The Pansarvärnsrobotbandvagn 551 (PvRbBv 551) was a

tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often wi ...

developed by

Landsverk :''This is about the origin of the family name Landsverk. For the Swedish heavy industry manufacturer, see AB Landsverk.'' Landsverk is the name of two forest farms located in the village of Lisleherad, in the municipality of Notodden, Norway ...

and

Hägglunds BAE Systems AB is a Swedish defence company and a subsidiary of BAE Systems Land & Armaments, whose ultimate parent is the British defence contractor BAE Systems. The company is a holding company for Land Systems Hägglunds AB and BAE Systems Bofo ...

History

When the Infanterikanonvagn 102/103 were replaced in the years 1975 to 1978 with the Infanterikanonvagn 91, the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

used their chassis as the basis for a new armoured fighting vehicle with anti-tank and anti-air variants. The Pansarvärnsrobotbandvagn 551 was the anti-tank variant while the Luftvärnsrobotvagn 701 was the anti-air variant.

Description

The PvRbBv 551 had a new superstructure built on the old chassis. The primary armament was a BGM-71 TOW. Secondary armament was a

Ksp 58 machine gun The Ksp 58 (Swedish: Kulspruta 58) is a Swedish variant of the Belgian FN MAG general purpose machine gun that is currently being manufactured by the Swedish company Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori and was adopted by the Swedish Armed Forces i ...

. The vehicle also had a new engine and gear similar to Bandvagn 206 installed. The vehicle was operated by a crew of four. The commander and driver are seated at the front of the vehicle. The gunner and loader are located in the middle of the hull under two large roof hatches. When the PvRbBv 551 goes into firing position, the hatches are opened and the BGM-71 TOW is raised above the vehicle roof. The gunner and loader are exposed in this position.

Production

The work was carried out between 1984 and 1986 at Hägglund & Söner in Örnsköldsvik. 57 PvRbBv 551 was produced and served in with the Swedish Army from 1984 to 2000.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pansarvärnsrobotbandvagn 551 Fire support vehicles Armoured fighting vehicles of Sweden Armoured fighting vehicles of the Cold War Tanks of the Cold War Tanks of Sweden Military vehicles introduced in the 1980s