Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30, formally Schützenpanzer, lang, Typ 12-3, or SPz lg 12-3 for short (German for "Infantry-tank, long, Type 12-3"), was a West German infantry fighting vehicle developed from 1956 to 1958. It was a Swiss Hispano-Suiza design, with a Rolls-Royce engine. After some early mechanical problems, only 2,176 were built of the 10,680 planned. It was armed with a powerful 20 mm autocannon, a common choice for infantry fighting vehicles of the period.
Its design proved to have many flaws and drawbacks, and the construction was followed by a major political scandal in West Germany in the 1960s. 2,176 SPz HS.30 and variants were built until 1962, for which the German government paid 517 million DM; about 238,000 DM per vehicle. The HS.30 first entered service with the Panzergrenadier battalions in 1960 and was replaced by the Marder infantry fighting vehicle from 1971.
Design and doctrine
Rejecting American doctrine that an armored personnel carrier should serve as a "battlefield taxi" and not as an assault vehicle, the Germans developed the HS.30 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 World War II 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 offense and defense. Unlike the American M113, the HS.30 could not float, but as German doctrine envisaged the HS.30 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 HS.30 mounted a small turret with a Hispano-Suiza HS.820 20-mm autocannon and a 15×15 periscopic sight. The role of the 20-mm autocannon in German doctrine was to engage helicopters, anti-tank weapons, and light armored vehicles, thus freeing tanks to concentrate their fire against other tanks. Even with the turret, the HS.30 was fully two feet (0.6 m) lower in height than the M113 - making it a smaller target. The vehicle had an onboard supply of 2,000 rounds of 20 mm ammunition. Frontal armor provided protection against 20-mm projectiles, which was better than comparable vehicles of other nations. The additional armor made the HS.30 four tons heavier than the M113, even though it 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.
Despite the German army's insistence on a true infantry fighting vehicle rather than just an armored personnel carrier, the Panzergrenadier brigades included an infantry battalion that was carried initially on trucks and later with M113 APCs. This force composition likely resulted as much from cost considerations as it did from doctrine that called for one third of the Panzergrenadiere to be a motorized force.
The HS.30 and its contemporaries
Politics, service and reliability issues
Political decision making
The acquisition of equipment for the newly formed Bundeswehr in its early years was driven by military, economical and political factors. The military requirements pointed to a vehicle like the French AMX-13 VTP, but its cost per unit was too high. The US M59 armored personnel carrier on the other hand was too heavy and too tall for the envisioned doctrine. Also problematic was West German industry lack of interest in building weapons - as a result of World War II, Germany was still forbidden to export arms, so the investment for developing an AFV, to pay for tooling, or the training of the workforce would not generate any future revenue from exports. So for political considerations, it seemed reasonable to turn to West Germany's allies to order AFVs and support their struggling economies. The Schützenpanzer SPz 11-2 Kurz (developed from the Hotchkiss SP1A) was ordered from France and, after a deal to acquire the Centurion from the United Kingdom became obsolete when the US provided M41 Walker Bulldog and M47 Patton tanks as military aid, forming a consortium, to build the new AFV partially in Britain, as offered by Hispano-Suiza in 1955, seemed appealing.