Strf 9040 BILL

This page is about the Swedish light tank Strf 9040 BILL. For other versions, see CV90 (Family).

Strf 9040 BILL

Pbv 302 (BILL)

Strf 9040 BILL

Pbv 302 (BILL)

Sweden

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
10.7	10.3	10.3

Class:

Light tank

Research:300 000

Purchase:830 000

Show in game

Description

Since its introduction in early 1998, the Strf 9040 was criticized for its lack of guided munitions against tanks; most IFVs like the Marder, the BMP-2, and the Bradley used ATGMs to engage heavily armoured targets. Thus, a demonstrator was ordered, using the Strf 9040A as a basis. The vehicle was heavily modified to use the Rbs 56 BILL II ATGM launcher, the launch mechanism was actually very similar to the one used by the Bradley, the launcher could fold itself, and be used from inside the vehicle, while the reload required manual loading from the outside. The system was promising, but issues in development cancelled the project.

The Stridsfordon 9040 BILL was introduced in Update "Starfighters". It is a very versatile IFV, one of the most critical aspects about Swedish IFVs is the lack of ATGMs like the ones found in other IFVs. However, this has access to both the powerful 40 mm cannon of other Strf 9040s and the Rbs 56 ATGM. Unlike other missiles, the Rbs 56 does not have a conventional HEAT warhead; instead of exploding on impact, it has a proximity fuze and explodes on the top of enemy tanks, this means that it should be aimed 2-3 metres above the enemy tank. This is a dangerous process since it requires precision, it's a good idea to disable the enemy tank's gun and tracks using the 40 mm cannon, and then use the ATGM.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull20 / 16 / 20

Turret20 / 20 / 20

Crew4 people

Visibility101 %

The Strf 9040 BILL does not have the MEXAS armour package of the Strf 9040C and Lvkv 9040C, and as such, the protection is very limited. The frontal arc of the vehicle can protect against heavy machine guns but the sides and rear of both the hull and turret are vulnerable even to .50 calibre (12.7 mm) heavy machine guns. The frontal arc can not protect against cannons of even 20 mm in calibre, except on the upper glacis which has a shallow enough angle to cause armour piercing rounds of types other than APDS and APFSDS to ricochet. The turret front and lower glacis on the other hand do not have such angles and can not cause ricochets in the same way, allowing low calibre cannons to penetrate. HEAT and HESH rounds will penetrate the frontal armour without a problem.

The crew placement of the Strf 9040 BILL is both potentially helpful and harmful. A shot to the front left side of the hull would result in the knocking out of the driver, commander, and loader. This is potentially devastating as that is three out of five crew members taken out in one shot, with only one more lost resulting in a vehicle knockout. A shot to the right side of the vehicle's front would knock out the engine and if it had enough penetration would go through and take out the gunner and loader, two out of five crew members but also causing the vehicle to be immobilized. As before stated, the engine can absorb projectiles, preventing them from passing into the crew compartment if they don't have high enough penetration, but it does immobilize the vehicle and potentially allow the enemy to get another shot off immediately afterwards. In terms of ammunition stowage, all 40 mm ammunition is stowed in the base of the turret basket and the hull underneath the turret basket. This prevents most hits from causing a cook-off of 40 mm ammunition except for particularly low hits. On the other hand, the missile stowage is at the rear of the hull and takes up a significant volume, making the missile ammunition a large target. Additionally, the missile launcher has missiles in it which can also be detonated by incoming rounds.

Overall, the Strf 9040 BILL has very light armour and insufficient protection meaning nearly all weapons larger than machine guns can penetrate it. Sometimes the internal arrangement will save from knocking out the vehicle, but most hits will likely be destructive. The upper glacis can block some shots because of the high angle, but this can not be relied upon. Finally, the ammunition stowage - particularly the missile stowage - takes up a large volume of the vehicle and can be set off very easily.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour - hull, turret sides/rear
• Cast homogeneous armour - turret front

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	20 mm (78°) Upper glacis 20 mm (29°-41°-52°) Lower glacis	6 + 10 mm (Spaced) Upper 10 mm Lower	20 mm	20 mm Roof 6 mm Rear roof crew hatch
Turret	20 mm (35°) - 20 mm (50°) Turret front 35 mm (Various Angles) Gun mantlet	20 mm
Cupola	20 mm

