Strv 103A
| This page is about the Swedish medium tank Strv 103A. For other versions, see Strv 103 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Strv 103A was the first production variant of the Strv 103 family. It was delivered after the trials of the "zero series" provided satisfactory results. An order of 70 units was placed by the Army with a cost of 500 million kr (SEK). The first batch was delivered in 1964, and was quite liked by their crews. However, the vehicle also had some shortcomings, most notably in the form of its 300 hp engine, which was considered somewhat underpowered. This was remedied in the Strv 103B in 1970, with the gas turbine engine having its engine power increased to 490 hp.
The Stridsvagn 103A was introduced in Update 1.97 "Viking Fury". A unique vehicle in shape, it is a very unorthodox vehicle in design even beyond its turretless design. With a 4 second autoloader, almost invisible profile when hunkered behind a hill, and laser rangefinder, alongside its highly sloped frontal armour, the Strv 103 is a juggernaut at long range. Only the Ikv 91, OF-40, VIDAR, and a select few others can compete in the same league as the Strv 103 with their laser rangefinders, but with the 103's superior and extremely consistent reload rate it is second to none at holding down long sightlines. However, the Strv 103 is somewhat clunky to use in close quarters, due to its reliance on hull aiming, and unless the enemy bounces their shot or fails to do any meaningful damage you can easily be caught out and rushed down. The front armour of the Strv 103 is something to keep note of - it can deflect many APDS and even HEATFS rounds to the upper plate due to its extreme angle, although some rounds can still make their way through - but the side armour is not, so making sure nobody flanks you is a top priority. Alongside this, the Strv 103 is prone to taking engine or transmission damage when being fired upon - another reason to stay at range, lest your enemy simply move sideways and shoot your weak sides as you sit there immobilized without a turret.
Long story short, the Strv 103 is a very specific kind of vehicle. Unlike the Ikv 91 which is essentially made of paper and fires slower, higher arcing shells, the Strv 103 can be the closest thing to a heavy tank at this BR if positioned and played correctly. However, improper positioning or being caught out in a crossfire can also very easily lead to a painful death as your crew and FPE charges slowly get whittled down. Utilizing your very low profile, long range dominance as well as the ability to survive on 1 crew member will be the key for victory in the Strv 103.
General info
Survivability and armour
The Strv 103 has an extremely angled upper front plate - this high angle means so long as you angle the plate slightly upwards against enemy fire, almost all rounds will either fail to penetrate or simply shatter/bounce off due to said extreme angle. Normal APHE rounds and French AP rounds also stand little chance against the upper plate unless they are able to fire downwards into the plate - something you should never let anyone do, given the actual thickness of the plate is only 40 mm!
However, should you expose your lower hull too much when firing, enemies can penetrate the lower hull of the Strv 103 with a decent chance of success. It is highly advised to try and prevent this from ever happening, as while this only very rarely (against APHE or HEATFS) penetrates into the crew compartment, it almost certainly knocks out either the engine or transmission of the tank, immobilizing it.
A penetrating shot into the upper plate via HEATFS is still possible sometimes, and if this does happen there is a high likelihood that it will set off a fire due to the frontal fuel tank behind the upper plate. If your gun and transmission are unharmed, consider firing a shot back at the offender before using FPE, as it is always best to not take fire while you repair or reposition lest it actually immobilize you.
The Strv 103 has fairly poor side armour. Being shot from the side or rear will most likely result in either instant death or a slow and painful death as the enemy disables your engine and slowly whittles down your crew.
A more Strv 103C-notable problem but something that still comes up in the 103A is facing APFSDS in the form of the T95E1 or 9.0 uptiers - against darts, your armour will not hold up 99% of the time. Tread lightly if you see a vehicle capable of firing even a semi-capable MBT caliber gun, and make sure to knock them out first out of everyone else as they pose the greatest threat to your long-ranged playstyle and armour scheme.
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 40 mm (77°) Upper Glacis 40 mm (74°) Lower Glacis |
30 mm +10 mm Upper 30 mm Lower |
30 mm | 20 mm |
| Cupola | 35 mm | 35 mm | 35 mm | 20 mm |
Notes:
- Tracks are 20 mm thick while the suspension is 15 mm thick.
- The crew compartment is lined with 10 mm RHA.
- Storage boxes are 4 mm thick.
Mobility
When "hull aim" mode is activated the tank automatically turns and adjusts suspension to actually aim the gun where the mouse pointer is. This persists even when the player attempts to turn the tank left or right manually while driving, so driving should preferably be done entirely with the mouse instead while the mode is activated.
