二战年代瑞士自产的中型坦克Panzer 58

  　　Hellowarriors,　　asyouprobablyalreadyknowifyoureadthisblog,YuriPasholokrecentlyvisitedthearmormuseuminThun(Switzerland).AnotherremarkablevehiclethathesawtherewasthePanzer58Swissmediumtank.Here'ssomeinfoaboutit.　　Fornumerousreasons(especiallyeconomicalones),Switzerlanddidn'thaveitsownarmoredvehiclesforaverylongtime,optingtopurchaseforeignvehiclesinstead.Switzerlandishowevernowonlyknownforitsmountainsandbanksbutalsoforitsqualityarmsmanufacturingindustry(thatincludesnotonlygunsandrifles),previouslyhowevertherewerenorealindigenousSwisstanks.Therewereattemptsduringandafterthewartobuildindigenousarmoredvehicles(suchastheNahkampfkanoneproject)butitneverreallywentanywhere,sinceitwasmuchcheapertobuytheCenturionsortheG-13TD'sthantodevelopavehicleontheirown.　　Thisattitudechangedinthe50's.It'snosecretthatSwissarmscompanies(Oerlikon,Solothurn)activelycooperatedwiththeGermansinWW2.Thiscooperationcontinuedafterthewaranditstartedtoincludetanksaswell.In1953,anallianceofGermancompanies(Porsche,Daimler-Benz,ZahnradfabrikandRuhrstahl)participatedinaprojectofanewtankforIndia.Thiswasthe30tonclassIndien-PanzerthatwastobeproducedinIndiabytheTatacompany.SwisscompaniesparticipatedinthedevelopmentoftheIndien-Panzeraswell.Theprojectwasreadyin1954buttheclientrefuseditintheend.Therewasnothingwrongwiththetankactually,butTatawasnotabletoactuallyproduceit.Aftersomedeliberations,theIndianschosetosimplybuytheBritishCenturionsinstead.　　Buttheprojectdidnotendthere.In1956,theGermansstartedtheEuropanzerproject,whichwasbasedontheIndien-Panzer30tontankandsoitwasthattheIndien-PanzerevolutionresultedwiththeAMX-30andtheLeopard1.　　TheSwissdidnotstayidleeither.TheIndien-Panzerproject,notpossibletobebuiltinIndia,wasnotaproblemfortheadvancedSwissindustry.BythetimetheIndien-Panzerwasdeveloped,theSwissworkedontheirownmediumtank,receivingtheindexKW.30(Kampfwagen30,30tonbattletank).ItwasdevelopedbyEidgenoessischeKonstruktionswerkstaette(EKW)inThun-itwastheprincipalSwissmilitarydesignbureau,dealingnotonlywitharmorbutdesigningaircraftaswell.Thevehiclewassupposedtobearmedwithanindigenous90mmcannon(9cmKanone48)andtheenginewastobeGerman-MercedesBenzTyp837(thesameoneasproposedfortheIndien-Panzer).　　Theprototypedevelopmentwasdelayedanditwasonlyreadyin1957,twoyearsaftertheintendedstartofmassproduction.Theearlymock-upwascreatedwith5roadwheels,thesameasIndien-Panzer.　　Thesecondprototype,afterwhichthemass-producedvehiclewasnamed,wasarmedwiththeBritish20pdrgun(whichwasbythewaylicense-manufacturedinSwitzerlandas8,4cmPanzerkanone58).InsteadofthecoaxialMG,thevehiclereceivednew20mmOerlikongun(20mmPanzerkanone61)andtheamountofroadwheelswasincreasedtosix.ThisistheprototypethatwassavedandremainsintheThunmuseum.Afterthetrials,10pre-seriesvehicleswereordered,upgunnedwiththe105mmguns"10,5cmPanzerKanone60"(alicense-producedversionoftheBritishL7).These10pre-seriesvehicleswerelatermodifiedtobecomethefirstSwissmass-producedtank,thePanzer61.160ofthoseweremade(thisnumberincludesthemodifiedPanzer58's),aratherlargenumberfortheneutralSwitzerland.　　Design-wisePanzer58(andearlypost-warGermantankprojects)washeavilyinspiredbytheAmericandesignschool(roadwheels,supportrollers,suspensionconfiguration,casthullandturretandotherelements).The"traditional"Germanelements(interwovensuspension,weldedhulls)seemedtohavedisappeared.　　Thelicense-produced20pdr