Notes:

• There is a 10 mm RHA plate between the front of the vehicle and the driver and also between the engine and crew compartments
• Tracks, suspension - 20 mm
• Sideskirts, turret rear stowage boxes - 5 mm

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB78 / 51 km/h

RB and SB70 / 46 km/h

Number of gears8 forward

4 back

Weight23.7 t

Engine power

AB1 049 hp

RB and SB550 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB44.3 hp/t

RB and SB23.2 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	78	51	23.7	852	1,049	35.95	44.26
Realistic	70	46		486	550	20.51	23.21

As the Strf 9040 BILL lacks the add-on modular armour of the 90C variants, it has a noticeably lighter feel on the move. The low weight combined with high-output Scania engine leads to an agile and swift moving vehicle, able to do sneaky flanking manoeuvres and capable of climbing steep hills to get into ambush positions. When played right, the Strf 9040 BILL is quicker than the Strf 90C, and is able to surprise enemies by showing up in unexpected places.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB3 971 → 6 647

RB3 415 → 5 716

SB4 581 → 7 668

Total cost of modifications245 400

400 000

Talisman cost2 900

Crew training240 000

Experts830 000

Aces2 100

Research Aces1 140 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

140 / 180 / 230 %

238 / 238 / 238 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 370 Suspension Research: 9 900 Cost: 15 000 280 Brake System Research: 9 900 Cost: 15 000 280 Filters Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 370 Transmission Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 490 Engine Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 490	Improved Parts Research: 3 900 Cost: 20 000 370 Improved FPE Research: 3 000 Cost: 15 000 280 Crew Replenishment Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 370 Smoke grenade Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 490	Horizontal Drive Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 370 Laser rangefinder Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 370 Adjustment of Fire Research: 9 900 Cost: 15 000 280 Airstrike Research: 9 900 Cost: 15 000 280 40mm_sw_kan_HE_VT_ammo_pack Research: 9 900 Cost: 15 000 280 Elevation Mechanism Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 370 Improved optics Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 370 NVD Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 370 Artillery Support Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 490 Scout UAV Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 490

Armaments

Laser rangefinder

Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Night vision device

Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.

Thermal imager

Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

40 mm Akan m/70B cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Autoloader

Automatically feeds projectiles into the breech. The speed does not depend on the skills of the loader

Ammunition234 rounds

First-order24 rounds

Reload0.2 s

Vertical guidance-8° / 35°

The Strf 9040 BILL, like the two other Strf 9040 variants (the Strf 90C and Lvkv 90C), is armed with a Bofors L/70 40 mm anti-aircraft gun repurposed as an omnipurpose (anti-tank, anti-aircraft) gun. The automatic cannon boasts a rapid fire rate, a magazine holding 24 shells, and a complete maximum load of 234 shells. The gun's internal 24-shell magazine is quickly replenished, and is usually enough to deal with both enemy armour, helicopters, and airplanes. It does however carry a risk of surprising the player by running empty - thanks to its high rate of fire. The shells carried are the same as on the Lvkv 90C - the spårljuspansarprojektil m/90 (APFSDS-T), spårljusspränggranat m/90 (HE-T), and kulspränggranat m/90 (HE-VT). The former two are stock shells - the latter is unlocked through research, on the 2nd tier, and has a proximity fuse, very helpful against air targets.

The Strf 9040 BILL also carries a 7.62 mm Ksp 39C, coaxial to the main gun, placed in its turret cheek. The most unusual armament is however the Robot 56 "BILL 2 - Bofors, Infantry, Light & Lethal". The dual-missile launcher, mounted on the right side of the turret, can be devastating to enemy armour behind cover. Its missiles fly above the point of aim, detonating above the vehicle, firing its explosively formed penetrator through the turret roof or engine deck, thus hitting areas with the lowest armour protection. A well-aimed hit can destroy a target in a single hit by igniting ammunition, igniting fuel tanks, or knocking out crew. The missiles do however have a limited range of only 2,200 m, and a relatively low speed of 250 m/s. Used carefully, the vehicle's load of 8 missiles can easily knock out 8 enemy tanks!

