Strv m/42 DT

Strv m/42 DT

Pvkv IV

Strv 74

Strv m/42 DT

Pvkv IV

Strv 74

Sweden

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.0	5.0	5.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:33 000

Purchase:105 000

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Description

The Strv m/42 was introduced during the Second World War as Sweden's primary medium tank. Different versions were developed, however, one of the most experimental ones was the Strv m/42 DT (Delat Torn; "split turret"). Unlike most designs of the time, the new variant used a new turret, with a 75 mm gun and an autoloader. The name comes from the fact that the autoloader forced the turret to be split in half. In 1944, a mockup was made, with a prototype constructed in 1945, however after being tested in different trials in 1946 the design was considered unsuccessful and the project was canceled.

It was introduced in Update 1.97 "Viking Fury". The Strv m/42 DT's most important asset is the reload rate, which can be as low as 3 seconds. The best round available is an APCBC shell that features similar penetration and explosive filler values to other rounds at its rank. The armour is almost non-existent, comparable more to a light tank, and the autoloader makes the tank more vulnerable to ammo detonations, since the ammo racks are more exposed. However, the tank has still a decent mobility to the point it can be used to flank, and the gun depression is also good at -10 degrees.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull55 / 30 / 20

Turret60 / 30 / 30

Crew4 people

Visibility97 %

The hull of the Strv m/42 DT is identical to that of its predecessor, the Strv m/42 EH. While decent for its BR on the earlier tank, the hull armour is no longer good against the bigger guns that the Strv m/42 DT faces.

However, the Strv m/42 DT also sports a new turret to house the more powerful gun. The turret front is 60 mm thick, and the right side and area around the main gun is an angled flat plate. While not very thick, it is capable of ricocheting some rounds if the effective angle is increased using the excellent gun depression of the Strv m/42 DT. The left side housing the machine gun is rounded and is a weakspot when hull-down.

It is important to note that the turret has an open rear that exposes the crew to machine gun fire and shrapnel. It is also a considerably bigger target than the Strv m/42's turret. Most importantly, the gun autoloader is poking out of the turret and can be easily damaged by any aircraft, which is arguably even worse than losing a crew member.

Close artillery misses won't destroy this tank, but any direct hit to the turret's roof will penetrate and decimate the entire crew. HEAT hits on the turret front won't result in overpressure damage.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	___ mm	___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom	___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Turret	___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Cupola	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB51 / 7 km/h

RB and SB46 / 7 km/h

Number of gears6 forward

1 back

Weight23.5 t

Engine power

AB782 hp

RB and SB410 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB33.3 hp/t

RB and SB17.4 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	51	7	23.5	635	782	27.02	33.28
Realistic	46	7		363	410	15.45	17.45

Unsurprisingly, the mobility of the Strv m/42 DT is very similar to that of the Strv m/42. It can reach a respectable top speed and will usually be able to keep up with most advances, but suffers from a low reverse speed of about 5 km/h that makes it harder to back up from hull-down positions or into cover.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB1 248 → 1 606

RB1 473 → 1 895

SB1 877 → 2 415

Total cost of modifications29 900

58 400

Talisman cost1 200

Crew training30 000

Experts105 000

Aces470

Research Aces360 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

80 / 120 / 140 %

148 / 148 / 148 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 135 Suspension Research: 1 700 Cost: 3 300 115 Brake System Research: 1 700 Cost: 3 300 115 Filters Research: 2 500 Cost: 4 900 170 Transmission Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 700 165 Engine Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 700 165	Improved Parts Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 135 Improved FPE Research: 1 700 Cost: 3 300 115 Crew Replenishment Research: 2 500 Cost: 4 900 170	Horizontal Drive Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 135 Adjustment of Fire Research: 1 700 Cost: 3 300 115 Elevation Mechanism Research: 2 500 Cost: 4 900 170 Artillery Support Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 700 165 75mm_sw_kan_APCBC_ammo_pack Research: 2 400 Cost: 4 700 165

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm Pvkan m/43 cannon

Ammunition42 rounds

First-order4 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

3.9 → 3.0 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 12°

The Strv m/42 DT is armed with the same 7,5 cm pvkan m/43 used by the Pvkv m/43 tank destroyer. However, on the Strv m/42 DT, the gun is fed by a special semi-automatic loader with a four-round clip (similar to the Japanese Chi-Ri medium tank), allowing for a fast five-round burst (including one pre-loaded in the gun barrel) after which the gun must be reloaded manually.