There is a significant delay after letting the movement buttons go (about 0.7 seconds) before the gunner takes control of the tank instead of the driver and starts actually aiming. The lower the nose of the tank was before stopping, the faster the tank will start aiming, but this might not allow the tank to fire on the move, so a choice must be made depending on the situation.
Mobility upgrades are extremely important for this tank, as additional stability allows it to snipe when tilted horizontally (which is otherwise impossible) and to turn around smoothly without awkward delays.
The tank climbs better when the nose is pulled up, but is also extremely vulnerable when it does so.
A major drawback of the tank is that without transmission/engine the tank can no longer manoeuvre the hull to aim left or right, so it is important to try and turn the tank onto enemy before they fire. The tank still can rock up and down until the enemy destroyed both tracks, so it is possible to "hull down" when suddenly shot or "pike up" and retaliate against high ground.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 56 | 49 | 36.9 | 732 | 1,030 | 19.84 | 27.91 |
| Realistic | 50 | 44 | 478 | 540 | 12.95 | 14.63 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
The gun is exceptionally accurate even without any upgrades, but the drawback is that it is bound to the hull - any explosions nearby, any erratic movement of "hull aim" (especially when tilted horizontally) and any unaware teammate pushing the platform from behind will cause the hull to rock until it settles down, requiring extra patience to aim. It is best to just embrace this situation as a fact instead of sacrificing defences to reduce the wobble of the hull and just time the shots with it.
The reload takes only 4 seconds, making Strv 103A the fastest reloading "medium tank". This is further supported by extremely powerful ammunition.
The tank has access to laser rangefinder, which allows to instantly measure the range at any distance and take aim nearly automatically.
| 105 mm L74 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Autoloader |
| Arcade | 50 | -10°/+12° | - | - | 33.6 | 33.6 | 40.8 | 45.1 | 48.0 | 4.00 |
| Realistic | 21.0 | 21.0 | 25.5 | 28.2 | 30.0 | |||||
Ammunition
The ammunition echoes previous Strv 101, but with addition of Slpprj m/66 which can cut through almost any tank within BR range. Coupled with extremely low profile of the tank, the gun can penetrate any LFP of any tank on the field and will often easily cut through the turrets of most heavy tanks.
Slpprj m/61 has better penetration against flat surfaces (like the turrets of some American heavy tanks), but has much worse angled penetration than m/66. Angled penetration is much more important at the rank VI, even more so when the enemy has high ground, so prioritize upgraded ammunition over the standard one.
Since the tank is super short, it makes sense to use HESH to shoot above destroyed enemies once it becomes impossible to shoot the remaining opponents directly with APDS. Remember to immediately pull the hull down to the ground, as HESH trajectory forces the tank to expose its LFP completely.
| 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/61 | APDS | 358 | 355 | 341 | 324 | 308 | 293 |
| slpprj m/66 | APDS | 272 | 269 | 258 | 246 | 233 | 222 |
| slsgr m/61A | HE | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
| slspgr m/61 | HESH | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 | 127 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| slpprj m/61 | APDS | 1,500 | 4 | - | - | - | 75° | 78° | 80° | |||
| slpprj m/66 | APDS | 1,450 | 4.53 | - | - | - | 75° | 78° | 80° | |||
| slsgr m/61A | HE | 680 | 15.5 | 0 | 0.1 | 1.83 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| slspgr m/61 | HESH | 760 | 11.4 | 0.1 | 4 | 3.15 | 73° | 77° | 80° | |||
| 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/61 | 330 | 18.7 | 20 | 5 | 25 | 50 |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 46 (+4) | 41 (+9) | 36 (+14) | 31 (+19) | 26 (+24) |
| 6th rack empty |
7th rack empty |
8th rack empty |
9th rack empty |
10th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
| 21 (+29) | 16 (+34) | 11 (+39) | 6 (+44) | 1 (+49) | No |
Note:
- Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
Machine guns
The Strv 103A has 3 x 7.62 mm ksp 58 machine guns, 2 on the left side in their own mount and one on top of the commander's cupola.
| 7.62 mm ksp 58 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Hull | 500 (250) | 600 | N/A | N/A |
| Hull | 500 (250) | 600 | N/A | N/A |
| Pintle | 1,500 (250) | 600 | ±10° | ±120° |
Usage in battles
The Strv 103A is an amazing tank to take in defensive positions and snipe with. Although it's mainly used for the sniping role, it can also do close quarters combat quite well if one needs to push out to a capture point. Due to the armour design of the Strv 103, surviving conventional shells that can be found on the early Cold War-era Soviet tanks is easy. The only challenges with the tank is to learn key positions to lock down with the rapid firing 105 mm L7-derived cannon and learning the shooting mechanics of hull-aim. It is important to stay on flat ground when playing this tank, as slopes can cause issues with the hull-aim.