40 mm akan m/70B						Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	234	300	-8°/+35°	±180°	Two-plane	33.2	46.0	55.8	61.7	65.7	0.20	0.20	0.20	0.20
Realistic						20.8	24.4	29.7	32.8	34.9

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 m/90	APFSDS	143	142	137	130	123	116
slsgr m/90	HE	11	11	9	8	6	5
kulsgr m/90	HE-VT*	11	11	9	7	6	5

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/90	APFSDS	1,465	0.5	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°
slsgr m/90	HE	988	0.96	0.1	0.1	174.4	79°	80°	81°

Proximity-fused shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Arming distance (m)	Trigger radius (m)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
									0%	50%	100%
kulsgr m/90	HE-VT*	1,015	0.88	0.1	0.1	500	4	190.8	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Strf 9040 BILL

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty
234	186 (+48)	138 (+96)	90 (+144)
4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
42 (+192)	24 (+210)	0 (+234)	No

Additional armament

Rbs 56 ATGM

Ammunition8 rounds

Belt capacity2 rounds

Fire rate145 shots/min

Fire on the moveup to 6 km/h

Rbs 56 missile				Reloading rate (seconds)
Capacity (Belt)	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
8 (2)	-19°/+29°	N/A	N/A	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00

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
RB 56 BILL II	ATGM (OTA)	510	510	510	510	510	510

Missile details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Range (m)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Arming distance (m)	Trigger radius (m)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
										0%	50%	100%
RB 56 BILL II	ATGM (OTA)	250	2,200	10.9	0.05	0.1	10	3	2.72	80°	82°	90°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Strf 9040 BILL

Full ammo	Visual discrepancy
8	No

Notes:

• Missiles are modeled individually and disappear after having been launched.
• It is not possible to select how many missiles to bring into battle.

Machine guns

7.62 mm ksp 39 C machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition1 500 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reload8.0 s

Fire rate649 shots/min

7.62 mm ksp 39 C
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	4,000 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The Strf 9040 BILL is a highly agile fighting machine, it offers great speed and handling. Its relatively small size compared to other tanks on the battlefield allows it to hide and sneak up upon its prey, and equipped with gunner thermal sights the Strf 9040 BILL can easily take advantage and pounce on unsuspecting tankers with the 40 mm Bofors cannon which offers up to 143 mm of penetration per round.

Unfortunately, the 143 mm is not able to penetrate every tank from the front; to overcome this, it is important to disorientate/surprise the enemy tanker. Blind their sights with the rapid-fire from the 40 mm Bofors, then target their cannon so they cannot knock out the Strf 9040 BILL in one hit like a pen going through a piece of paper.

Once their cannon has been taken out, the enemy tank will retire either using smoke to cover their withdrawal or immediately going to reverse. If they go into reverse without using smoke, knock out their tracks and flank them so their rear compartments can be shot at. The rear compartments (engine bay and further towards the end of the tank) are the weakest. Shooting the engine will cause the engine to catch on fire, then shooting rounds along the side will knock out the crew.

If the enemy tanker reverses, goes over an object in its path and ends up exposing the underside (belly) of the tank, a few rounds targeted in this area from the 40 mm Bofors will knock it out.

One of the key strategic advantages which the Strf 9040 BILL has over its competitors is its Rbs 56 ATGMs. These ATGMs are not like normal ATGMs. Instead, these explode above the target, allowing the blast to penetrate the roof of the enemy tank and knock the crew out. This means when any tank tries to use the terrain or an object to hide, fire the Rbs 56 ATGM towards the target but make sure it's not too high, about 3-5 feet above it, for the best results. If the ATGM is too high when it explodes, the energy from the blast will be reduced and less damage will occur. The missile is already flying above the aiming point in the gunner's sight, so it is not needed to aim above the enemy target except to go over the terrain and cover.

