Type Light tank In service Never saw service Unit cost Classified | Place of origin Germany Designed 1960 Produced 1960-1963 | |
The vehicle was developed on the basis of the Kanonenjagdpanzer 4-5 tank destroyer by the Henschel company in 1964. The tank was planned to replace the obsolete M41 Walker Bulldog vehicles used by the reconnaissance battalions of the armored divisions in the German Army. The tank never saw mass production, but some technical innovations were applied later in the development of other vehicles. The total number of prototypes built is unknown.
Historical info
The Spähpanzer Kette was designed to replace the Germany Army’s old American M41 light tanks in the reconnaissance role. Its development began in 1960 and a prototype was completed in 1963. It mounted a Rheinmetall turret armed with the 90mm Bordkanone as used in the Jagdpanzer Kanone. By the middle of the 1960s the Leopard tank was in production and it was decided that reconnaissance units did not need their own specialist vehicles. The development of the Spähpanzer Kette was dropped without any further vehicles being built and its role was given over to the Leopard. With hindsight, this may have been a hasty move as the wheeled Spähpanzer Luchs was eventually developed to take back this role from the Leopard. The materials concerning this tank are actually still considered confidential by the Bundeswehr.