The heyday of tank destroyers of the classic reckless layout fell on the years of the Second World War. Such anti-tank self-propelled guns were massively used by Hitler's Germany, as well as the USSR, where such successful machines as the SU-85 and SU-100 were created. After the war, interest in such machines practically disappeared. Tank destroyers were developed, but on a limited scale, the main battle tanks entered the battlefield, which solved all tasks on their own. All the more surprising is the attempt by Swiss designers to release a classic-style tank destroyer in the early 1980s.
Post-war tank park in Switzerland
Tank troops have never been the strong point of the Swiss army. But in the country of mountains and alpine meadows, they followed world trends and tried to buy various armored vehicles. In the early 1950s, the Swiss army was armed with obsolete vehicles, for example, the Panzer 39 tanks, which were the Swiss version of the Czech pre-war light tank LT vz. 38. The Swiss version was distinguished by an unusual weapon - a long-barreled 24 mm cannon 24 mm Pzw-Kan 38 with magazine feed. Thanks to the store food, the tank had a high rate of fire, up to 30-40 rounds per minute. True, the designers had to make a special ledge in the roof of the tower specifically to accommodate such a cannon with an upper store location.
Another rarity in service with the Swiss army was the Panzerjäger G 13 tank destroyers. These combat vehicles were Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer anti-tank self-propelled guns purchased in Czechoslovakia after World War II. Outwardly, these two self-propelled guns were no different. The Panzerjäger G 13 remained in service with the Swiss army until 1972, when they were finally removed from service. To update the fleet of armored vehicles, Switzerland also purchased 200 AMX-13/75 tanks from France, designated Leichter Panzer 51.
Attempts to update the tank fleet were made regularly. At the same time, Switzerland collaborated in this area with Germany. Swiss firms worked with German firms on the Indien-Panzer tank project for India. Taking into account the experience and developments on this project, Switzerland developed its first own main battle tank, the Panzer 58, which very quickly transformed into the Panzer 61 (Pz 61). The latter were released at once 160 units. For small Switzerland, this is a lot. The combat vehicle was equipped with a British 105 mm L7 gun and a 20-mm automatic gun paired with it. In the course of further modernization, such a twin was abandoned in favor of the more traditional 7, 5-mm machine gun.
At the same time, a tank destroyer project was being developed in Switzerland. Specialists of the large arms company MOWAG worked on it. This company is known today to many thanks to its bestseller - the MOWAG Piranha wheeled armored personnel carrier, which is widely sold around the world and is in great demand in the market.
And if the company is doing well with wheeled armored vehicles, then the Swiss were definitely not lucky with tracked vehicles. Specialists of this company in the early 1960s participated in the Bundeswehr competition for the development of a tank destroyer (Jagdpanzer-Kanone). The presented version of the Mowag Gepard, armed with a 90-mm cannon, did not suit the German military. The Swiss army also did not need the car, and the 24-ton self-propelled gun project was safely forgotten for 20 years.
Prerequisites for the creation of the MOWAG Taifun tank destroyer
The idea to rebuild a classic tank destroyer with a reckless layout originated in Switzerland in the late 1970s. Apparently, the experience of long-term operation of "Hetzer" for a long time ingrained in the minds of the designers of this country. The second attempt at reincarnating the Hetzer anti-tank self-propelled gun followed 20 years after the debut of the Gepard tank destroyer. It is worth noting that this, most likely, was the last attempt in history to create a similar tank destroyer. For example, the Strv 103 main battle tank, also distinguished by its reckless layout, was rightly classified by many as a tank destroyer. This combat vehicle was mass-produced in Sweden from 1966 to 1971.
It can be argued that such military equipment simply died out at the turn of the 1960-1970s and was considered obsolete, so the Swiss project stands out from the crowd. It is believed that the prerequisites for the development of the MOWAG Taifun tank destroyer was the widespread use of new armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber projectiles (BOPS). Such shells were distinguished by good penetration and could hit all existing tanks even if they hit the frontal projection.
The first such serial ammunition was developed in the USSR in 1961 for the T-12 100-mm smooth-bore anti-tank gun. And already in 1963, the T-62 tank with a 115-mm smooth-bore gun entered service, which also had new ammunition in its arsenal. In the West, the creation of such shells was somewhat delayed, but in the 1970s they began to appear en masse. In the USA, they presented the M735 projectile for the 105 mm M68A1 cannon, which was a licensed copy of the famous British L7A1. And in Israel, they created the M111 Hetz BOPS, which, from a distance of 1.5 kilometers, pierced the frontal armor of the T-72 tank hull. Both shells had a tungsten core.
