Panzer 61 – Photos & Video

The Panzer 61 was a Swiss Cold War era medium tank later reclassified as a second-generation main battle tank. The tank had a weight of 36.5 tons and was powered by a 630 hp diesel engine, which gave it a top road speed of 31 mph (50 km/h). The primary armament of the Panzer 61 was a 105 mm main gun.

Source: Panzer 61 on Wikipedia

The Panzer 61 was a medium tank developed by Switzerland in the 1950s and 1960s as a response to the threat of a possible Soviet invasion of Western Europe. The tank was based on the earlier Panzer 58 prototype, which was fitted with a British 105 mm L7 gun as its main armament. The Panzer 61 had a four-man crew and a weight of 39 tons. It was powered by a Mercedes-Benz V-8 diesel engine that gave it a maximum speed of 55 km/h. The tank had a conventional layout, with the driver in the front hull, the turret in the center, and the engine and transmission in the rear. The turret had a commander’s cupola with a machine gun mount and a loader’s hatch on the left side. The tank had a coaxial 7.5 mm machine gun and another one on the hull front. The armor of the Panzer 61 was up to 120 mm thick on the front and could withstand hits from most Soviet tank guns of that era.
The Panzer 61 entered service with the Swiss Army in 1965 and was produced until 1967, with a total of 150 units built. The tank was later upgraded with some features from the more advanced Panzer 68, such as improved fire control and communication systems. The Panzer 61 served as the main battle tank of Switzerland until the late 1980s, when it was replaced by the Leopard 2-based Panzer 87. The Panzer 61 never saw combat, but it was an important milestone in the development of Swiss armored vehicles. The chassis of the Panzer 61 was also used for other variants, such as a self-propelled gun and an armored recovery vehicle.