With the autoloader, the reload takes from 3.9 to 3 seconds, which otherwise would take around 8-6 seconds. This allows the tank to swap between kinetic and HE shells on the fly and to sometimes reload before enemy drives out of cover to retaliate.

As is usual for Swedish vehicles, the turret provides for decent gun depression an -10° , though gun elevation is limited to only +12°, which stops the tank from fighting when charging down or along the side of a hill. The gun stabilizes rather quickly as long as the targeting skill of the crew is maxed out and tank isn't driving over rough terrain.

On a capture point, each spent shell is restocked in about 5.5 seconds. This is important to keep in mind, as the semi-auto loader rearms extremely slowly, forcing the tank to not fire for 25 seconds after the last shot for the first shell to be loaded and another 18 for each next one. Restocking the autoloader magazine on a capture point circumvents this and reloads the autoloader faster, which might allow to repel more tanks than normal.

Note that the gun breech is rather large and takes up a lot of room in the turret, thus a turret penetration is likely to also result in a damaged breech.

75 mm pvkan m/43					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	42	-10°/+12°	±180°	N/A	14.3	19.8	24.0	26.5	28.2	3.90	3.45	3.18	3.00
Realistic					8.9	10.5	12.8	14.1	15.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
slpprj m/41	AP	139	136	121	104	90	78
sgr m/38	HE	18	17	16	14	13	12
slpgr m/43	APCBC	149	146	132	116	102	89

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
slpprj m/41	AP	815	6.63	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
sgr m/38	HE	840	6.43	0.2	0.1	690	79°	80°	81°
slpgr m/43	APCBC	890	6	1.2	14	110	48°	63°	71°

The Strv m/42 DT starts with the rather underwhelming stock slpprj m/41 uncapped AP shot, which has no explosive filler. However, at Rank IV the excellent slpgr m/43 APCBC shell becomes available. Not only does it ricochet less than the stock AP, has a higher muzzle velocity, and has better penetration, it also has a lethal 110 g TNT filler that is devastating when it penetrates.

The penetration of kinetic shells is not very good for a tank of this BR, but the Strv m/42 DT is quite tall and at close to medium range it can negate enemy angled armour with that alone.

The sgr m/38 is not to be ignored, as there are a lot of open-topped SPG at the rank, which are difficult to take out with kinetic ammunition, but will definitely fail to reload before HE is fired at them, should they survive the first shot.

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Strv m/42 DT

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty
42	40 (+2)	37 (+5)	31 (+11)	25 (+17)	19 (+23)	16 (+26)
7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	10th* rack empty	11th* rack empty	Visual discrepancy
13 (+29)	9 (+33)	5 (+37)	4 (+38)	1 (+41)	No

Notes:

• The first-stage ammo racks provide the vehicle with a faster reload but has a small capacity (4 rounds), however the vehicle is also capable of reloading the main gun directly from the other ammo racks.
• The turret can never be fully empty without depleting the first-stage racks, and the hull can only be empty if you take 5 or less shells

Machine guns

8 mm ksp m/36 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition4 000 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate649 shots/min

The Strv m/42 DT has a standard 8 mm coaxial machine gun. While it is slightly bigger in calibre than 7.62 or 7.7 mm MGs met on comparable vehicles, the machine gun lacks penetration power to damage most opponents. Nevertheless the ksp m/36 machine gun can be used against open-topped vehicles. Furthermore, it also has an additional 13 degrees of elevation which can prove useful in engaging enemy planes.

8 mm ksp m/36
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	4,000 (250)	648	-10°/+25°	N/A

Usage in battles

The Strv m/42 DT's standout feature is an excellent reload rate, which can be as low as 3 seconds. To complement this gun, the Strv m/42 DT is equipped with a stock AP round, and an APCBC shell which has reasonable penetration and explosive filler values compared to similarly-sized rounds at this tier. At its best, the gun will easily blast most medium and light tanks, but will struggle with the heavy tanks, so choose your fights accordingly.

