Strv 122: Swedish tank withstands missile strike in Kursk region

In the Kursk region, one of the few remaining Ukrainian service tanks, the Swedish Stridsvagn 122, was spotted during a mission to recover a damaged T-72 tank. This tank survived a hit from an anti-tank-guided missile aimed at the ammunition storage. We explain how this is possible.

Ukrainians in the Kursk region are utilizing the latest NATO equipment at their disposal. Among the heaviest pieces are the Swedish Stridsvagn 122 tanks. Ukraine received ten of these machines, with at least one destroyed and six damaged and abandoned. It’s possible that some of the machines from the latter category were later recovered by Ukrainians and repaired in the country or possibly in Poland or Lithuania.

Anyway, probably only a few remain in service, which are used for a variety of tasks. One such task is evacuating other damaged tanks, as the Leopard 2 can easily tow other tanks while being a very well-armoured machine. It's worth mentioning that the Swedish Strv 122 is the best-armoured variant of the Leopard 2 that has reached Ukraine.

Below, you can see the Strv 122 towing a T-72 tank, which was likely hit by an artillery shell, as the explosion seems too large for an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). The precision of the artillery shell's hit on a moving target suggests the Russians may have used a Krasnopol laser-guided shell.

The visible white smoke may come from damaged GALIX smoke grenade launchers mounted on the side of the turret. Theoretically, it could also be ammunition from the turret storage, but the smoke was too white and dissipated quickly.

From 1994 to 2001, Sweden decided to purchase a total of 120 Stridsvagn 122 tanks. Interestingly, these are not modernised versions of the Leopard 2A4 tanks but tanks built from scratch. Some were produced in the German Krauss-Maffei Wegmann plants, but most were built in Sweden, under licence, at Åkers Krutbruk Protection AB.

The Swedish Stridsvagn 122s were based on developmental versions of the Leopard 2A5, sitting between the production variant and the later Leopard 2A6. The Swedish tanks feature increased turret roof and hull sides protection against handheld anti-tank weapons like RPG-7s or bomblets from cluster munitions.

This also provided greater resistance against FPV drones or Lancet-3 in the context of the war in Ukraine. Additionally, the Strv 122 has a very advanced fire control system with thermal imaging similar to that of the Leopard 2A6, and the crew can operate in hunter-killer mode. This mode significantly reduces the time from target detection to destruction since the commander, with his own panoramic thermal sight, directs the gun to the target, and the gunner only needs to fine-tune the aim.

In the case of the older system, the gunner did everything based on the commander’s information. The Rheinmetall Rh-120 short gun with a length of 44 calibres, the same as in M1A2 Abrams tanks where it appears as the M256, remains unchanged from the Leopard 2A5.

The mobility of this 60-tonne (rounded) giant is ensured by a 1500-horsepower diesel engine, which also provides enough power reserve to tow other tanks.