SK-105 Kürassier

The SK-105 Kürassier is an Austrian light tank or tank destroyer armed with a rifled 105 mm gun in an oscillating turret. It is estimated that over 700 have been produced.

History
The SK-105 was developed by Saurer-Werk (now Steyr-Daimler-Puch) to meet the Austrian Army's operational requirement for a mobile anti-tank vehicle. The first prototype was ready in 1967 and delivery of pre-production vehicles commenced in 1971.

The SK-105 is based on a heavily modified Saurer APC. Due to its low weight the SK-105 can be transported by C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. The turret of the SK-105 is based on a French design, developed for the AMX-13. Its gun can penetrate 360 mm of armor.

This vehicle is specifically designed for mountain terrain and has an improved climbing ability compared to heavier main battle tanks.

Variants

 * SK-105 A1
 * SK-105 A2
 * Greif armored recovery vehicle
 * Pionier engineering vehicle
 * SK-105 driver training vehicle

Derivative
Argentina developed in the early 2000s the light tank "Patagón", which had a SK-105 chassis with an AMX-13 turret. The prototype was presented in November 2005. Another 39 conversions were planned to be completed in 2005-9, at an estimated cost of 23.4 million US$.

Users

 * 🇦🇷 Argentina, 118
 * 🇦🇹 Austria, 286
 * 🇧🇴 Bolivia, 54
 * 🇧🇼 Botswana, 34
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil, 17 (Brazilian Marine Corps)
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco, 120
 * , 4 (Captured from Morocco in the Western Sahara War)
 * 🇹🇳 Tunisia, 42