During the early 1950s the Swiss Army tried to buy modern tanks to reinforce the armored forces which, due to the war in Korea, proved to be impossible. As a stop-gap solution, the army bought light AMX-13 tanks from France and decided to start the development of a Swiss-built battle tank.
This led to a vehicle called Panzer 58. This tank had most of the characteristics of the later Panzer 61 with the exception of its main gun. The Panzer 58 was fitted with a British Ordnance QF 20 pounder. The Swiss Army took delivery of 10 pre-production models. In 1961 the parliament decided to buy 150 of the improved Panzer 61 which were delivered between 1965 and 1967, produced at the RUAG Land Systems facility at Thun.
In the years from 1967 to 1994 (when the last Panzer 61 battalion was reequipped with more modern tanks) the tank underwent a series of changes and improvements which brought it very close to the standard of the Panzer 68 (its successor). Among many other changes, the original and characteristic 20mm secondary gun was replaced by an additional machine gun in a coaxial turret mount. This last development step was called Panzer 61 AA9.
The chassis was used as the basis of the Entpannungspanzer 65 armoured recovery vehicle and for the initial prototype of the Brückenlegepanzer 68.| Panzer 61 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Medium Tank |
| Place of origin |  Switzerland |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1965 - 1994 |
| Used by | Switzerland |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1950s |
| Manufacturer | Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte Thun |
| Produced | 1965 - 1967 |
| Number built | 150 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 39 tonnes |
| Length | 9.45 m (372 in) |
| Width | 3.06 m (120 in) |
| Height | 2.72 m (107 in) |
| Crew | 4 |
| | |
| Armour | up to 120mm RHA |
| Main armament | 1 x 105 mm Royal Ordnance L7 with 56 rounds |
| Secondary armament | 2 x 7.5mm Swiss Machine Gun with 3200 rounds |
| Engine | Mercedes-Benz 8 cylinders V engine 630 hp |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
| Ground clearance | 400 mm |
| Operational range | 250 km (160 mi) |
| Speed | 55 km/h (31 mph) |
