Written by Friedrich Lau
After the end of World War II, Austria's defense force, which had lost its autonomy since Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, was reborn and re-emerged as a powerful armed arm of the country after a series of reforms. Although its army armored force had more than 200 medium tanks and 150 light tanks on paper, it basically came from the assistance of the Allies, and the medium tanks were mainly American-made M47 Xiafei, and light tanks in addition to the French AMX-13, there were some American-made M41, M24, and the Auriga tanks converted by the British with Cromwell cruiser tanks. In order to realize the upgrade plan of its own tanks as soon as possible, Austria then began the process of localization of combat vehicles, which is the background of the birth of the protagonist of this article, SK-105.
▲American-made M41 tank
In 1956, the Austrian company Saurer Werk completed the design of the first armored personnel carrier, which was put into production in 1961, and the new armored vehicle was designated the Saurer 4K4FA. In 1967, the Austrian Army finally decided to upgrade the French AMX-13 light tank based on the deliberation, in order to improve firepower, the new tank planned to use a 105mm caliber gun to replace the original 75mm gun, because at that time could not find a suitable domestic tank chassis, so the 4K4FA chassis was simply taken into account. After some modifications, the new tank began mass production in 1967 and was designated SK-105, nicknamed the Kürassier, a famous hoplite unit in the Middle Ages, which also shows Austria's high hopes for this tank.
Saurer 4K4FA personnel carrier
AMX-13 tank
Because it is upgraded from the French AMX-13, so SK-105 also borrows from the scheme of Big Brother in many designs, the tank uses the FL-12OS swing turret upgraded from the French FL-12, the high and low machine and the steering machine are hydraulically driven, the main gun is a French CN-105-57 105mm caliber rifled gun, using clip-type bomb conveyor feeding, the maximum rate of fire can reach 12 rounds / min. However, due to the size of the tank, the SK-105 can carry a total of 32 shells, including the ammunition loaded in the magazine. The early SK-105 required the crew to lean out under fire after firing the shells in the magazine for reloading, and this defect was later corrected by the improved A2 model, in addition to technicians adding a gun bidirectional stabilizer to the A2 to achieve accurate fire on the go.
▲SK-105A2 tank equipped with CN-105-57 rifled gun
Although the main gun fire of the SK-105 can effectively penetrate most of the main battle tanks of the same era, including the Soviet T-54/55, because it is improved from a personnel carrier, its protection is relatively weak, and its front can only withstand the direct fire of 20mm small-caliber shells, and the sides can only barely withstand the fire of small arms. Although frontal protection was strengthened in the later period, it could only withstand 35mm shells. This extremely unbalanced design of firepower and protection can only be compensated for by the mobility of the tank, which can reach a maximum travel speed of 70 km / h thanks to the 320 hp power of a rear-mounted 7FA 6-cylinder diesel engine produced by Steyr.
In view of the mountainous characteristics of Austria, the tank's climbing ability is also very good, which can effectively adapt to the geomorphological characteristics of the Alps. In practical tests, SK-105 can effectively climb a slope of 75°, adapt to a side slope of 40°, and can normally cross vertical steps of 0.8m or trenches 2.4m wide. Due to its small size, similar to the AMX-13, the SK-105 as a light tank can be delivered remotely by the C130 Hercules transport aircraft, making it particularly suitable for rapid deployment of airborne forces.
Since mass production in 1971, the SK-105 has been produced for more than 700 units, with the exception of the Austrian Army's own 285 (133 A1 and 152 A2), the rest of the tanks are used for export to African and South American countries that do not have high demand for heavy equipment, including Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Tunisia, Morocco and Botswana. Argentina purchased the largest number of 118 units, and after modernization in 2005, these tanks continued to serve under the nickname "Patagón" by the Argentines.
▲ "Batago" tank at the Argentine Army Exhibition in May 2008