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Designation:

LK-II

Info
Country: GERMANY  
Vehicle type: Tank  
Year of manufacture:  
 
 

LK-II was a further development and had the same layout as LK-I. Instead of a rear mounted turret, it was mounted with a superstructure (barbette) armed with 37mm Krupp or Russian 57mm Sokol gun. Armor protection was 8 to 14mm and its weight increased to 8.75 tons. It was also powered by single Daimler-Benz Otto Model 1910 4-cylinder 55-60hp gasoline engine was operated by 3 men crew. Maximum speed was 14 to 18km/h with range of 65-70km. It was 5.06 meters long, 1.95 meters wide and 2.52 meters high. Version armed with one or two 7.92mm Maxim 08/15 machine guns mounted in a rear mounted turret was also planned but it remained as a project. Only two prototypes were produced in June of 1918 and were followed by order for 580 tanks, which was never completed. After the war, German company had parts hidden from the Allied Control Commission for LK.II tanks. The Swedish government purchased 10 tanks in secrecy for 100000 Swedish Kronas and shipped the parts as boiler plates and agricultural equipment. The tanks were then assembled in Sweden as Stridsvagn m/21, which was an improved version of LK.II prototype. Strv m/21 was armed with a single 6.5mm machine guns. In 1929, m/21 were rebuild creating Strv m/21-29 variant. This variant was armed with 37mm gun or two machine guns and was powered by Scania-Vabis engine. One of Strv m/21-29 was driven by Heinz Guderian during his visit to Sweden in 1929. Strv m/21-21 remained in service until 1938 and today single example can be seen at Panzermuseum at Munster, Germany. Later on, the Germans bought a main share of the Landsverk Company and set up Joseph Vollmer as the main designer and in 1931, produced Strv m/31 (L-10), which was the first tank produced in Sweden.


LK-II
 
   
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