UDES XX 20
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| UDES XX 20 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Armored Fighting Vehicle |
| Place of origin | Sweden |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 26 tonnes |
| Length | 9.63 metres (gun forward) |
| Width | 2.9 metres |
| Crew | 3 |
| Armor | 12-20 mm |
| Engine | Detroit Diesel 8VA-71TA 600 hp |
| Speed | 55 km/h |
The UDES XX 20 was an experimental Swedish design of a new generation of Armored Fighting Vehicles during the 1970s, as part of the UDES program. It featured an unmanned overhead cannon turret[1] on top of a two-piece articulated tracked hull with the 3-man crew and turret in the front piece and the engine in the rear piece.[2]
Combined with the results of other overhead cannon turret vehicles from UDES, it was concluded that the drawbacks of the overhead cannon turret and articulated hull (especially in terms of cost) outweighed the benefits and the design was not put into a service vehicle.[1][2]
Development[edit]
UDES XX 5[edit]
The UDES XX 5 was developed as a concept for an articulated fighting vehicle after the Swedish Army saw great success with its articulated Bv 206 multi-purpose carrier. Due to the Bv 206's superiority in mobility as compared to similar non-articulated vehicles in other nations, it was theorized that a tank with the same articulation system would also be superior in terms of mobility.
It was on the chassis of a Bv 206 that the UDES XX 5 was built. During testing there was no type of ditch that the UDES XX 5 could not traverse across.
UDES XX 20[edit]
After the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) came to the conclusion that the armor of such a vehicle should be capable of protecting against the most common battlefield threats (such as small arms fire) and that this level of armor was not possible on the 5-ton UDES XX 5. Thus, the 20-ton (finalized at 26 tons) UDES XX 20 was developed, starting in 1977.[2][3] FMV contracted HB Utveckling AB to build the tank, a joint venture between Bofors and Hägglunds, both subsidiaries of BAE Systems.[4]
Design[edit]
Armament[edit]
The main armament of the UDES XX 20 was the 120 mm Rheinmetall Rh 120 L/44 which had to have a muzzle break installed so that the relatively light vehicle could handle the recoil. The cannon was manually loaded, however had the vehicle been serially produced it would have been produced with an autoloader with an ammo rack in the front hull piece.
Propulsion[edit]
The UDES XX 20 was powered by the Detroit Diesel 8VA-71TA providing 600 hp, mounted in the rear hull piece of the vehicle.[2]
Testing[edit]
The tank proved to have equal or in some aspects better mobility than the Ikv 91 on snow and on most terrain, however it was inferior on soft ground and more difficult terrain. It was also deemed inferior in terms of target acquisition due to the higher mounted cannon being more affected by movement and there being a higher risk of losing sight of the target during movement. These issues were to be resolved with two new variants of the test vehicle, UDES XX 20 B and UDES XX 20 C, however these were not produced.[2]
While the UDES XX 5 had kept the mobility of the Bv 206, these capabilities were greatly reduced with the added weight of the UDES XX 20. The articulation was expensive and mechanically complex, so with its greatest percieved advantage gone, it was deemed an unsatisfactory solution for these types of vehicles. No articulated vehicles fulfilling the role of a tank were procured by Sweden, however lessons learned from the UDES program helped in the development of the Strv 2000 and CV90.
Surviving vehicles[edit]
One UDES XX 20 was preserved at the tank museum in Axvall. This example was moved to Arsenalen tank museum when the museum at Axvall was closed and Arsenalen inherited all vehicles. As of 2022, the UDES XX 20 is stored in the reserve collection at Arsenalen in Strängnäs.[5]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "XX20". web.archive.org. 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "UDES". www.ointres.se. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
- ↑ "Экспериментальный проект легкого танка UDES XX 20 (Швеция)". toomth.livejournal.com. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
- ↑ "Evertiq - FMV beställer 40 bandvagnar av HB Utveckling AB". evertiq.se (in svenska). Retrieved 2022-05-14.
- ↑ "Om Arsenalen : Arsenalen". arsenalen.se. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
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