Pansarbandvagn 301

Pansarbandvagn 301
Type - Infantry fighting vehicle
Place of origin - Sweden
Service history
In service - 1961-1971
Production history
Variants - slpbv 3011, epbv 3012
Specifications
Mass - 11.7 t (11.5 long tons; 12.9 short tons)
Length - 4.66 m (15 ft 3 in)
Width - 2.23 m (7 ft 4 in)
Height - 2.64 m (8 ft 8 in)
Crew - 2 (commander/gunner, driver) + 8 (passengers)
Armor - 8-50 mm (upper front: 20 mm at 55°)
Main armament - 20 mm (0.8 in) automatkanon m/45B
Secondary armament - None
Engine - Svenska Flygmotor B44 gasoline / 160 hp (120 kW)
Power/weight - 13.68 hp/tonne
Suspension - Leaf spring
Operational range - 300 km (190 mi)
Maximum speed - 45 km/h (28 mph)

Pansarbandvagn 301 (pbv 301), meaning roughly armoured tracked carrier vehicle 301, was a Swedish infantry fighting vehicle (Swedish: pansarskyttefordon) used by the Swedish Army. It was designed to carry a squad of 8 fully armed panzergrenadiers (Swedish: pansarskyttesoldater) into battle and provide direct-fire support for them in combat. The panzergrenadiers could opt to either fight from inside the vehicle through hatches on the roof or dismount the vehicle and fight in its vicinity. The pbv 301 was armed with a Bofors 20 mm belt-fed gun taken from scrapped Saab 21 fighter aircraft.
The pbv 301 was an interim solution, built on the chassis from the obsolete stridsvagn m/41 tank (in service since 1942). It was introduced in 1961 and removed from service in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the replacement pbv 302 came into use. The pbv 301 replaced the open-topped Terrängbil m/42 KP IFV as the main infantry fighting vehicle of the Swedish Army.
Variants
Pansarbandvagn 301 - Infantry fighting vehicle version, 185 produced
Stridsledningspansarbandvagn 3011 (slpbv 3011) - Command version, 20 produced
Eldledningspansarbandvagn 3012 (epbv 3012) - Artillery observer version, 15 produced