Panzer 68 The Panzer 68 was a Swiss main battle tank developed by the ' Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte Thun ' in the late 1960s . History . The Panzer 68 was based on the Panzer 61 whose initial development dates back to 1951 . The development started immediately after the successful introduction of the Panzer 61 . Improvements consisted of wider tracks , stabilized gun , and the introduction of a second machine gun instead of the coaxial 20mm gun of early Panzer 61 models . In 1968 , hence the name , the Swiss parliament decided to buy 170 vehicles . Deliveries of the Panzer 68 started in 1971 . In 1977 a second batch was manufactured . In the years between 1978 and 1983 , a third and fourth batch followed . The last two lots were called either AA3 and AA4 or Panzer 68 / 75 . The most important change was the introduction of a bigger turret . The Austrian army showed some interest in the Panzer 68 in the late 70 ' s , but decided not to buy the model when the deficiencies of the system became public . In 1992 the Panzer 68 underwent one more modernization program which introduced a new fire control system which was on a par with the system used in the new Panzer 87 ( German - built Leopard 2 ) This new , improved version was called Panzer 68 / 88 . Despite the improvements in the Panzer 68 / 88 , the model was relegated to secondary tasks after the arrival of the Panzer 87 . All Panzer 68 models were retired in the early years of the new millennium . The responsible authorities tried to sell some 200 to the army of Thailand , but the deal never went through and therefore , the remaining vehicles were demilitarized and sold for scrap in 2005 . Some Panzer 68 can still be seen in military museums around the world . Technical Problems . During the summer of 1979 , the ' Weltwoche ' , then a highly regarded Swiss weekly , published an article regarding the shortcomings of the Panzer 68 that led to a scandal and , allegedly , to the resignation of the minister of defence , Rudolf Gnägi . In this article , the then chief of armoured forces of the Swiss army came to the conclusion that the Panzer 68 was ' not fit for combat ' . A group of experts that was commissioned to produce a report in this matter listed dozens of technical problems . Among others , the NBC protection was found to be insufficient , forcing the crews to wear protective masks inside their tanks , thus greatly reducing the crew ' s performance . The experts also found out that the gearbox did not allow for shifting into reverse while the vehicle was moving , forcing the crew to stop the tank before reversing . To make things even worse , the radios used in the tank tended to interfere with the turret control system resulting in uncontrolled turret movements whenever the radios were used at full power . A year before the ' Weltwoche ' article , another very dangerous fault was found . Switching on the heating system could lead to the main gun firing the round in the gun ! This problem was caused by the fact that some systems shared the same electrical circuits . Luck would have it that this problem never led to any accidents . In a sarcastic headline the ' Blick ' , a Swiss tabloid , commented : ' The Panzer 68 is much more dangerous than it seems ! ' Most of the mentioned problems were resolved with the upgrade to the 68 / 88 model . Vehicles Based on The Panzer 68 . Flak Panzer 68 ( Panzer 68 hull with Gepard AA turret , only one prototype built . ) Brückenlegepanzer 68 ( Panzer 68 hull with a bridging element ) Panzerartilleriekanone 68 ( Panzer 68 hull with a large caliber artillery gun turret , only one prototype built . )