgraded and saw service until 2002.

Devblog

We recently told you about the Swedish "reserve": the Strv m/31 light tank. Landsverk's work on this tank resulted in a project with the factory designation L-60, where the mistakes the m/31's trials had encountered were taken into consideration – including, among other things, problems with the suspension. The enhanced tanks were put into service under the designation Strv m/38, and Landsverk was commissioned to manufacture a series of these tanks. All 16 tanks of the m/38 series were Sweden's only armoured vehicles when WWII erupted in Europe. However, the military wasn't thoroughly satisfied with these vehicles – and, on top of that, they needed a whole lot more of them. The outcome of future upgrades in the L-60 project were two new models: the Strv m/39 and the Strv m/40. They received a turret with a new shape, a fully upgraded engine compartment, and a set of add-on hull armour. The m/40 was equipped with an automatic gearbox and an enhanced frontal turret section to which another machine gun, not paired to the cannon, was added. The Strv m/40 was manufactured until March 1942. A total of about 100 units of this modification were released.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Strv m/40L from live.warthunder.com.

Images

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See also

Related Development

• Strv m/38
• Strv m/39

Similar Role

• Pz.38(t) F
• Strv m/41 S-II
• M3A1 Stuart
• T-26

External links

• [Devblog] Strv m/40L

Bibliography

• David B. (2014, December 1). Stridsvagn m/38, m/39 & m/40 L-60. Tank Encyclopedia. https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/sweden/L60_stridsvagn_M38-39-40.php
• Stridsvagn m/40. (2019, February 1). Military Today. Retrieved May 24, 2020, from https://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=549

AB Landsverk
Light Tanks
L-10	Strv m/31
L-60	Strv m/38 · Strv m/39 · Strv m/40L
Pbil m/40	Pbil m/40
Strv 74	Strv 74
Unimog 404	U-SH 405
Medium Tanks
Lago	Lago I · Strv m/42 EH · Ikv 73 · Strv m/42 DT
Tank Destroyers
Ikv 72	Ikv 72 · Ikv 103
Pvkv m/43	Pvkv m/43 (1946) · Pvkv m/43 (1963)
Pvkv II/III	Pvkv II · Pvkv III
SPAA	Pvlvv fm/42 · L-62 ANTI II