Entp Pz.65

The “Entp Pz.65” or “Entpannungspanzer 65“, is a Swiss armored recovery vehicle designed and manufactured by Federal Construction Workshop of Thun, Switzerland. Designs began in 1961 on the Panzer 61 tank chassis, but finally the prototype would be built on the chassis of the new Panzer 68 tank. After extensive tests, in 1970 it was decided to manufacture 69 vehicles, which entered service in 1972. Basically the vehicle consisted in a box-like structure over the Pz 68’s drive train, which has been equipped with 2 winches, a main one of 25,000 kg capacity and an auxiliary one of 500 kg capacity. However, the main winch is able to handle weights of up to 75,000 kg with a pulley system. They had an A-shaped frame crane for maximum loads of 15,000 kg, a frontal dozer blade, tow bars, welding equipment, an air compressor and spare parts stored inside the vehicle. Between 1993 and 1995 all the Entp Pz.65 were upgraded to the Entp Pz.65-88 variant and thus they remained in service until 2008, when they were definitely retired from service.

Entp Pz.65 gallery and more info