Pbil m-31

Pansarbil m/31
File:Pbil m31 kanonbil vinter.jpg Pbil m/31 "Cannon Car" Equipped with 37mm Naval Cannon m/98B
Type	Armored Reconnaissance Car
Place of origin	Sweden
Service history
In service	1931-58
Used by	Sweden
Production history
Designer	AB Bofors
Manufacturer	AB Bofors (Body) Chevrolet, Volvo (Chassis)
No. built	32
Variants	See Variants Section
Specifications
Mass	4.2 Tonnes
Length	3.3 m
Width	1.8 m
Height	2.75 m
Crew	4 - 6 Crew 1x) Driver 1x) Cabin Gunner 1x) Commander 1x) Main Gunner 2x) Platform Gunners (Optional)
Maximum firing range	5 km (20mm Cannon on Pbil m/31 mod.1942)
Armor	5.5 - 6.5 mm RHA
Main armament	1x) 20 mm akan m/40B Autocannon
Secondary armament	2x) 8mm Karlspruta Machine Gun
Engine	6 Cylinder in line engine 78 hp 18.5 hp
Operational range	150 km
Speed	Forward: 60kph (~37mph) Backward: 7kph (~4mph)
Steering system	Front Wheel Steering

The Pansarbil m/31 (Pbil m/31) was a Swedish Armored Car produced for reconnaissance units in the Swedish Army from 1931-58. Originally placed in cavalry brigades but soon placed into the newly formed "Motor Brigades" in the Swedish Army in 1941, and then finally placed into Swedish Armored Brigades in 1943.

Development:

During the 1920s the Swedish Army was still working through and trying many ideas learned from the combat of World War 1. Among those ideas was the prominent idea of modernizing the cavalry brigades through motorization efforts and the procurement or creation of Armored Cars. Many foreign designs were tested, but special interest in a domestically Swedish design allowed the Tidaholms Bruk company to produce three experimental vehicles in 1925. The vehicles produced were trucks produced by Tidaholms Bruk that had been armored throughout the body and armed with a rotating turret. The first two Swedish armored vehicles were produced in 1925 (designated Pbil fm/25), with the second vehicle produced in 1926 (designated Pbil fm/26). These vehicles were produced purely for experimentation and knowledge gathering.

The knowledge gained from these experimental vehicles would be rather useful in the further development of Swedish Tanks, as Landsverk would soon produce a more advanced model designated Pbil fm/29 (Also known as L-170). This vehicle was unsatisfactory from the start due to the cost of the vehicle making it unable to be mass produced.

Due to this, an idea was put forth for a vehicle of lower cost, with work beginning on a prototype vehicle to fill this role in 1929. In the summer of 1930, the first prototype was delivered by Stockholms Tygstation. This prototype was designated Pbil fm/30 and was used in trials by the Livregementets Husarer Cavalry Division in Skövde at K 3.

With knowledge of how the Pbil fm/30 performed, a new prototype was then ordered from Bofors in 1931. The first example of this Bofors created vehicle would arrive in August of the same year and would be the first example of the Pbil m/31.

Construction of the Pbil m/31

The Pbil m/31 was constructed on the chassis of an ordinary mass production 2.5 ton truck, on which the armored superstructure was mounted. The first m/31s had chassis from Chevrolet, but in later production chassis from Volvo were also used. Since the chassis came from different companies and were produced in different years, no two Pbil m/31s were truly the same, with examples of differences being things like having a hydraulic brake system installed instead of a mechanical one, different types of wheels used on different cars etc.

Weapons

The armament of the vehicle consisted of an 8 mm m/36 Machine gun mounted in the cab (some Pbil m/31s seem to have also used a 6.5mm m/14-29 Machine gun as well) along with a gun shield mounted to the bed of the truck which could be armed with the 8 mm m/36 or a 37mm m/98B naval gun. Cars mounting the 37mm gun were known as "Cannon Cars" while those mounting machine guns were known as "Machine Gun Cars". The vehicles were split into groups of three based on their chassis (Chevrolet or Volvo), with each group containing one "Cannon Car" and two machine gun cars.

In 1942 it was decided to rearm all Pbil m/31s with a universal armament, consisting of a specially built armored car specific cannon, the 20mm m/40B Cannon mounted alongside an 8mm m/36 Machine gun, with both weapons mounted together within the gun shield in the bed.

Vehicle Crew

File:Pbil m31 bed.jpg

The bed of a Pbil m/31 "Machine gun car". There is an 8 mm kulspruta m/36 machine gun in the shielded mount. the soldiers are carrying 6.5 mm m/21 Automatic Rifles.

The crew of a Pbil m/31 (without 1942 rearmament) usually consisted of 5 or 6 men, a driver and machine gunner that sat in the cab, a commander and 1 - 2 other soldiers for support. Firing of the shield mounted weapon could either be carried out by a secondary soldier or the commander themselves. The supporting soldiers would use the weapon they were issued to provide support. A set of shields mounted to the sides of the truck bed could also be opened to shield the supporting soldiers from incoming fire. These mounted shields were originally produced as infantry rifle shields produced in relation to the trench warfare but were now rendered obsolete and reused.

Organization

A total of 32 Pbil m/31s were produced and were delivered to the army in 1940. Originally placed within cavalry units (then moved to special "motor brigades" in 1940), by the end of 1943 they had been moved to the newly formed Pansartruppernan (Armored Infantry) units.

Variants

• Pbil m/31 "Cannon Car" – 1931 variant equipped with a 37 mm marinkanon m/98B in a fixed gun carriage.
• Pbil m/31 "Machine Gun Car" – 1931 variant equipped with a 6,5 mm kulspruta m/14-29 (8 mm kulspruta m/36 in 1936) in an anti-air mount.
• Pbil m/31-42 – 1942 refit equipped with a 20mm m/40B autocannon alongside an 8 mm kulspruta m/36 in an armored anti-aircraft mount.

References

• Pansarbil fm/25 & fm/26 (from ointres.se) [1]
• Armoured car fm/29 (from ointres.se) [2]
• Armoured car m/31 (from ointres.se) [3]

This article "Pbil m-31" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Pbil m-31. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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