This vehicle is not especially well-armoured. It can often withstand one or two hits, but any more and it will usually be destroyed. Taking high ammunition loads further hampers the tank's survivability, as it makes the chance of an ammunition detonation significant. Additionally, the ammo racks in the front of the hull will almost always have ammo in them, and while they're in a position unlikely to be shot from the front, a shot to the front of the hull from the side can result in an ammo detonation. From the side, a weak armour setup means that autocannons on many anti-air vehicles can penetrate and deal massive damage to internal components. This means, that tank commanders might want to rely on teamwork, much like with the Pvkv II, as either teammates take the hit and leave the enemy exposed to at least two counter shots, or finish the job while the Strv m/42 DT repairs or disables something else. Either way, with armour this thin, it is necessary to pay attention to enemy flankers.

The Strv m/42 DT's hull is taken from the earlier Strv m/42 EH, and thanks to an improved engine, is above-average in terms of mobility. When stock, mobility can be sub-par, but once mobility modules have been researched, the tank becomes quite capable in this department. With this level of mobility, it can acquire ambush positions or act as a viable flanker. (In such situations, the gun's quick reload makes itself very useful; the Strv m/42 DT is able to destroy multiple unsuspecting enemies in quick succession.) One thing to note is that this tank has a poor reverse speed, which can make peeking and firing from behind ridgelines dangerous.

In hull-down positions, this vehicle can use its great gun depression to effectively fire at enemies from behind cover, but it's best to avoid exploiting it to try and fight over high hills, as it's not as great as on the SPGs and tanks before it.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent reload rate allows to fire twice per normal enemy reload
  • Ammunition reload on a capture point loads into the ready-rack almost as fast as the firerate, allowing for consistent rapid fire
• Decent gun depression
• Mobile enough to flank when spaded
• Still has a reasonable fire rate when first-stage rack runs out

Cons:

• Poor stock uncapped AP shot with no explosive filler, and the APHE starts to become inadequate when fighting head-on in uptier
• Very long ready-rack reload, unless on a capture point
• Narrow tracks reduce off-road mobility
• Poor reverse speed will let most tanks to fire back before it can retreat
• Lightly armoured
• Poor ammo rack configuration
• Large and visible profile
• Gun loader and breech can be easily destroyed by an airstrike

History

In 1944, the Swedish military considered upgunning the Strv m/42. They designed a new turret with a new 75 mm gun with an autoloader. The turret was named "Delat Torn", which means "split turret" in English. This name comes from the fact that the autoloader would split the turret down the middle into two separate compartments. The gun was set as far back as possible inside the turret in order to reduce how much of the barrel hung out of the turret. In 1944, a mockup was made, with a wooden turret. The prototype was made in 1945, and it was tested throughout 1946. It was found that the design was unsuccessful, and it never entered production or service.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Strv m/42 DT from live.warthunder.com.

Images

• 

  Strv m/42 DT with Bicolor Camouflage

• 

  Strv m/42 DT with Quadricolor Summer Camouflage

• 

  Strv m/42 DT with Standard Camouflage

• 

  Strv m/42 DT with Tricolor Striped Camouflage

• 

  Strv m/42 DT with Unicolor Winter Camouflage

See also

Related development

• Lago I
• Strv m/42 EH
• Ikv 73

Similar Role

• Pz.IV (Family)
• Chi-Ri II
• Avenger

External links

References

Bibliography

• David B. (2016, June 2). Stridsvagn m/42. Tank Encyclopedia. https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/sweden/stridsvagn-m42.php

AB Landsverk
Light Tanks
L-10	Strv m/31
L-60	Strv m/38 · Strv m/39 · Strv m/40L
Pbil m/40	Pbil m/40
Strv 74	Strv 74
Unimog 404	U-SH 405
Medium Tanks
Lago	Lago I · Strv m/42 EH · Ikv 73 · Strv m/42 DT
Tank Destroyers
Ikv 72	Ikv 72 · Ikv 103
Pvkv m/43	Pvkv m/43 (1946) · Pvkv m/43 (1963)
Pvkv II/III	Pvkv II · Pvkv III
SPAA	Pvlvv fm/42 · L-62 ANTI II