The Swedish self-propelled gun for more than a dozen years has been proof that not only world leaders in the production of weapons can create unique pieces of equipment. Neither the USSR-Russia nor the United States have such SPGs. Swedish designers have outstripped everyone in this area of creating military equipment for a long time. A self-propelled 155 mm gun can fire 14 rounds of ammunition in less than a minute, the range of use is more than 25 kilometers - and these are the distant 60s of the last century.
The self-propelled gun was developed by the Bofors concern, which already at that time was highly qualified in the field of creating artillery solutions for the army and navy. In 1957, Sweden officially declares that it has all the capabilities to create atomic weapons in the next six years. It is likely that the weapons under development at that time could become a "carrier" of nuclear weapons. ACS, having a range of more than 25 kilometers, could well meet these requirements. The first sample of a self-propelled howitzer was ready for testing in 1960. Five-year testing and modification of the gun ends with the introduction of the ACS into mass production. In 1966, "Bandkenon 1A" entered service with the Swedish army. ACS "Bandkenon 1A" - the world's first automatic self-propelled howitzer, put into service. Disadvantages - one of the slowest and heaviest in its class - it makes it difficult to disguise and reduces the characteristics of tactical mobility. By the way, after the adoption of the Bandkanon-1A self-propelled guns, in the middle of 1968, Sweden officially abandoned the creation of atomic weapons.
Design and device of the ACS "Bandkanon-1A"
The design of the tower and the hull is welded. The thickness of the sheets is 10-20 mm. To create a howitzer used the power plant and chassis from the main tank "STRV-103". The engine compartment is located in the bow of the hull. The driver's seat is located facing the tower. The running hydropneumatic howitzer has six support-type rollers on each side. The first roller in the row is the leading roller, the last roller is the guide roller.
The howitzer turret is made of 2 parts and is located in the rear of the hull. A 155 mm gun is installed between the turret parts. The left side of the tower is the location of the radio operator, operator-gunner and commander, the right side of the tower is the location of the gunner and loader. The horizontal angles of the howitzer are ± 15 degrees, the vertical angles are from 38 to 2 degrees. When hovering manually - vertical angles are 3-40 degrees. The 155 mm gun is provided with a perforated muzzle brake and a semi-automatic wedge breech opening downward. The design of the tower part makes it possible not to have a tool for removing gases. An interesting feature of the howitzer is the removable insert barrel. In addition to the cannon, the ACS has a 7.62 mm AA machine gun.
When the ACS moves, the gun barrel is fixed with a retainer in the nose of the machine. The ready-to-use ammunition load of 14 ammunition is located in an armored container located in the rear of the hull. The armored container has 7 compartments, in which two shells are placed in each compartment. Each projectile first goes to the loading chute, after which it is loaded into the gun by the rammer. The rammer with the tray work due to springs, which, in turn, cock the rollback of the barrel. Therefore, the first ammunition is loaded into the gun manually. The rest of the ammunition is fed automatically. The gunner can choose the fire mode - single / automatic. Howitzer ammunition is transported by transport vehicle. To stack the ammunition, the gun is raised to the maximum vertical angle. The covers of the armored container are released, the lift slides down on the rail to store the ammunition. After laying, the covers are closed and the lift is returned to its original position, the barrel is lowered to its normal position. The reloading process of the howitzer takes only 120 seconds. The weight of one high-explosive projectile is 48 kilograms, the effective range is 25.6 kilometers. The MTO ACS uses a Rolls-Royce diesel engine with a power of 240 hp. When driving on rough terrain, they additionally include a Boeing gas turbine with a capacity of 300 hp, which is not surprising for the 53 ton weight of the car. Therefore, the fuel consumption turned out to be enormous - almost 1,500 liters of fuel are consumed for 230 kilometers. The large weight of the car affected the speed characteristics of the car - a maximum speed of 28 km / h.
Modernization of ACS
In 88 the self-propelled howitzer was modernized. The modernization has affected the diesel engine and transmission - the speed of the course has increased slightly, and the fuel consumption has decreased. In addition, the LMS and the vehicle's navigation were improved. After the modernization of the ACS, it received the name "Bandkannon 1C".
It was planned to release 70 units of this ACS. But a total of 26 units of the Bandkannon 1A self-propelled howitzer were built. The upgraded self-propelled guns "Bandkannon 1C" were in service with the Swedish army until 2003, after which the vehicle was removed from service.