In Switzerland, it was reasonably considered that throwing "scrap metal" at enemy tanks instead of using expensive anti-tank guided missiles from ATGMs was a sensible idea. And with great enthusiasm, they began to create a tank destroyer, which again became relevant. However, looking ahead, let's say that, apart from the MOWAG designers, few people thought so.
The company's engineers began to develop a project of an anti-tank self-propelled gun with a casemate arrangement of a gun in an armored wheelhouse on their own initiative, the first prototype was shown in 1980. At the same time, the Swiss hoped to promote the new project both for export (a cheap means of fighting enemy tanks) and for the domestic market. The new Typhoon self-propelled guns appeared to be a possible replacement for the French AMX-13 tanks, which were being removed from service.
Tank destroyer MOWAG Taifun
Work on a new tank destroyer, designated MOWAG Taifun, continued from 1978 to 1980. The company's engineers took into account the experience of developing the Gepard self-propelled gun and improved the machine taking into account the requirements of the time. The resulting low-profile anti-tank self-propelled gun was based on the chassis of the Tornado tracked armored personnel carrier developed by the same company. The combat weight of the vehicle did not exceed 26.5 tons, which can be attributed to the advantages of the model. The low weight could play into the hands in the conditions of operation of the combat vehicle in Switzerland.
It is known that at least one copy of such a self-propelled gun was built in metal. The only vehicle built was armed with the same famous British 105 mm L7 gun. The same gun was installed on the Leopard-1 tanks and the first version of the M1 Abrams tank. At the same time, the size of the conning tower made it possible to install a more powerful 120-mm smoothbore tank gun Rheinmetall Rh-120 / L44. In the future, it is this gun, and later its improved version with a barrel length of 55 calibers, will be registered on all western tanks. In addition, Swiss engineers planned to equip the gun with an automatic loader and reduce the self-propelled crew to three people.
The only metal-built MOWAG Taifun tank destroyer received a 105-mm gun and a crew of four: driver, commander, gunner and loader. The gun pointing angles in the vertical plane ranged from -12 to +18 degrees; in the horizontal projection, the gun was guided by 15 degrees in each direction. At the same time, the working conditions of the crew and the same loader were not the most comfortable. The vehicle had a low silhouette, its height was only about 2,100 mm (excluding the machine-gun mount), while the ground clearance was 450 mm. There was not much room in the building.
The armoring of the combat vehicle did not impress the imagination, but for a self-propelled gun, which was supposed to hit enemy armored vehicles from long distances from an ambush or from cover, it was not so critical. The thickness of the frontal armor reached 50 mm, the self-propelled gun was protected from the sides by 25 mm armor. The armor plates of the hull were located at rational angles of inclination, which increased the security of the vehicle. The crew, components and assemblies of the self-propelled gun were reliably protected from being hit by shrapnel from shells and mines and from the fire of automatic guns of 25-30 mm caliber in the frontal projection. In part, the insufficient armor of the vehicle was compensated for by the power of the installed weapons.
The machine turned out to be small, with a combat weight of 26.5 tons, a fairly powerful diesel engine Detroit Diesel 8V-71T was installed on a self-propelled gun, which produced a maximum power of 575 hp. This combination of characteristics provided excellent power-to-weight ratio of 21.7 hp. per ton. The maximum speed of the Typhoon tank destroyer reached 65 km / h.
At the beginning of the 1980s, the construction of the Second World War, albeit at a completely new technical level, still looked like a revived archaic. Despite the fact that the project had a simple design, and the self-propelled gun was distinguished by good maneuverability and stealth at a low price, the military in Switzerland and other countries were not interested in the project.
The vehicle was still losing out to main battle tanks with a turret. Among other things, the turret allowed tanks to make better use of the terrain; it was possible to shoot from the opposite sides of the hills or hide in the folds of the terrain. Attack helicopters were also a problem. Any such helicopter that appeared over the battlefield was a much more effective means of dealing with enemy armored vehicles. For these reasons, the MOWAG Taifun remained just a prototype and possibly the last classic tank destroyer in history.
