Tankopedia
Late Cold WarTank DestroyerAustria

SK-105 Kurassier

In service 1971 - 2010s

An Austrian light tank destroyer: a French oscillating turret with a 105 mm gun and autoloader on a home-built chassis.

Built bySaurer-Werke, later Steyr-Daimler-Puch

SK-105 Kurassier
SK-105 Kürassier of the Bolivian Army — Grill, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Development history

Austria needed a mobile anti-tank vehicle for alpine and wooded terrain rather than a battle tank, and built the Kurassier around the French FL-12 oscillating turret with a 105 mm gun fed by two six-round revolver magazines. Light, fast and cheap, with armour proof against little more than heavy machine-gun fire, it depended entirely on shooting first from cover. Around 690 were built and exported to Argentina, Bolivia, Morocco, Tunisia and Botswana among others, serving into the 2010s.

Variants

One canonical record, 3 recorded variants.

  1. SK-105 A1

    1971

    Initial production with the FL-12 oscillating turret.

  2. SK-105 A2

    1979

    Improved fire control, night sights and gun stabilisation.

  3. Greif recovery vehicle

    1976

    Turretless recovery and engineering version on the same chassis.

Notable actions

  • Austrian home defence
  • Various export operators