The tank had a weight of 36.5 tons and was powered by a 630 hp diesel engine, which gave it a top road speed of 50 km/h (31 mph).

During the early 1950s the Swiss Army tried to buy modern tanks to reinforce the armoured forces which, due to the war in Korea, proved to be impossible.

[2] and the third prototype as well as the production model was fitted with a Royal Ordnance L7 105mm rifled gun.

The vehicles were delivered between 1965 and 1967, produced at the Eidgenoessische Konstruktionswerkstaette (today RUAG Land Systems) facility at Thun.

[3] The vehicle would serve for nearly thirty years with the Swiss Armed Forces.