The seventies of the last century were the most important period in the history of the Swiss army. After long-term problems of various kinds of industry, it was possible to organize the mass production of new armored vehicles and gradually replace outdated samples. In addition, at this time, the development of new important projects was carried out. Within the framework of several projects being developed in parallel, vehicles for various purposes were created, including a new type of self-propelled anti-aircraft installation. The latter became widely known under the official designation Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68.
The development of combat aviation clearly demonstrated the need to improve military air defense. In the mid-seventies, the Swiss military department came to the conclusion that it was necessary to create, adopt and build self-propelled anti-aircraft guns with missile or artillery weapons. Soon the first proposals were received in this regard. One of them came from a leading Swiss company, which decided to join forces with foreign colleagues.
Experienced ZSU Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68 in the museum
In 1977, the Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte, Oerlikon, Contraves and Siemens organizations offered their own version of a promising air defense vehicle for the ground forces. Swiss and German companies jointly formed the overall look of the new anti-aircraft self-propelled gun and offered it to a potential customer. The proposed version of the ZSU, in general, suited the Swiss military, which resulted in an order for the continuation of work and the subsequent production of two experimental armored vehicles required for testing.
In the new project, it was proposed to use some ideas directly borrowed from foreign projects. Moreover, the new ZSU for Switzerland had to use some of the finished components, modified in one way or another. In fact, after analyzing the available possibilities, the easiest way to create promising technology was chosen. It was proposed to take the existing Swiss-made chassis and a gun turret with weapons and control systems, borrowed from a serial foreign model. The chassis of the Panzer 68 tank was supposed to be the basis for such equipment, and the combat module was borrowed from the German self-propelled gun Flakpanzer Gepard, which was put into service several years ago.
During the development of a new project, specialists from three companies from two countries had to solve several specific problems associated with adapting the existing tower to the new chassis. Such works were not easy, but still they could not compare in their complexity with the creation of equipment from scratch. The relative simplicity of the new project made it possible to shorten the development time and the time required for the construction of experimental equipment. Already in 1979, the development of the project was completed, and a few months later two required prototypes were submitted for testing.
A promising self-propelled anti-aircraft gun received the designation Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68. This name indicated the class of equipment, and also reflected the type of the base chassis - Pz 68. Unlike other Swiss armored vehicles of that period, this time the number in the name was not associated with the year of the appearance of the vehicle or its acceptance into service.
Self-propelled gun "Gepard" German design differed from Swiss armored vehicles in the large size of the turret ring. This feature of the existing combat module led to the need to refine the hull of the Pz 68 tank. The authors of the new project had to change the design of the roof and sides, and also slightly modify the layout of the internal compartments. At the same time, it was possible to preserve the mass of components and assemblies, as well as their original location. The updated body, as before, was proposed to be made by casting. Homogeneous booking with a thickness of up to 120 mm in the frontal part was preserved. The layout of the case, in general, remained the same. The front compartment housed the control compartment, the fighting compartment was located in the center, and the power plant was located in the stern.
General view of self-propelled guns
The use of an increased shoulder strap led to the displacement of the control compartment forward and the corresponding processing of the frontal part of the hull. To accommodate all the necessary units, the existing body had to be lengthened by 180 mm using an additional insert. The frontal part of the hull was still formed by two curved surfaces, but its shape was changed, and the angles of inclination were reduced. Immediately behind the frontal unit was a modified turret box. Now it was much wider, its side parts served as fenders. The property boxes on the sides of the base tank were moved to the stern. A few years earlier, similar hull modifications were used to create the Panzerkanone 68 ACS. The sloping roof of the engine compartment and the rear part of a complex shape were retained.
From the basic medium tank Pz 68, the new self-propelled gun received a power plant, made in the form of a single unit. It was based on a Mercedes Benz MB 837 Ba-500 carburetor engine with a power of 660 hp. An auxiliary power unit was also used in the form of a 38 hp Mercedes Benz OM 636 engine. The transmission for the Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68 was borrowed from the later series Pz 68 tanks, it provided six forward speeds and two reverse.
The existing undercarriage was retained on the basis of six double track rollers with rubber tires. The rollers received individual suspension on balancers with disc springs and hydraulic dampers. Three pairs of support rollers were placed above the track rollers. The front of the hull had attachments for sloths, in the stern there were drive wheels. A 520 mm wide Pz 68 tank track equipped with rubber pads was used.
The Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68 project proposed the use of a ready-made combat module previously developed for the German Gepard SPAAG. The latter was created in the early seventies and has been in serial production since 1973. The armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany began operating new machines in 1975-76 - literally on the eve of a request from the Swiss military department. Thus, the Swiss army had every chance of getting a modern example of an air defense system using the latest components with the highest possible characteristics at the moment.
The tower, borrowed from the German ZSU, had a characteristic shape. For installation on the shoulder strap of the hull, a platform of the required diameter of a small height was intended. On top of it was a large body of great height and reduced width. The combat module had anti-bullet and anti-fragmentation protection. The specific shape of the tower was due to the external placement of some of the devices, including weapons. A platform with mounts for mounting one of the radar antennas was placed in the frontal part of the tower. On the sides, in turn, were located swinging artillery installations.
Fighting vehicle Flakpanzer Gepard
The front of the turret is given over to a two-seater crew compartment with commander's and gunner's workplaces. Behind this volume, a compartment is provided for ammunition boxes and parts of special equipment. In addition, a folding surveillance radar antenna is mounted in the rear of the tower.
