KP-bil

Terrängbil m/42D SKP
Last version of the SKP at the Swedish Army Museum in Stockholm.
Type	Armoured personnel carrier
Place of origin	Sweden
Specifications
Weight	8 500 kg
Length	6.30 m
Width	2.30 m
Crew	3 (commander, driver, gunner) + 7 fully equipped soldiers

Armor	Mostly 8 mm, but variable between 4-20 mm.
Main armament	dual-mounted ksp m/36 (8x63mm dbl lv), last version dual-mounted KSP 58
Secondary armament	Smoke dischargers x6
Engine	Petrol/Motyl, 4-cyl Scania-Vabis 402/1 115 hp (85 kW) at 2300 rpm
Power/weight	300 km

Terrängbil m/42 KP (Tgbil m/42 SKP/VKP), meaning "Off-road vehicle [19]42" with a secondary designation of "Scania, Bodywork: Armoured" or "Volvo, Bodywork: Armoured", was the Swedish army's first armoured personnel carrier, developed as a stop-gap measure during World War II.

History

In 1941, when tanks were organized into a unit of their own, it was clear there was a desperate need for a troop carrier able to both keep up with the tanks and provide protection against artillery shrapnel and small-arms fire. Due to the war there were no international suppliers to buy from, so the only option was to develop a domestic solution. AB Landsverk designed an APC consisting of a chassis from a regular army lorry equipped with an armoured shell.

The armour-plates were made by Bofors, Landsverk, Bröderna Hedlund and Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad and then delivered to Volvo and Scania-Vabis for final assembly. The Volvo and Scania-Vabis versions were known as Tgb m/42 VKP and SKP, respectively. The first approved delivery was made in 1944, after some 38 vehicles had been failed due to tensions caused by welding the hardened steel. This was rectified by switching to a soft-hardened steel and then heating the completed body-work in purpose-built ovens to remove the tensions.

During the 1950s the vehicles were modified with a mounting for a double machine gun on the cab roof and at that time the designations changed to Tgb m/42 VKPF and SKPF (F = Fordonsluftvärn, or vehicle anti-aircraft).

The KP saw combat with Swedish UN forces during the Congo Crisis in the 1961-1964 period (Scania SKPF variant only). 15 KPs were also bought by the UN and used by the Indian and Irish battalions in Congo. An armoured, open top turret for the machine gunner was added to the KPs in Congo after a number of gunners were shot in the abdomen. A few left-behind UN SKPFs were reconditioned and used by the Congolese Army in 1964-65. SKPFs were also deployed by United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus during the Cypriot intercommunal violence.^[1]

In the 1980s and 1990s, many surviving SKPFs of the Swedish Army were modified with armoured roofs and in many other ways, resulting in several new versions.

References

↑ http://www.gotlandsforsvarsmuseum.se/fordon/kpbil.htm

Tank and Anti-tank guns	Bofors 37 mm Gun Model 1934

Mountain guns	Bofors 75 mm Model 1934

Field, Medium and Heavy guns	Bofors 105 mm Howitzer Model 1924 Bofors 105 mm Howitzer Model 1935 Bofors 105 mm Howitzer Model 1937 Bofors 105 mm Gun Model 1927 Bofors 105 mm Gun Model 1931 Bofors 105 mm Gun Model 1934 Bofors 120 mm Howitzer Model 1914 Bofors 150 mm Howitzer Model 1931

Anti-aircraft guns	Bofors 20 mm Automatic Gun Model 40 Bofors 25 mm Automatic Gun Model 1932 Bofors 40 mm Gun Model 1936 Bofors 75 mm Gun Model 1929

Coastal guns	Bofors 105 mm Gun Model 1927 Bofors 105 mm Gun Model 1934

Naval guns	Bofors 120 mm Gun Bofors 152 mm Gun Bofors 283 mm Gun

Armored
Fighting
Vehicles

Light tanks	Strv m/21-29 Landsverk L-10 Landsverk L-60 Landsverk L-120

Medium tanks	Landsverk Lago

Self-propelled guns	Stormartillerivagn m/43

Self-propelled anti-aircraft guns	Landsverk L-62

Armoured cars	Pansarbil M/31 Landsverk Lynx Landsverk L-180/L-181/L-182 Landsverk L-185

Armoured personnel carrier	Tgbil m/42

Artillery tractors	Landsverk L-131 Landsverk L-132 Landsverk L-135

Prototypes	Landsverk L-5 Landsverk L-100 Landsverk L-101

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Swedish armoured fighting vehicles of World War II

Light tanks	Strv m/21-29 Strv m/30-31 Strv m/37 Strv m/38-39-40

Medium tanks	Strv m/41 Strv m/42

Armoured cars	Pbil m/39-40 Pbil m/41

SP guns	Sav m/43

APCs	Tgbil m/42

KP-bil

History

References

See also