Björn Olsson

Emil, also known as the Kranvagn, KRV or Emil Olsson was a tank developed secretly in Sweden during the early 1950s, Kranvagn, meaning mobile crane was a cover-name. The intention was to replace the Swedish Army's disparate tank fleet with a tank that could counter the Soviet IS series heavy tanks and be upgraded continuously. The initial design, in 1951, proposed mounting a 10.5 cm autoloader in an oscillating turret. Due to its size, weight and power to weight it was considered by many to be more of a medium tank than a heavy tank.

The project was discontinued during development and only two chassis were built. They were later rebuilt and served as testing platforms for the Artillerikanonvagn 151 and Stridsvagn 103 projects.

At the end of World War II, it was clear that the mix of tanks in service in the Swedish Armed Forces was not just obsolete but also presented a large logistical problem. Kungliga Arméförvaltningens Tygavdelning (KAFT) conducted a study that concluded that the most cost-effective alternative would be to purchase the newly developed Centurion Mk 3, which while quite modern was judged to have upgrade potential for future requirements. A request of purchase was sent to the United Kingdom, but the reply was that no deliveries could be made before the needs of the British Army had been met which was expected to take between five and 15 years.

In 1951, the vehicle bureau of KAFT set about to develop an indigenous manufactured alternative, which they did in great secrecy under the guise of constructing a mobile crane. Parallel with this, negotiations were entered with France about buying the AMX-13 light tank. All this came to an abrupt halt when the British in early December 1952 offered to sell the desired Centurions immediately in order to earn needed foreign currency. The Swedish Minister for Defence, Torsten Nilsson, ended the debate about the future tank purchase by (on his own initiative) signing a deal with the British at the beginning of 1953 with the first Centurion deliveries taking place in April 1953. The delegation in France was forced to depart under heavy apologies while the E M I L-project was terminated.

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