Stridsvagn 122: Ukraine's resilient yet vulnerable tank
A video has surfaced online showing a Stridsvagn 122 tank in service with the Ukrainian army. Such recordings have become rare. As part of Western support, the defenders' army received ten of these machines, but they lost most of them in clashes with the Russians. We detail the performance and equipment of the Stridsvagn 122.
According to many Ukrainian soldiers and in the opinion of numerous experts, the Stridsvagn 122 is military gold. Jarosław Wolski, a defence analyst, called the Stridsvagn 122 "the best and most well-armoured tank that Ukraine has. "
Stridsvagn 122. What kind of tank is this?
The Stridsvagn 122 is a Swedish tank that evolved as a deep modernization of the German Leopard 2A5. The Scandinavians decided to implement several changes related to very important structural elements, resulting in the Stridsvagn 122 significantly differing from its predecessor.
It features, among other things, reinforced roof and hull sides, as well as more durable fuel tanks, making it a significantly more resilient tank. However, the war in Ukraine has shown that it is not indestructible. Data collected by the authors of the Oryx blog, who document the equipment losses suffered by Russia in the conflict with Ukraine, indicate that out of the ten received Stridsvagn 122 tanks, the Ukrainian army currently uses only three.
A certain consolation in the situation is that of the seven Stridsvagn 122 units hit by the Russians, probably only one was destroyed. The others are damaged, possibly to a degree that allows repairs, but this has not yet been verified as the tanks were abandoned in the so-called "no man's land" (on the border of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions), which is a continuous combat zone, preventing the safe evacuation of damaged machines.
The main armament consists of a smoothbore L/44 cannon with a 120 mm calibre. A 1500 horsepower engine powers the tank, and as additional armament, it offers two 7.62 mm machine guns and an 81 mm smoke grenade launcher. These elements are shared with the Leopard 2A5. However, it has a more advanced fire control system by the Swedish company Celsius and a Tank Command and Control System (TCCS).
How many tanks has Ukraine lost?
Since the beginning of the ongoing war, Ukrainians have lost a total of about 950 tanks. The losses of the Russians in this type of vehicle are significantly greater, but at the same time, their industry can continuously deliver more tanks to the front than Ukraine and its allies combined.
