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caid’s suggestion #70
I would like to suggest a Swiss tank that may look familiar to you. the Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68
if you are like to common player and rarely notice the different turrets and only notice the evident turret, you may think “Hey, this is the Gerpard!” and you would be partially right.
the Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68 or FlabPz 68 was a Swiss SPAA that was based on the Panzer 68 and featured the German Gepard turret. this single-line resume is basically what it is. but to elaborate, following the development of much more efficient aircraft with higher performance and longer range, the Swiss static air defense was no longer protecting the sky with total efficiency. the need for a modern and more effective meaning of defending the sky was obvious in the middle of the 70s. with the much more accurate artillery and more efficient planes, it was also clear that a highly mobile anti-aircraft system would be better than a static one. As such the Swiss considered the very successful gepard turret which featured a 35mm auto-cannon with high effective range, efficient radar, and good tracking radar. it was in 1969 that the FlabPz 68 was built and tested by the Swiss units. using the Panzer 68 chassis which was by this time the most modern tank available in Switzerland and also going to be replaced (the Swiss army launched 3 different programs to replace the Panzer 68 at about the same time) the Swiss would have ended up shortly with a lot of obsolete tanks who could eventually be used for a different role. the test went well and the turret gave the expected result. it was fit for the Swiss services. however, like many nations of this time, the Swiss decided to not adopt the air-defense system based on another auto-cannon and went to the surface-to-air missiles instant. the Rapier was adopted and not the FlabPz 68 simply because it was considered that a missile would be more efficient.
Firepower
the main armament of this tank is the same as the German Gepard. As it happened, the gun was also Swiss made which made it quite easy for Switzerland to get the supply of ammunition. featuring two 35mm Oerlikon KDA, this auto-cannon was capable of using powerful anti-air rounds at a much longer range than the 20mm or 30mm. the guns were also capable of firing APHE and APDS rounds for armored targets. with a very high turret speed, this tank can effectively track any aircraft and with the elevation of his gun, it would have little blind spot from above. the tank also features a tracking radar and regular radar which make it difficult to hide from this tank when you have an aircraft.
Mobility
The FlabPz 68 features a mobility a bit similar to the Panzer 68. Since it was based on this very tank, it would feature the same mechanical parts. the tank is still a fair bit heavier which makes it a bit slower to accelerate but have the same MTU MB 837 Ba-500 V-8 diesel engine providing 660 hp and the same transmission which gives the tank a very good reverse speed. this tank would have mobility much higher than the German Gepard despite being similar for that reason. with 46 tonnes, the tank still offers a top speed of 53 km/h and a power weight of 14.35 hp per tonne.
Protection
the protection of this tank will be similar to the German counterpart. like his counterpart, the tank was built on a MBT chassis that received little modification and the turret is the very same. this means the tank can tank HMG fire and is also well protected against Shrapnel. the tank is a bit smaller than the German one due to the smaller chassis but features the same turret. the crew of 3 men includes 1 driver in the chassis and 2 men in the turret. the turret also features a total of 8 smoke launchers to help the tank escape from difficult situations and cover its movement.
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