Because I've written it & I've got nothing better to do, right now, here's the back story:
The Stridsvagn 103C in RAAF Service (Royal Australian Marines Time-Line)In the early 1990’s the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) decided it was time to upgrade its Airfield Defence Guards’ (ADG) armoured units, specifically its tank units; as the Centurion & M60 hand-me-downs from the Army & Royal Australian Marines were wearing out, & parts were becoming difficult to source.
It was, initially, hoped that new vehicles could be sourced but the RAAF’s budget was being stretched by the acquisition of new fighters & AWACS assets, so well maintained, newer second hand vehicles with a good supply of spares was sought.
After an 18 month selection process the tank selected was the French AMX-30B2, which was just beginning the process of being replaced by the Leclerc.
However, the Commander of the 6th Defence Command
[1]’s RAAF ADG Battalion requested a special order of vehicles specifically for one airfield, where regular tanks were at a disadvantage because of the limited land area & shallow water-table. He observed that Sweden was disposing of its Stridsvagn 103C turretless tanks at a very reasonable price, & that he required 6 operational vehicles at the airfield at any time, with 6 undergoing major routine maintenance & crew training, & a further 6 in long-term storage as spare vehicles (spare parts & maintenance tools were being offered by the Swedes at extremely good prices).
This special purchase was, to the RAAF’s (&, especially, the ADG’s) surprise, approved & 18 Strv 103Cs were purchased from Sweden along with 100 AMX-30Bs.
These Strv 103Cs were destined to operate on the strategically important Cocos (Keeling) Islands, located in the Indian Ocean 2936km North West of Perth
[2] & only 1270km South West of Jakarta
[3], where the RAAF maintains a Forward Operating Base & the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) maintains a less-than-covert SigInt gathering station.
The On-Again-Off-Again Australian-Indonesian War (1971-current)
[4] had seen both the Cocos (Keeling) Islands & Christmas Island raided by air & sea several times & attempted invasions of both on two occasions. The Cocos posting was seen as a frontline posting by all services, & the ADG’s tanks, troops & anti-air assets were always on high alert.
[1]: Australia (in this time-line) is divided into 7 Defence Commands roughly analogous to those of 1939 (see below), except that the numbering has changed;
1st = 2nd in image
2nd = 1st in image
3rd = 7th in image
4th = 3rd in image
5th = 4th in image
6th = 5th in image
7th = 6th in image
8th = decommissioned with PNG independence on 16 September 1985
Australian Military Districts, October 1939:
[2]: Perth is the capital of the State of Western Australia in the Commonwealth of Australia.
[3]: Jakarta is the capital of the Peoples’ Islamic Republic of Indonesia (PIRI), a Communist nation with strict adherence to a radical interpretation of Shari'a Law. Initially the Soviet Republic of Indonesia (SRI), aligned with the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR), after seizing power when betrayed by President Sukarno & right wing elements of the new Indonesian government, from November 1948 to 1951. Friction with influential Islamic leaders & a realignment from the USSR to the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) from 1951 to 1976 saw the communist leaders integrate Islam into a uniquely Indonesian form of communism and rename the country the Peoples’ Islamic Republic of Indonesia; in 1976 friction with China led to the PIRI returning to its affiliation with the USSR until 1992; the break-up of the Warsaw Pact & the USSR saw the PIRI returning to alignment with the PRC in 1992.
[4]: A result of Australia rejecting, much to the chagrin of the USA, the rigged 1969 Act of Free Choice plebiscite (in which only 1,022 Papuan tribal representatives were allowed to vote, from a population of 816,000 Papuans, & were coerced into voting in favour of integration) & the western border regions of the Australian Administration Mandated Territories of Papua & New Guinea being used as Rest & Re-grouping areas by the
Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Free Papua Movement) . Australian interception of, & counter-strikes against Indonesian military incursions into the Territories of Papua & New Guinea led the PIRI government to declare war on Australia, a decision they came to regret when they were ejected from all of the main land-masses of Papua & New Guinea.
