AB Landsverk

AB Landsverk (full name: Aktiebolaget Landsverk, ) was a Swedish heavy industry company, manufacturing a wide variety of tracked and wheeled military vehicles, such as tractor units, off-road vehicles and armoured vehicles, etc, most notably the world's first welded tank constructions, among others, but also a wide variety of civilian heavy equipment, such as railroad cars, harbour cranes and agricultural machinery. It was founded in 1872 as Firman Petterson & Ohlsen. It was located in Landskrona, Sweden. In late 1920 the company found itself on the verge of bankruptcy. Through a German company, the Gutehoffnungshütte Aktienverein für Bergbau und Hüttenbereich Oberhausen (GHH), invested heavily and gained control of 50% of the shares. In 1923 the company manufactured a small number of tracked agricultural tractors based on an American design. The Germans increased their ownership to 61% in 1925, three years later the name was changed to AB Landsverk. In 1929 the German engineer Otto Merker was assigned to Landsverk to develop armoured vehicles, a few prototypes of a German design with both wheels and tracks were manufactured in Landskrona. In 1930 the Swedish Army ordered an armoured car for trials, and a few years later three light tanks on wheels and tracks. In 1933 Lithuania ordered six, in 1935 the Netherlands twelve Landsverk L181 and in 1937 an order of thirteen L-180 armoured cars. Landsverk presented the L-60 in 1934, the first tank with torsion-bar suspension. There was some very limited export of armoured cars to other countries like Denmark and Finland. Hungary manufactured the L-60 as the Toldi. The Landsverk anti-II was an AA variant of this tank. Landsverk built a few L-120 light tanks in the 1930s, one of which was exported to Norway, it was the first tank operated by the Norwegian Army. During the Second World War Landsverk designed and partly manufactured, most of the Swedish Army's tanks. At the conclusion of that conflict Landsverk was confiscated by the Swedish state and sold to Kockums.