The "Kampvogn" Project

The "Kampvogn" Project first began in 1928 as the Norwegian government noticed the increase in the use of AFVs by the British, Soviets and Swedish armed forces.

First initiated by Quisling during his short time in office before his treason was uncovered.

The project built on the purchase of a Vickers Medium MK I, the new government seeing the usefulness in ensuring that Norway could produce and operate tanks of it's own. The project itself went through a thorough debate in Parliament but in the end it was decided that mostly because of the increasing use of AFV's by major powers and our closest neighbor Sweden, Norway should also initiate a Armour-program in order to deter potential hostilities.

The Fathers of the Norwegian Tank
When the "Kampvogn" project was initiated the Kampvogn Committee was initiated along-side it, and was tasked to hold trials to find the first tank of the Panservogn Line. The prime candidates where
 * 1) Forsvarsverkene
 * 2) Troll Bilindustri
 * 3) Otto og Mattis Design

Forsvarsverkene
Their proposal was a tank that would be universal. It was capable taking out light armored vehicles and be used as infantry support aswell. Their Panservogn m/35 would in the end be the design to be accepted and used as Norway's Main tank in the inter-war era.

Troll
The Troll car company went on a diffrent approach. They thought that using tracks would be inconvinient and problematic, so they went for a design similar to an Armored Car with the option for a tracked version. It was called the "Troll Panseret Kampbil" (Troll Armoured Fightingcar). 247 wheeled versions where made and a single tracked prototype was built and tested by the army.

Otto og Mattis Design
This being a private design company went for a design inspired by the Soviet BT-2, by using the American Christie Suspension. The designed tank would be fast and agile in case of a sudden attack from the Swedish. The tank named "Torvogn m/30" named after the Norse god of thunder Tor. After trials sponsored by the Norwegian Navy, 30 naval, semi-amphibous versions of this tank were requested.

The Tanks of Norway
The Kampvogn Project Produced a number of tanks of all classes with Light tanks being the most used and produced.

The Classes
Norway classified their tank destroyers and self propelled guns in the same. other than that the classes are as follows.
 * Panservogn (The Main Line of Tanks Norway Used)
 * Stormvogn (Consisted of Both tank destroyers and SPGs)
 * Others (Some Tanks where not classified as any of them)

Panservogn
The Panservogn was the main light tank used by Norway, mostly in infantry support but also in tank combat.

Panserkampvogn
A branch off the Panservogn, this more specialised in tank combat, the main attributes where bigger guns, more armor (still light) and faster. First introduced in 1939 when the Panservogn m/39 was being developed, this project would have relativlely low priority until 1940 when Operation weserubung was carried out.

Medium Tanks
Norway used medium tanks first and foremost as defensive vehicles, but rarely set in for large offensive thrusts.

Heavy Tanks
Never produced on a mass scale, the Heavy tanks where used as tests for new tooling and manufacturing techniques.

"Stormvogn"
A line of tanks that consisted of Tank destroyers and SPG's

Tank Destroyers
Norway didnt make many dedicated tank destroyers. But the ones they did make where of high quality.

Armored Cars
Armored cars quickly became very important to the Norwegian Armed Forces when scouting was needed in the initial push of the German army. Early models being primitive and simple but developed later on

Prototypes/Trials
Many prototypes and oddities where designed in the interwar, wartime and post-war. Each company had these.