Strv 74

Strv 74

Strv m/42 DT

Strv 81

Strv 74

Strv m/42 DT

Strv 81

Sweden

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.7	5.7	5.7

Class:

Light tank

Research:63 000

Purchase:200 000

Show in game

Description

The Stridsvagn 74 is a rank IV Swedish light tank with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.97 "Viking Fury".

A modification of the older Strv m/42, the Stridsvagn 74 has acquired a more powerful 75 mm cannon with the ability to fire an APDS shell but has relatively weak armour compared to similar BR vehicles.

General info

Survivability and armour

Like the rest of the Swedish line, the armor on the Stridsvagn 74 should not be counted on to bounce a shot. It uses the same hull of the Strv m/42 (The Lago I)- a hull that at it's BR the armor is considered fairly average. The new modern turret is extremely massive- almost the same size of the hull itself! This size makes hiding behind low objects impossible.

The turret does however have one niche trick up it's sleeve, the back of the turret. An opponent who isn't well versed in the Swedish tree would assume the the back of the turret would house ammunition. However for the Strv 74, all the ammo (excluding the ready rack) is stored in the hull instead. With the inclusion of the 10mm back plate, the turret back can act as a shot trap when caught off guard, allowing the Strv 74 to react accordingly - by returning fire or deploying one of the 2 smoke barrages and relocating.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	50	6	26	527	649	20.27	24.96
Realistic	45	5		301	340	11.58	13.08

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm kan Strv 74					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	40	±15°	±180°	N/A	17.1	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__	8.7	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic					10.7	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__

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
slpgr m/43	APCBC	162	158	142	125	110	97
sgr m/38	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10
7,5 cm slpprj m/49	APDS	258	256	248	239	229	220

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%
slpgr m/43	APCBC	940	6.0	1.2	14.0	110	48°	63°	71°
sgr m/38	HE	840	6.43	0.4	0.5	690	79°	80°	81°
7,5 cm slpprj m/49	APDS	1,160	3.7	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	Visual discrepancy
40	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	Yes

Machine guns

The Strv 74 has a pair of 8 mm ksp m/36 machine guns, one mounted coaxially and the other mounted upon the commander's cupola. The machine guns have very low penetration and mass making it harder to use than some of its counterparts. They are best used deterring aircraft as your lightly armoured top is often the target of aircraft with heavy armament. The roof armament is immediately unusable if the commander has been killed or forced to take on the gunner or driver's position.

8 mm ksp m/36
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Rate of fire (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Coaxial	4,000 (250)	648	N/A	N/A
Pintle	2,000 (250)	648	-10°/+65°	±180°

Usage in battles

Protection:

Despite a decent amount of armour angling, the Strv 74 is weakly protected. Most enemy shells will be able to penetrate its armour with ease, which means that it is best to avoid enemy fire whenever possible. This vehicle is certainly no heavy tank, and rushing into risky situations, spearheading a push, or exposing the tank's profile is generally unadvisable. The tank's large side profile and tall turret make it quite visible on the battlefield as well, so it might not always be possible to find suitable cover.

Additionally, the internal layout of the vehicle is fairly cramped. With three crew members located in the turret, an APHE shell fired there can easily knock out enough crew members to destroy the vehicle. A shot fired into the front of the tank is likely to do the same. This makes it even more important to avioid enemy fire.

Firepower:

However, the tank's cannon is quite powerful, and able to punch above its weight, with a more-than-capable APHE shell. The upgraded APDS shell gives the gun enough penetration to go through almost any armour at this rank and makes it effective even in full uptiers.

The Strv has an outstanding -15 degrees of gun depression, which allows it to fire from behind ridges and hills that most other vehicles would never be able to utilise effectively. Be careful though: the tank has a prominent turret and a large turret cupola, which makes it difficult to fire from ridgelines without being spotted and fired upon.

