#ersta

Ersta 25 Penthouse, Stockholm, Sweden

Sweden’s 120mm M70 ERSTA 

Developed by Bofors in the late 1960s, the M70 Ersättning Tungt Artilleri (ERSTA) system was intended to replace Sweden’s ageing heavy coastal artillery. Ersättning Tungt Artilleri or replacement heavy artillery was intended to protect vital points along Sweden’s coast firing a 120mm shell out to a maximum range of 17 miles. The guns and their complex emplacements were designed to safeguard Sweden’s Baltic coast and ports from Soviet attack.

The guns themselves used a vertically sliding wedge breech and were fully automatic, capable of over 20 rounds a minute. The ammunition was fed from a turret and magazine below where the majority of the 12-man crew worked. The gun loaded automatically and the gun crew consisted of a commander and two men to control elevation and traverse. 

An illustration of the gun system (source)

The turret itself was armoured and able to withstand the effects of a distant nuclear blast. Below the guns was a 3 storey structure with a magazine, living space, power generation equipment, a kitchen and store rooms allowing the emplacement to fight for up to 60 days once buttoned up.

An illustration of the ERSTA complex (source)

To protect the gun from damage from nuclear blasts the turret could be partially lowered by its hydraulic system to insulate it from ground tremors and shock-waves. 

Each battery would consist of three independent emplacements. 10 batteries were envisaged with a first phase of six and a second of four more emplacements planned. Cost cutting, however, meant that only the first six were built. A further eight guns were sold to Sweden’s neighbour, Norway in the late 1980s. These Norwegian emplacements were eventually stood down in 2001, around the same time as their Swedish counterparts. The role of coastal artillery has since been taken over by shore launched anti-ship missiles like the RBS-15Ms.

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