The Swedish Centurion Strv 81 Medium Tank

The Strv 104 at Bovington Tank Museum in the UK
The Swedish Centurion Strv 81 Medium Tank

The Swedish Army purchased 240 Mk 3’s & 110 Mk 10’s from the British. They were subsequently modified for the Swedish Army under designation Stridsvagn, meaning tank in Swedish (AKA Strv).

The Swedish Centurion Strv 81 Medium Tank Upgrades

Designation Characteristic
Stridsvagn 81 240 Mk 3 Centurions equipped with Swedish communications equipment
Stridsvagn 101 110 Mk 10 Centurions equipped with Swedish communications equipment
Stridsvagn 101R Stridsvagn 101 upgraded in early 1980s with laser range finder equipment
Stridsvagn 102 Stridsvagn 81up-graded in early 1960s with 105 mm main gun
Stridsvagn 102R Stridsvagn 102 upgraded in early 1980s with laser range finder equipment
Stridsvagn 104 80 Stridsvagn 102 modernised in early 1980s with laser range finder and diesel engine
Stridsvagn 105 Stridsvagn 102R Prototype only – upgraded with new suspension etc
Stridsvagn 105 Stridsvagn 101R Prototype only – upgraded with new suspension, etc. Not built.
Bärgningsbandvagn 81 Centurion ARV

The last Centurions used by the Swedish Army was the Stridsvagn 104. The 104 was an up-graded version of the Stridsvagn 102. It was fitted with a new diesel engine and transmission together with, among other items, an automatic gear-box. Its armed with a 105 mm main gun, 2 x 7.62 mm machine guns, two six-barrel smoke dischargers and two illumination round dischargers. The vehicle has a standard crew of four – commander, gunner and loader in the turret, plus the driver in the hull. It has an increased top road speed of 50 kph with an on-road & off-road range of 300km & 120 km, with a combat weight of 54 tonnes. The last class trained on the Centurion finished in 2000 on the island of Gotland. The tank is now only in mobilization forces across Sweden. The Swedish Army has now adopted the Leopard 2 S AKA Strv 122.