The Landsverk L-180, L-181 and L-182 are a family of
armored cars developed by the Swedish company
AB Landsverk during the interwar years. They had a good international reputation for being fast, robust and reliable and were acquired in small numbers by Denmark, Estonia, Ireland and the Netherlands, among others.
Design
The different variants were similarly configured, but were built on different chassis;
Büssing-NAG,
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
and
Daimler-Benz
The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...
truck chassis. (See ''Operators'')
Armament
These vehicles were also similarly armed, most commonly with a
Bofors 37 mm or
20 mm Madsen autocannon
An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...
but was also manufactured with other similar guns. The only exception, Finland, bought one L-182 and armed it with a 13.2 mm L-35/36 machine gun. (See ''Operators'')
Engine
In the same way, as several different chassis were used, different engines were also used, and where the make of the engine is known, they were manufactured by the same company as the chassis. (See ''Operators'')
Operators
Service
*
The two L-180 ordered in 1935 and delivered in 1936, were used by the Army Technical Corps of the Danish Army under the designation FP-7 and FP-8.
*
The only L-180 was acquired by Estonia in 1937, were used by the
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
Police.
*
The L-182 was bought for testing
in 1936, it was used by the armored unit of the
''Ratsuväkiprikaati'' ( en, Cavalry Brigade) and saw limited service in the
Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
. Next, the armored unit of
''1. Divisioona'' ( en, 1st Division)
employed it, in the
Continuation War in 1941, already with the original 13.2 mm L-35/36 machine gun replaced by the
20 mm L-39 anti-tank rifle, conversion made approximately in December 1940. It seems that the armored car was out of service in late 1941 and was scrapped in 1945.
*
Ireland ordered its first two Landsverk L-180s in 1937 and these were delivered the following year. Six more were then ordered and they were delivered in 1939. A further five were ordered but could not be delivered because of the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, these five were used instead by the Swedish army. Irish Landsverk L-180s were armed with a
Madsen 20mm Cannon and two
Madsen .303 Machine Guns. The Madsen machine guns were replaced with
.30 Browning machine guns in the 1950s and the 20mm cannon was replaced in the 1970s with
Hispano-Suiza 20mm cannons taken from former
Irish Air Corps De Havilland Vampire jets. In the 1950s the Landsverks engines were replaced with 5,195cc Ford V8 type 317 petrol developing 155 hp at 3,200rpm. All Irish Landsverks belonged to the 1st Armoured Squadron and used alongside the Irish built
Leyland and
Dodge Armoured Car
Throughout its history, the Irish Army has used a number of armoured fighting vehicles.
Rolls-Royce armoured car
During the Irish Civil War thirteen Rolls-Royce armoured cars armed with Vickers .303 machine guns. were handed over to the ...
s until they re-equipped with
Panhard AML armoured cars in 1972. The Landsverks were then transferred to the reserve
FCA FCA may refer to:
Arts
* Federation of Canadian Artists
* Foundation for Contemporary Art, in Ghana
* Foundation for Contemporary Arts, in the United States
Business and economics
* False Claims Act, a United States federal law
* Federal Cus ...
units, five going to the
11th Motor Squadron and three to the 3rd Motor Squadron until they were all retired in the 1980s.
![Lithuanian L-181](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Lithuanian_L-181.jpg)
*
The Lithuanian Army used the six L-181 ordered in 1933 and delivered in 1934.
*
The L-180s from the Danish and Dutch armies were captured and used by the German Army for reconnaissance tasks, patrol and training, being called ''Panzerspähwagen'' L 202 (h).
[Regenberg, pp. 8–9]
The Dutch L-181s were also captured and put to service by the ''
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...
'' for security duties.
[Regenberg, pp. 8–9]
![Ag scan0127](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Ag_scan0127.jpg)
*
The Dutch Army bought 13 L-180 in 1938,
although it could have been delivered 14 L-180, including two as armored command vehicles without main gun (dummy gun instead).
[Regenberg, pp. 8–9] From Landsverk AB were also purchased 12 turrets.
The command variant used two special turrets. The command vehicles were used on the two armored squadrons, with one vehicle each.
The L-180s were designated ''Pantserwagen'' M-38.
[Regenberg, pp. 8–9]
Netherlands also purchased 12 L-181
and designated them as ''Pantserwagen'' M-36.
[Regenberg, pp. 8–9]
The Dutch had two squadrons of these Landsverk's operational during the German invasion of the country in May 1940. The 1st squadron
.181, M.36with its four platoons of three cars each had been divided over the infantry protection forces of the major air-force bases of Ypenburg, near
the Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
, and Schiphol, near
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. The first six cars at Ypenburg were involved in heavy fighting and contributed considerably to repelling the German airlanding on Ypenburg on 10 May 1940. The 2nd squadron
-180, M.38was attached to the Field Army command on the central front of the country. Here they performed a large number of aggressive recce mission during which numerous encounters with German forces of the X.Army Corps occurred. The Dutch operations with the Landsverk's were very successful. Only one was taken out by German countermeasures whereas three were crippled by German bombs or debris on Ypenburg. A number were sabotaged by the Dutch after the capitulation of the Dutch army, but most vehicles were reactivated and serve particularly in the recce battalion of the German 227th Infantry Division in France and later in the former Soviet Union.
![Pbil m41](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Pbil_m41.jpg)
*
The five L-180 originally ordered by Ireland and not delivered, were used by the Swedish army under the designation ''Pansarbil'' m/41 (Pbil m/41). These vehicles had the Swedish-version of
Landsverk Lynx turret with the Bofors
20 mm akan m/40 automatic cannon, instead of the Madsen automatic cannon on Irish vehicles or the more common turret armed with a Bofors 37 mm gun.
*
Probably the armored cars from Estonia and Lithuania were captured during the
Soviet occupation of 1940.
Landsverk in Dutch museum
The
Dutch Cavalry Museum in Amersfoort has a Landsverk L-180 in its collection. It is an original Irish version of the vehicle.
File:Landsverk M38 pic-5.JPG, Front view
File:Landsverk M38 pic-8.JPG, Rear view
File:Landsverk M38 pic-11.JPG, interior view, in front the turret and in the back the steering wheel for the second driver
See also
*
Landsverk L-185 — A similar armored car from Landsverk.
References
* Regenberg, Werner. ''Captured Armored Cars and Vehicles in Wehrmacht Service in World War II''. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1996. .
External links
Landsverk- Site about AB Landsverk between 1850 and 1992. (Swedish language)
Tanks!– Site about armored fighting vehicles used by several countries before 1946.
JAEGER PLATOON:FINNISH ARMY 1918 - 1945 WEBSITE- Site about the Finnish Army.
Notes
{{ColdWarSwedishAFVs
Armoured fighting vehicles of Sweden
Armoured cars of the interwar period
World War II armoured cars
Military vehicles introduced in the 1930s