Landsverk L-30 / Strv fm/31

One prototype, two running modes

The Landsverk L-30, designated Strv fm/31 in Swedish service, was a single experimental tank intended to combine tracked cross-country mobility with faster movement on wheels. Its distinctive external wheel assemblies were part of one convertible vehicle. Images with the wheels raised or lowered do not represent separate production models or a fleet of different tanks. Sources

Published accounts describe the L-30 as a parallel project to the tracked L-10, not as a production variant of it. Both formed part of Sweden’s early-1930s tank procurement, but they tested different answers to the mobility problem. The L-30’s historical significance lies in that experiment and the experience gained from it, rather than in combat or large-scale manufacture. Sources

Design background and the 1931 order

Swedish interest developed while the army was seeking replacements for its older tanks. Accounts describe a requirement for a relatively light, more capable vehicle and places Landsverk’s work within German technical and industrial relationships. It associates the design with Otto Merker and a wheel-track development lineage rather than attributing every related vehicle to a single designer without qualification. Sources

The appeal was straightforward: tracks could be retained for difficult ground, while wheels might reduce track wear and permit rapid road movement. Meeting both aims in one armored vehicle, however, required additional machinery, space and weight. that compromise is described as central to the design’s eventual assessment, not merely as an ingenious visual feature. Sources

The order context was one wheel-track L-30 alongside three tracked L-10 tanks in 1931. Completion and entry into testing came considerably later. The accounts record a late-1934/1935 delivery issue rather than treating the designation year as the date of an operational tank. Until the underlying delivery and acceptance records are checked, those milestones remains separately labeled. Sources

Hull, crew and proposed fighting equipment

The L-30 placed a driver at the front, a turret centrally and the engine toward the rear. A rearward driving position was associated with movement in the opposite direction and with another crew responsibility in the published description. Sources report crews of three or four, leaving the precise configuration unresolved. Sources

The nominal armament was a 37 mm Bofors gun and two machine guns. Published accounts describe uncertainty about the actual material and completeness of the experimental turret and fighting installation. A specification of the intended armament does not alone prove that the vehicle carried a fully representative, armored production installation during every trial. Sources

Armor is commonly summarized as 6–14 mm, lighter than the figure associated with the parallel L-10. The distinction between intended protection, plate used in an experimental structure and finished armor is important. Similarly, the reported ammunition loads of 122 gun rounds and 4,000 machine-gun rounds cannot automatically be treated as verified stowage on the prototype simply because comparable figures appear for the tracked companion design. Sources

The wheel-and-track mechanism

The vehicle’s defining feature was the ability to change how its weight was supported and propelled. In tracked operation the external wheels were raised; in wheeled operation they were lowered and the tracks lifted clear of the surface. The photographs include useful views of both states, making this a subject that can be explained with existing evidence rather than an invented composite illustration. Sources

The account cites a changeover time of roughly half a minute and reports that the transition could be performed while moving. Those remain claims from the available evidence, not independently reproduced performance measurements. Sources

A Maybach DSO8 V12 petrol engine is generally identified, while output figures of 150 and 200 hp appear in different accounts. Tracked speeds are reported around 35–45 km/h and wheeled figures around 75–80 km/h. Sources

The two-mode arrangement also complicated maintenance and packaging. External machinery increased width and mechanical demands, while the track system still needed to be maintained. The published practical assessment is that road speed alone did not overcome the overall burden. Exact radio equipment, sighting installations and the fit of the prototype at each test date remain less firmly established than the broad operating principle. Sources

Production and Swedish use

AB Landsverk at Landskrona built the one prototype. Published accounts describe its delays to technical maturity and component issues rather than to the difficulty of organizing a large production run. It preserves the broader four-tank contract context while noting that an independently confirmed L-30-only cost has not been established in the reviewed material. Sources

Trials and training are the documented forms of use. The available evidence places the L-30 and L-10 vehicles at Göta Livgarde during the later 1930s, describes L-30 testing in 1935–1936, and gives subsequent driver training until approximately 1940. Those dates need not describe the same administrative milestone. Delivery, intensive trials, later training use, and final withdrawal were separate stages of the vehicle's history. Sources

No export fleet, combat deployment, or series of specialized conversions is documented. The L-30’s importance lies in the experimental lessons it contributed to Swedish development rather than in an operational career. Sources

What the photographs can establish

The museum image provides a clear view of the preserved experimental vehicle and its exterior mechanisms. One source locator combines L-10 wording with the fm/31 designation; another uses a broad date that remains unconfirmed against the development chronology. Sources

These pictures can illustrate the two operating modes without proving an exact exposure date, ammunition load, armor quality or radio fit. The mounted weapon’s appearance likewise cannot by itself settle the published question about the completeness of the experimental fighting installation. Sources

The same procurement period produced a straightforward tracked tank and a mechanically ambitious convertible prototype. The account supports examining the trade-off in mobility and complexity, while leaving exact trial figures, component identities and final acceptance details open for further verification. Sources

Photograph and image credit

Background reading and references. Each photograph has its own source and credit.

Sources and further reading

Background reading and references. Each photograph has its own source and credit.

One prototype, two running modes

Design background and the 1931 order

Hull, crew and proposed fighting equipment

The wheel-and-track mechanism

Production and Swedish use

What the photographs can establish

Photograph and image credit

Sources and further reading

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