2013 Chieftain Main Battle Tank

The aboriginal Centurion Capital Action Catchbasin (A41) of 1945 was a badly acknowledged British Army activity allowable during World War 2 and accomplished anon afterwards the action had ended. The blazon saw annual in the Korean War beneath the banderole of the United Nations and went on to see all-encompassing activity in both Indo-Pak wars. Added annual saw them in the easily of the Israeli Army during the Six Day War and the accessible Yom Kipper War breadth the blazon gave a acceptable annual of itself. In all, some 4,400 units were ultimately produced (strong accumulation numbers for a Cold War tank) and these served able-bodied aloft the British Army inventory, seeing annual with European admiral as able-bodied as Middle East players. At the time of her inception, the Chieftain apparent the a lot of able Western action catchbasin in actuality until unseated by the appropriately accomplished German Leopard 2 alternation of the 1980s.

Despite the Centurion's dominance, the Cold War battlefield was an ever-evolving chessboard of technology-driven pieces and this produced anytime added able armament in the process. As such, the absorbing attributes of once-formidable tanks such as the Centurion anon began to accord way to new anti-armor measures getting developed and fielded primarily by the Soviet Union - to which abounding of these weapons would accordingly be anesthetized on to allies and digital states aural time. Work accordingly began on award the "next British Army capital action tank" and this led to a Leyland-designed tracked car ascent the new and able L11 120mm alternation rifled capital gun. Whereas actual approaches to British armor admired acceleration and battlefield advancement aloft all else, the Leyland acquiescence absolutely focused on a heavily armored car with firepower to boot. By 1959, a pilot car was accessible for academic analysis arch to the appraisal of six added prototypes spanning from 1961 to 1962. The car - accustomed as the "FV 4201" - was adopted for annual in May of 1963 with annual alpha in 1965. Accumulation was managed forth two abstracted accumulation curve and eventually included the Leyland and Vickers casting labels.

Outwardly, the Chieftain was of a accustomed architecture admission with a four-man crew, 360-traversing turret ascent the capital armament and a rear-mounted engine. Like added cars of this class, the Chieftain fabricated use of a heavily-sloped, near-horizontal glacis bowl arch up to a coffer bark roof. The disciplinarian was built-in at the center-front of the bark just advanced of the turret ring. The actual three aggregation - the catchbasin commander, gunner and loader - captivated positions aural the turret assembly. The administrator and gunner were grouped, built-in in bike with the administrator rear, forth the appropriate ancillary of the turret in a acceptable appearance with the loader to the larboard ancillary of the turret. The casting turret itself was admirable and heavily angled with a low profile, the capital gun butt anchored forth the foreground adverse with apparent turret overhang (bustle rack) at the rear. The administrator and loader were anniversary afforded an admission bear forth the turret roof as was the disciplinarian with a bear in the advanced hull. The disciplinarian collection in a near-horizontal reclined position if the catchbasin was "buttoned down". The active accessory consisted of six alley auto to a clue ancillary with the drive sprocket at the rear and the clue idler at the front. Clue acknowledgment rollers guided the top clue sections. The top regions of clue and bark were about adequate over in armor skirts which buried the acknowledgment rollers and a lot of of anniversary alley caster - this affection a now-well accustomed careful admeasurement aboriginal implemented on a ample calibration in action tanks during World War 2. Night active was aided by a brace of headlights at the foreground of the hull. Stowage boxes were set over anniversary fender for claimed aggregation furnishings and accepted mission accessory and accumulator baskets and boxes were aswell present forth the turret sides.

In after marks, an NBC (Nuclear-Biological-Chemical) aegis arrangement was installed for the absolute aggregation (the assemblage absorbed evidently to the rear of the turret) and the commander, gunner and disciplinarian were all accustomed night eyes accessories for bigger low-light akin performance.

Despite its accomplished qualities elsewhere, the authentic "heart and soul" of the Chieftain arrangement was assuredly its rifled 120mm L11 alternation capital gun. The weapon was akin to a actual authentic blaze ascendancy arrangement that provided attention battlefront at ambit and "on-the-move". Comparatively, the beforehand Centurion was accustomed the smaller-caliber, admitting still excellent, L7 105mm alternation capital gun. The weapon would anon run its advance on the avant-garde battlefields as Western tanks would now alveolate adjoin anytime added able Soviet types. The L11 capital gun was accustomed an acclivity ambit of -10 to +20 and accursed a array of austere armament types. These included Armor-Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot circuit (APFSDS), Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) rounds, High-Explosive Squash Head (HESH) circuit and basal Smoke munitions. The Chieftain aggregation could accordingly appoint both "hard" and "soft" targets as required. The blaze ascendancy arrangement (FCS) was fully-digital and the capital gun fully-stabilized. In accession to the capital gun, there was a 7.62mm L7 (essentially a British archetype of the Belgian FN MAG) coaxial apparatus gun applicable in the turret and advised for befitting adversary infantry at bay. A added 7.62mm apparatus gun was adapted at the commander's cupola for point aegis adjoin both infantry and low-flying aircraft threats. To awning the tank's abhorrent or arresting movements from adversary gunners, the Chieftain was aswell afforded twelve electrically-actuated smoke armament dischargers adapted as two banks of six, one coffer army to anniversary turret foreground side. There were 64 circuit of 120mm armament stored about the Chieftain's turret and bark as able-bodied as 6,000 circuit of 7.62mm armament (early Chieftain accumulation tanks aswell fielded a 12.7mm "ranging" apparatus gun and these were accustomed 300 circuit of 12.7mm ammunition). The 120mm armament was housed in water-tight holds absolute both bag allegation and loading armament to advice anticipate careless explosions from absolute hits or centralized fires.

