Just days after Turkey announced it would support Sweden’s bid to join NATO, the first Swedish-made main battle tanks (MBTs) deployed to Ukraine were spotted on social media.
The historically neutral Nordic nation has been among those offering significant aid to Kyiv following Russia’s unprovoked and unwarranted invasion in February 2022.
Stockholm has provided anti-tank weapons and other military hardware.
Earlier this year, it pledged to send ten of its Stridsvagn 122 tanks to support Ukraine’s efforts to drive out the invader.
The Tanks Have Arrived in Ukraine
A video of the Swedish-supplied MBTs was shared on social media on Wednesday. Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) posted the eighteen-second-long clip that showed the tanks in an undisclosed region.
Several of the vehicles were lined up, and covered with Barracuda IR-dampening camouflage netting.
The Stridsvagn 122 in the Crosshairs
The Swedish MBT, which first entered service in 1997, is based on the German-made Leopard 2A5. It features a number of enhancements over the original Leopard 2 – including improved command, control, and fire-control systems, and reinforced armor; while it is also distinguished from the German Leopard 2A5 with the addition of French GALIX smoke dispensers and thicker crew hatches.
It was in February that Stockholm announced that it would supply ten of the tanks to Kyiv, along with MIM-23 Hawk and IRIS-T air defense systems.
The MBT’s main armament is a 120mm Rheinmetall L44 smoothbore tank gun, while its secondary armament consists of two 7.62x51mm NATO Ksp m/94 machine guns, and four of the aforementioned smoke grenade launchers. The tank is equipped with third-generation composite armor that includes high-hardness steel, tungsten and plastic filler for ceramic components. It has an advanced CBRN defense system for protection from chemical, biological, and radioactive/nuclear weapons.
It is powered by an MTU MB 873 Ka-601 liquid-collected V-12 Twin-turbo diesel engine, and can reach a top speed of 68 km/h (42 mph).
Sweden had acquired approximately 120 Strv 122s, and the initial 20 were produced in Germany while the remaining batches were manufactured under license in Sweden by Bofors Defense/Alvis Hagglunds. Deliveries of the tanks to the Swedish military were completed in 2002.
Despite being more than two decades old, the Strv 122s are actually among some of the newer MBTs supplied to Ukraine. Moreover, the Stridsvagn 122 was specially designed for fighting in Swedish conditions, including forested areas as well as urban centers. It would thus seem extremely well-suited for operations in the Donbas region.
The tanks seen in the video were also equipped with the Barracuda Mobile Camouflage System (MCS), which was designed to provide protection to military vehicles during movement and in combat. It is meant to help a tank or other platform blend in with the surroundings. MCS can provide stealth capability in the visual, near-infrared, thermal infrared, and broadband radar wavebands, dimming sensors, obscure targeting, and the ability to fool smart ammunition. The two-side netting, which is made of rugged materials, can be quickly reversed to adapt to the environment.
#Ukraine: The first sighting of ???????? Swedish-supplied Stridsvagn 122 tanks in service with the Ukrainian army, complete with Barracuda IR-dampening camo net.
In total 10 of these advanced variants of the Leopard 2 were supplied to Ukraine by Sweden. pic.twitter.com/AWmXrWVM1h
— ???????? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 12, 2023
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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