Air Threats

One of the major weaknesses of the Strf 9040 BILL is its weak armour, this means almost any round can penetrate the tank and knock it out. While it has great mobility, the armour is weak which means air threats can easily destroy this tank. However, it does not mean it's game over. Instead, it's critical to find cover behind buildings to pop out, when the enemy aircraft fires at the Strf 9040 BILL, withdraw behind it. When in the open, pop smoke and stay in the smoke until the threat has gone. It's important to time smoke correctly, the Strf 9040 BILL only has one shot at using it.

• Helicopters - The best way to find an enemy helicopter is to use thermal sights and scan the air. Once spotted they can then be destroyed with the ATGMs or the 40 mm autocannon with ease. To knock down the helicopter, aim for the cockpit: a few shots will destroy the helicopter. Using the ATGM, either directly hit the helicopter or aim the ATGM slightly above it, utilising the top-attack capabilities of the missile.

• Aircraft - These are fast, sneaky, and powerful. The easiest time to shoot them down is when they come towards the vehicle or when they overshoot it. However, most of the time it is incredibly unlikely that the Strf 9040 BILL will shoot them down. Instead, it is important to stay alive and not get knocked out. To do this, use the terrain to hide and if that does not work, fire a few shots from the 40 mm Bofors towards them, this will deter them from engaging the vehicle.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Lovely mobility
• Access to deadly top attack missiles, able to destroy enemy tanks hiding behind cover
• Multipurpose 40 mm shells, great for tank side armour and air vehicles
• Access to generation 2 thermals for both gunner and commander - Along with the CV 90105 TML, the BILL is the only Strf 90 that has CITV
• Two-plane stabilizer
• Access to the scouting mechanic
• Wide FOV for the gunner
• Able to fire missiles on the move (albeit at the very slow speed of 5 km/h)
• Missile launchers do not explode when hit by enemy APFSDS shells
• Missiles are immune to IR jamming
• Missile penetrates over 500 mm of steel - no roof of any armoured vehicle can withstand this

Cons:

• Stabilizer only works up to 30km/h
• Tanks with ERA on top of the turret (especially Russian tanks) renders the missiles less effective
• Does not have access to the improved Slpprj m/01 APFSDS shell with 170 mm of penetration the Strf 9040C has
• Unreliable armour
• It takes time to deploy the missile launcher before the missiles can be fired
• The 40 mm gun chews through ammo very quickly, and replenishing the first stage ammo rack takes time; also only 6 missiles
• Aiming too high above the enemy vehicle ensures the missile does next to no damage to said enemy vehicle
• Missiles are not as effective versus helicopters or spacious tank fighting compartments (like on M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams)
• Low zoom in the gunsight

History

Testing

As the Strf 9040 began deliveries in 1998 serious questions were being raised regarding the lethality towards heavily armoured vehicles. Systems like the Bradley IFV and BMP-2 already utilized guided munitions early in their life cycle to combat armoured threats more effectively, something the Swedish IFV had yet to mount. To test the lethality of such weaponry, a demonstrator was ordered in 1999 of the then-current production variant, the Strf 9040A. This vehicle was extensively modified in the fire control system and turret to fit the Rbs 56 BILL II ATGM launcher. The system could fold outwards when engaged and smoothly fold back down when moving, similar to the Bradley. This could all be done from the turret, while reloading had to be done externally by climbing the rear of the vehicle and opening the specialized hatch on the top.

Results

The Strf 9040 BILL's trials seemed promising as its lethality was increased. Though issues with sightline visibility plagued the design from the start, forcing a cancellation of the project shortly after. Sweden continued using both systems, although now separate from each other. Both of these systems have seen a lengthy lifespan as the Rbs 56 was retired in 2013, while the Strf 9040 continues being used far into the future.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Strf 9040 BILL from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Strf 9056 Light Tank - Orangefan

Strf 9056 - Good News From Above - Napalmratte

The Shooting Range #204 - Metal Beasts section at 00:32 discusses the Strf 9056.

See also

Other members of the CV90 family

• Strf 9040C - Base variant with a 40 mm autocannon.
• CV 90105 TML - Premium variant equipped with a 105 mm cannon.
• Lvkv 9040C - Self-propelled anti-aircraft variant with a higher elevation range for 40 mm cannon.
• CV 90120 - A variant with a 120 mm cannon.

External links

• [Fighting-Vehicles.com] Strf 9040/56