Mobility:

The Strv has a low power-to-weight ratio compared to its peers, and a lower top speed as well. It can't zoom around the battlefield or quickly relocate like some vehicles can, and long flanking manoeuvres will also be difficult. The Strv 74 has a mediocre reverse speed, which should be noted when firing from behind ridgelines; the vehicle can be slow to reverse back behind cover after firing a shot.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	Airstrike
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine	Smoke grenade	Artillery Support	Improved optics	7,5 cm slpprj m/49

After Parts and FPE, it can be advisable to focus on mobility upgrades, given the Strv's poor power-to-weight ratio and top speed. Another useful modification is the 7,5 cm slpprj m/49 APDS shell, which gives this vehicle enough penetration to go through almost any armour that it might face.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Incredible gun depression of -15°
• APDS round has 248 mm of penetration at 500 meters
• Starts stock with the effective APCBC round found on the Pvkv II
• Quick gun elevation and depression

Cons:

• Turret is a massive target
• APDS shell is a Tier IV modification
• Outdated chassis - narrow tracks and thin armour
• Slow reverse of -4 km/h
• Reduced mobility due to increased weight
• Commanders machine gun reduces visibility to the right in Simulator battles
• APHE has difficulty knocking out big heavy tanks with spaced out crew

History

Development

After the end of World War 2, the only medium tank Sweden had was the Strv m/42. This vehicle was no longer capable, and had become obsolete. The Swedish military considered buying French AMX-13's, but decided to instead buy the British Centurion. Sweden had a need for a light tank still, and decided that designing a new light tank would take too long and be too expensive, so instead they decided to create a new light tank with the chassis of the Strv m/42. The Strv m/42 had been retired in 1950, and in 1953 the process of upgrading the tanks was started. First, putting the turret of the AMX-13 on the Strv m/42 chassis was considered. This would be impossible, because the turret rings had different sizes. Instead, a new turret was designed. It was armed with a 7,5 cm Ivkan m/36 anti-aircraft gun modified for use in a tank. The Swedish military supported this design because it would be cheaper than buying a foreign tank, and ordered two prototypes in 1954. The Strv m/42 EH was not chosen to hold the new turret, as its engine was unreliable, but the Strv m/42 TH and TV were chosen to house the new turret.

Design

The turret had a unique shape, it was heavily sloped on all sides, but the armor was at most only 20 mm thick. The armor was kept to a minimum as the suspension would not be able to handle more weight. It shared many components with the Centurion. The back of the turret contained a Volkswagen engine used for heating and insulation. The gun could depress to an impressive -15 degrees. The chassis had to be modified in order to handle the increased weight of the new turret. The shock absorbers were replaced, the steering mechanism was changed, the driver's hatch was changed, and the tracks were widened to decrease ground pressure. The twin engines of the Strv m/42 TH and TV were replaced by Scania-Vabis 607 engines. These increased the horsepower, and they increased reliability at low temperatures. Smoke dischargers, a spare road wheel, and a bustle rack were added to the turret. The vehicle carried a crew of 4 men.

Production and Service

225 Strv m/74 were ordered by the Swedish military, and the order was spread between Hägglunds & Söner and Landsverk. There were two variants, the Strv m/74 H (based on the Strv m/42 TH) and the Strv m/74 V (based on the Strv m/42 TV. The only major differences between the two was the gearbox. The Strv 74 was designated as a light tank until the 1960's, when it was re-designated as an infantry support vehicle. When the Ikv 91 entered service, the numbers of Strv 74 decreased as the Ikv 91 could do everything better than the Strv 74. The Strv 74 was fully retired from service by 1984, and some of the turrets were used as static fortifications until the late 1990's.

Media

The Shooting Range #199 - Metal Beasts section at 00:36 discusses the Strv 74.

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

Bibliography

• Loon, Milo van. (2019, December 26). Stridsvagn 74. Tank Encyclopedia. https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/stridsvagn-m-74/
• Stridsvagn 74. (2020, March 1). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stridsvagn_74&oldid=943382491