Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30

Schutzenpanzer Lang HS.30
Type	Infantry fighting vehicle
Place of origin	West Germany
Specifications
Weight	14.6 tonnes
Length	5.56 m
Width	2.54 m
Height	1.85 m
Crew	3 + 5 troops
Armor	30 mm at 45°
Main armament	20 mm L/86 HS 820 autocannon
Secondary armament	7.62 mm MG3 machine gun
Engine	Rolls-Royce B81 Mk 80F 8-cylinder petrol 220 hp (164 kW)
Power/weight	15.3 hp/tonne
Suspension	Torsion Bar. Three Bogie, Five road wheels
Operational range	270 km
Speed	58 km/h

The Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30 (also Schützenpanzer 12-3) was a West German infantry fighting vehicle developed during the 1950s. It was a Swiss Hispano-Suiza design, with a Rolls-Royce engine. After some early mechanical problems only some 2000 were built of the 10,000 planned. It was armed with a 20 mm cannon which was an unusually powerful weapon for an armoured personnel carrier of the period. Its design proved to have many flaws and drawbacks and the construction was followed by a great political scandal in West Germany in the 1960s. 2176 SPz 12-3 and variants were built until 1962, for which the German government paid 517 million DM, or about 238,000 DM per vehicle. The SPz 12-3 was first deployed in 1958 and was replaced by the Marder infantry fighting vehicle from 1971.

Rejecting American doctrine that an armored personnel carrier should serve as a "battle taxi" and not as an assault vehicle, the Germans developed the SPz 12-3 as a vehicle to fight alongside tanks and from which their mechanized infantry could fight from under cover. The German military came to this decision as a result of its Second World War experience with Panzergrenadiere (armored infantry). German doctrine saw the SPz 12-3 as part of the squad's equipment and the squad was trained to fight with the vehicle in both the offense and the defense. Unlike the American M113, the SPz 12-3 could not float, but as German doctrine envisaged the SPz 12-3 as a component in operations combined with main battle tanks that also lacked such a capability, this was not seen as a grave disadvantage.

The SPz 12-3 mounted a small turret with a Hispano-Suiza HS.820 20 mm and a 15x15 periscopic sight. The role of the 20 mm autocannon in German doctrine was to engage helicopters, antitank weapons, and light armored vehicles, thus freeing tanks to concentrate their fire against other tanks. Even with the turret, the SPz 12-3 was fully two feet lower in height than the M113 - no small advantage on an armored battlefield. The vehicle had an on-board supply of 2,000 rounds of 20 mm ammunition. Frontal armor provided protection against 20 mm projectiles, which was stronger than comparable vehicles of other nations. The additional armor made the SPz 12-3 four tons heavier than the M113, even though the SPz could only carry half as many troops. For the squad members to fire their personal weapons while mounted, roof hatches had to be opened with the soldiers sticking up out of the hatches. The Germans considered this a significant disadvantage as their likely opponent, the Soviet Army, was expected to use chemical agents in any war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.