The first modification of the Flakpanzer Gepard ZSU turret was equipped with two radar stations for monitoring the air situation and tracking targets. The search for dangerous objects was carried out using the MPDR-12 station, the antenna of which was located in the rear of the tower. On the installation in front of the tower, a swinging radar antenna for pointing guns was attached. Data from both stations entered the on-board fire control system and were taken into account when calculating the guidance angles of weapons. An analog fire control system collected data from a variety of sensors and took them into account when aiming weapons. In the calculations, data on the position of the vehicle, information on the current aiming angles and the initial velocity of the projectiles, determined by special muzzle sensors, were used.
Synchronized swinging artillery mounts were located on the sides of the tower. A 35-mm Oerlikon KDE automatic gun was placed in a special protected case of a complex shape, which has its own vertical guidance drives. A gun with a barrel length of 90 calibers is capable of using various types of ammunition, accelerating them to speeds of the order of 1175 m / s and showing a rate of fire at 550 rounds per minute. Used tape ammunition. Ammunition for each of the two guns consisted of 310 shells of several types. The basis of the ammunition was unitary shots with high-explosive fragmentation and armor-piercing shells. In addition, it provided for the possibility of using armor-piercing sub-caliber shells necessary to combat ground equipment.
The equipment of the "Cheetah" tower of the first modification made it possible to detect targets and take them for tracking at ranges of up to 15 km. The effective firing range when attacking air targets reached 3500 m. Remote-controlled guidance drives made it possible to fire at targets in any direction in azimuth at gun elevation angles from -10 ° to + 85 °.
On the side of the tower platform were placed two groups of smoke grenade launchers, three products each. They used 80 mm caliber systems traditional for Swiss technology. Each of the grenade launchers was loaded with two ammunition. There were no other auxiliary weapons for self-defense in certain situations.
Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68, front view
The Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68 anti-aircraft self-propelled gun was to be operated by a crew of three. The driver was placed in the center of the front of the hull in his usual place. It was proposed to get into the control compartment using a sunroof equipped with several periscopic devices. Above the hatch, it was planned to install a lattice cover to protect the driver from the rotating tower. The commander's and gunner's workplaces were in the tower. Above them was a common roof hatch equipped with a large number of observation devices. At the command and operator positions there was a complete set of devices for monitoring the operation of two radars and controlling weapons.
The Swiss project involved the use of a ready-made chassis and an existing serial turret, which led to the expected consequences in terms of dimensions and weight of equipment. The total length of the Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun reached 7.5 m, width - 3.3 m, height (on the roof of the tower) - 3.14 m. When the detection radar antenna was raised, the height increased by about 1160 mm. Combat weight reached 46 tons. The increase in vehicle weight, combined with the preservation of the existing power plant, led to some deterioration in mobility in comparison with serial medium tanks. So, the maximum speed was reduced to 52 km / h.
The participation of foreign companies that had previously contributed to the creation of the Gepard project had a positive effect on the speed of work on the Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68 project. In addition, cooperation with the German industry and the chosen architecture of the technology allowed us to build the experimental equipment as quickly as possible. In 1979, the Swiss company K + W Thun rebuilt a pair of chassis of the Pz 68 serial tanks according to a new project and installed towers received from their German colleagues on them. Soon, this technique was brought to the test site. The prototypes received serial numbers M0888 and M0889.
There is no detailed information about the tests of the ZSU Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68. There is reason to believe that the checks could have ended in success, since only existing and field-proven components were used in the project. At the same time, one should not forget that in the same 1979, the general public learned about the mass of shortcomings of the Pz 68 medium tank, some of which could go to the anti-aircraft self-propelled gun. In particular, the transmission did not allow to engage reverse gear until the tank came to a complete stop, which could seriously impede movement and maneuvering. This and other problems associated with the chassis and its assemblies could well have influenced the course of the tests. The tower from the ZSU "Gepard", in turn, by this time had passed all the checks and fine-tuning, because of which it could hardly be a source of serious problems.
Gun mount with 35mm cannon mounted on Gepard vehicles
Tests of two prototypes of the new anti-aircraft self-propelled gun continued for several months. The inspections were completed in 1980, after which the military department had to decide the issue of adopting equipment for service and ordering serial vehicles. In the very near future, the companies participating in the project could receive a lucrative contract for the construction of a significant number of the latest self-propelled guns.
Despite the results obtained, testing of promising technology did not lead to real results. The Federal War Department studied the current state of affairs in the field of air defense, assessed the latest domestic development, compared it with foreign counterparts and made certain conclusions. The military department decided to abandon the adoption of the new ZSU Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68. The reasons for this decision were simple: the experts found, as it seemed to them, a more successful and profitable option for rearmament of the ground forces.
Having studied the latest developments in the missile field, the Swiss military became disillusioned with anti-aircraft systems with artillery weapons. In their opinion, missile systems looked much more effective and promising. Soon a new agreement appeared, under which Switzerland purchased from the UK several dozen Rapier air defense systems in towed design. Such complexes are still in service and, in fact, are the basis of the Swiss air defense system.
Having chosen an imported anti-aircraft system, the military department ordered to stop work on its own project, which was no longer of interest. The two built prototypes of the Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68 were returned to the final assembly plant. Later, one of the vehicles with the serial number M0888 was transferred to the Panzermuseum Thun armored museum in Thun. The exact fate of the second self-propelled gun is unknown. Probably, it was disposed of as unnecessary.
While planning the rearmament of its army, Switzerland tried to create a new model of a self-propelled combat armored vehicle capable of fighting the aircraft of a potential enemy. In the shortest possible time, a promising project of such equipment was created by the efforts of several domestic and foreign enterprises, and then two prototypes were brought into testing. The Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68 self-propelled guns had every chance to enter service and increase the combat effectiveness of the ground forces, but the military changed their views on the development of air defense. Towed missile systems were preferred to artillery self-propelled guns. Another own project of armored vehicles was stopped at the stage of field tests.