While the Strv 103 can easily hold its own against conventional shells, against chemical and more modern kinetic rounds it starts to lose its points. HEATFS shells can easily penetrate the frontal armour, going through both the armour and engine, knocking out the crew behind it (this gets remedied with the later 103C, which has slat armour at the front to prematurely detonate the shell). In full uptiers, it's also highly likely to get shot at by APFSDS shells, which ignore the armour completely. That's why when facing these vehicles, one should take full utility of the smoke launchers and smoke rounds to create a quick escape out and avoid getting shot at.
If the tank does get shot at, the survivability is quite high due to the crew all being located behind the transmission and the engine. And since the tank can be operated by only one crew member, the tank is mostly only destroyed by being set afire by the fuel tank and engine in the front of the tank, or by HEAT shells from tanks like the DF105.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Low profile
- Very short reload time
- In favourable terrain and positioning it can become difficult to spot and penetrate
- Can be controlled by one crew member
- Gunner and Commander perform the same roles, so there is no crew switch if either is knocked out
Cons:
- Slow aiming, significant delay between "travel" mode and "aiming" mode
- When caught exposed it can be easily penetrated by most of the MBTs, making the tank very situational
- Unusually compact interior makes any penetrating shot much more devastating
- Only three crew members
- Gun is prone to damage
- Catches fire often when shot from the side and sometimes from the front, FPE is mandatory for survival
History
After 6 months of trial with the Strv 103-0 and the goal settings for requirements that the tank needed to pass were done in 1963 it was not till Autumn 1964 that the first order for the Strv 103 came in to AB Bofors. 1967 the Strv 103A started to deliver to the army, a total of 70 Strv 103As were ordered to the army as the first series production. Strv 103A had a 300hk powered gasturbine that during delivery proved to be not quite effective and would be required a change in the upcoming version of the Strv 103. Directly when the S tank got delivered instructor courses began and it was not till 1968 that the first conscripts go the education on the Strv 103 "S" systems.
Devblog
In the immediate postwar years, Sweden began looking for a replacement to the Centurion tanks, then in service with its army. The most straightforward solution was to once again look into the export market for potential candidates, although engineers were already working on a domestic design - the Kranvagn. While this process was ongoing, an engineer by the name of Sven Berge came up with a radical new tank design in 1956.
This new vehicle featured a turretless design with a cannon fixed to the hull, which would be trained onto its targets with the precise use of an adjustable suspension system. The design was based on results from a study on tank crew casualties during WWII and the Korean War, which showed a correlation between tank height and hit probability. As such, the 'S-Tank' was kept very small in dimensions and low in profile, while also utilizing some innovative new engineering solutions, such as a mixed power plant consisting of a diesel engine and a gas turbine.
In 1959, the Swedish government approved the construction and testing of two prototypes. In 1960, a pre-production batch of 10 vehicles of the '0-serie' was ordered for field trials, which went on into the mid '60s. Generating more than favorable test results, the vehicle was formally ordered into production and procured as the 'Stridsvagn 103'.
Despite its original purpose being to replace the Centurion tanks in the Swedish Army, the Strv 103 ended up serving alongside it for a number of decades, until it was ultimately decommissioned in the late 1990s. By that time, 290 Strv 103s were built, spanning over five variants.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
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;
- other literature.
| AB Bofors | |
|---|---|
| MBTs | |
| Strv 103 | Strv 103-0 · Strv 103A · Strv 103С |
| Tank Destroyers | SAV 20.12.48 · Bkan 1C |
| SPAA | Lvkv 42 |
| Radar | VEAK 40 |
| SAM | ASRAD-R* |
| See Also | BAE Systems AB |
| *Saab Bofors Dynamics | |
| Sweden medium tanks | |
|---|---|
| Strv m/42 | Lago I · Strv m/42 EH · Ikv 73 · Strv m/42 DT · Pvkv IV |
| Centurion derivatives | Strv 81 · Strv 81 (RB 52) · Strv 101 · Strv 104 · Strv 105 |
| Strv 103 | Strv 103-0 · Strv 103A · Strv 103С |
| Strv 121/122 | Strv 121 · Christian II · Strv 122A · Strv 122B PLSS · Strv 122B+ |
| Other | Sherman III/IV · T 80 U |
| Finland | |
| WWII | ▄T-28 · ▄T-34 · ▄Pz.IV · ▄T-34-85 |
| Post War | ▄Comet I · ▄Charioteer Mk VII · ▄T-54 · ▄T-55M · ▄T-72M1 · ▄Leopard 2A4 · ▄Leopard 2A6 |
| Norway | Leopard 1A5NO2 |