The aboriginal above 12.7mm abundant apparatus gun activated for alignment was eventually replaced by the aptly-named "Tank Laser Sight" (TLS) arrangement which took over the aforementioned role admitting in a added abstruse fashion.

Leyland developed the L60 multi-fuel compression agitation engine of 750 application achievement at 2,100rpm and it was this arrangement that powered the absolute Chieftain mark. This supplied the car with a top acceleration of 30 afar per hour on ideal alley surfaces and beneath so on uneven, off road-minded terrains. Operational ambit was 250 to 280 afar depending on breadth and active habits. A blaze abolition arrangement was installed at the engine alcove for accessible reasons. In profile, the powerplant affected a aloft engine alcove but in no way impeded achievement nor the almost low all-embracing contour of the catchbasin itself - turret included. The car could ford up to 1.066 beat top baptize sources (aided by an chip "splash board" articular about and advanced of the driver's area) and cantankerous 3.149 abysmal trenches. Gradients of 60% could be managed as well. The bark was abeyant aloft a Horstmann abeyance arrangement developed by Hortsmann Defence Systems Ltd. If the Chieftain had one limitation it was in her alternative of a multi-fueled engine architecture which was said to accept never accomplished the advised achievement akin as expected.

The antecedent Chieftain accumulation mark was the Mk 1 which served in 40 delivered examples activated primarily for trials and tanker training alpha in 1965. The Mk 2 became the antecedent service-ready archetypal and these were supplied with 650 application Leyland engines. A new commander's cupola was devised, an uprated engine alien and added accessories added to accomplish the Mk 3 variant. The final absolute Chieftain accumulation archetypal became the Mk 5 and these added NBC aegis units at the turret bustle as able-bodied as added uprated engines.

The Mk 6, Mk 7, Mk 8 and Mk 9 marks were about upgrades of beforehand accumulation models that alien bigger engines. The afterward Mk 10 was based on the Mk 9 advancement and included the "Stillbrew Aggregation Aegis Package" (SCPP) forth the turret as able-bodied as an bigger blaze ascendancy system. The Mk 11 was itself an advancement of the Mk 10 which saw the aboriginal IR/white ablaze searchlight replaced with the Barr & Stroud "Thermal Observation and Gunnery System" (TOGS). TOGS accustomed for adverse acclimate and night angry capabilities which expectedly broadened the appropriate ambit of Chieftains for the better. The Mk 12 and Mk 13 variants were proposed Chieftain upgrades that would accept featured added improvements throughout but these marks were done in by the accession of the accomplished Challenger 2 alternation capital action tank. The "Chieftain 900" was a adorning Chieftain acquired adequate by "Chobham" armor, a appropriate brand of blended armor built-in out of British analysis at Chobham Common in Surrey.

900 Chieftain tanks were ultimately bogus for the British Army. Its accepting and use by one of the above aggressive admiral of the day accordingly drew absorption from allies gluttonous a added avant-garde MBT solution. As such, the Chieftain band aswell accepted an consign success alpha with Kuwait's acquirement of 175 absolute units (these getting Chieftain "Mk 5TK" models). Operators went on to cover both Iran and Iraq (captured Iranian examples), Jordan (as the "Shir 1" / "Khalid" series) and Oman. Iran was by far the better adopted abettor of the Chieftain, accepting 707 examples in their MBT, AVLB and ARV anatomy afore the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Jordan took supply of 274 units. Oman managed 27 (12 refurbished ex-British Army and 15 new-build as the "Qayd al Ardh"), these accustomed in the early-to-mid 1980s.

During the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, Iraq captured about 100 Chieftains and operated at atomic 30 of these for time afore casual them on to Jordan. The Iranians went on to advancement their Chieftains to the newer "Mobarez" standard.

Like added action catchbasin systems afore it, the Chieftain anatomy and bark were adjustable for a broader ambit of battlefield applications to cover a annoyer variant, a abundance allowance vehicle, an armored accretion car (FV4204 ARV), a bridgelayer (FV4205 AVLB), armored accretion adjustment car (FV4204 ARRV) and armored engineering car (Armored Car Royal Engineers - AVRE). As aswell the case with antecedent MBT entries, the Chieftain's derivatives outlasted the aboriginal action hulls by decades. The Chieftain anatomy was aswell the base of the Chieftain "Marksman" self-propelled air aegis car ascent the "Marksman" alternation turret with 2 x 35mm cannons. The Chieftain "Sabre" was agnate in scope, applicable a turret with 2 x 30mm cannons and advised for adaptable air defense.

By 1996, the Chieftain Capital Action Catchbasin was confused out of frontline annual aural the British Army inventory, replaced by the Challenger 1 and Challenger 2 alternation tanks. However, the abounding battlefield guises it produced remained in annual for some time later, proving their account and again some in operations to follow. The Challenger 1 came online in 1983 afore getting itself replaced by the added able Challenger 2 in 1998.