The Swedish army has always wanted to arm itself independently with Swedish designed vehicles (The Strv S being an obvious example), but at the same time it has been pragmatic enough to recognise when local design and development is lagging behind, and has gone shopping for foreign vehicles to plug the gap.

This is how they came to equip their troops with the British Centurion tank, when they needed a modern tank to face the new Russian IL3 tank. In 1953 they got their first batch of 80 Centurions, which, with minor alterations became their Stridsvagn (Strv) 81. Then there were further batches of Centurions delivered from 1955 through to 1964.

Why did the Swedes like them so much? Well they were well armoured with a powerful gun, and although they weren’t particularly fast (35 kph) they operated well in the rugged frozen terrain of Sweden.

There was a downside, however. The Centurion’s gas-guzzling V12 Meteor engine used a lot of petrol. So to extend the range, the British designed a Monowheel Fuel Trailer carrying an extra 900 litres to supplement the 550 litres carried on board the early Centurion models. It was not universally loved, but several countries, such as the Danes and the Dutch, made use of it.

This tank is the Strv 102, the last variant (Mk 10) of the Centurion, on display at Sweden’s Arsenalen Tank Museum.

And it comes with a monowheel fuel tank, designated ‘Bränsklekärra 91’, which increased its range from 110 to 290 km, based on a road consumption of 52 liters/10 km.

These trailers were intended primarily for road use. They did have some overland capability, but the idea was that the trailer fuel was used first while en route to the mission area. Then the trailer could be ditched using explosive bolts when the tank left the road and went into action.

Arsenalen’s director, Stefan Karlsson, explains the details…

If you get a chance to visit Arsenalen – National Tank Museum, you should. It’s a short train ride from Stockholm, and well worth it!