Swiss Panzer 74 info

[Phantom Fanatic]

Hello all. I have been reading up on Swiss MBT programs and concepts in the last few days and I noticed that Secret Projects does not yet have a thread dedicated to the Panzer 74 proposal. I am aware of the Tank Encyclopedia article on this matter but I thought I'd ask this forum.

 

[ChieftainWarrior]

There really doesn't seem to be much else out there other than the TE article.
Here's an image found here which seems to show the tank with one of the 'Large' turrets and the H suspension (hydropneumatic). I think it's just a higher resolution scan of the second image found on the TE article:


Here are some basic stats (all from TE):

Panzer 74

• 120mm L11 (as on Chieftain)
  • APDS, HESH
    • Presumably L15A3 and L31A7
  • -10/+21 degrees
• 1200hp, 68km/h, 46t
• 4 crew (Commander, loader, gunner, driver)
• Turrets
  • Variante A
    • ‘Large’ turret with AEG FCS
    • 3650mm long (incl. mantlet), 3000mm wide
  • Variante B
    • Honeywell proposal (no more information)
  • Variante C
    • ‘Large’ turret with Marconi FCS
  • Variante D
    • ‘Small’ turret with SABCA and AEG FCS
    • 3350mm long, 2800mm wide
  • Variante E
    • ‘Small’ turret with Wild-Bofors and AEG FCS
  • Variante F
    • Variante A (‘Large’, AEG FCS) with autoloader
• Hulls
  • Variante T
    • Torsion bar suspension
  • Variante H
    • Hydropneumatic suspension

The blog article I linked also calls the tank the VZ 67 and VZ 71 (supposedly meaning Versuchsfahrzeug 67/71). I'm going to continue looking for stuff though.

 

[Phantom Fanatic]

Thanks! I think you're right there does seem to be very little out there about this project.

 

[CarroDeCombate]

Online-Zugang zum Bundesarchiv

www.recherche.bar.admin.ch

There are some documents in swiss federal archive

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

From Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/WorldofTanks/comments/14lgnrs/panzer_74_a_swiss_cold_war_heavy_tank_prototype

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/WorldofTanks/comments/14lgnrs/panzer_74_a_swiss_cold_war_heavy_tank_prototype/#lightbox

 

[Slakrrrrrr]

From Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/WorldofTanks/comments/14lgnrs/panzer_74_a_swiss_cold_war_heavy_tank_prototype

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/WorldofTanks/comments/14lgnrs/panzer_74_a_swiss_cold_war_heavy_tank_prototype/#lightbox

The original can be found in this document:

Online-Zugang zum Bundesarchiv

www.recherche.bar.admin.ch

 

[Scott Kenny]

Given Swiss terrain, not using the hydropneumatic suspension would be foolish. (See also Japanese tanks, which have the same terrain problem. some 90% of Japan's land area is too steep to be inhabited!)