The Vickers MBT is a series of main battle tanks developed as a private
venture by Vickers-Armstrongs for export. The design makes use of proven
components such as the L7 gun of the Centurion, and the Leyland L60
multi-fuel engine, transmission and fire control system of the Chieftain. A large
number of tanks were also built by India under licence as the Vijayanta.
Design and development The Vickers MBT followed on from a
24-tonne 20-pdr gunned tank design intended for export. This would be as
well equipped as Centurion but substantially cheaper and with Vickers
Vigilant missiles as effective. However with the appearance of the 105 mm L7 gun
into the British, US and German tank designs, this light tank would have been
less powerful while too large for the reconnaissance role, and so a new design
was required. With armour twice that of the light tank design, it would still be
12 tonnes lighter than Centurion and hence more mobile. The design would use
the new engine and transmission of the Chieftain tank then being developed. The
development coincided with an agreement with India in 1961 to produce a tank
design and help set up a factory there to produce it.
The Vickers MBT Mk 1 was designed to be a simple, low-cost, but effective tank.
The first prototype was completed in 1963. In 1964 one of the prototypes was
sent to India. The Vickers was made of welded rolled
homogeneous armour plates. It weighed 38,600 kg, carried a 105mm gun with 44
rounds and had a top speed of 48 km/h. 70 tanks were sold to Kuwait and a large
number of a modified version were made in India where the tank was called
Vijayanta. Variants
The prototype of the Vickers MBT Mk 3 was completed in 1975 and the tank was
designed to meet the same requirements as the Mk 1 while offering better
performance. Improvements over the Mk 1 include better armour, a new diesel
engine Detroit Diesel 12V-71T and a more modern fire control system EFCS 600 from
Marconi with a Pilkington PE Condor commander's day/night sight, NANOQUEST
L23 gunner's sight and Simrad LV352 laser rangefinder. Production started in
1978 and a number of tanks were sold to Kenya and Nigeria. The tank is armed
with the same 105mm main gun L7A1 with 50 APFSDS, APDS, HEAT, HESH, HE, Smoke
and Canister rounds. Sub-variants were the Vickers MBT Mk 3(I) with newly
developed power train and suspension system, and the Vickers MBT Mk 3(M). The
latter one was developed for Malaysia and had a number of improvements, for
example ERA and an enhanced fire control system.
The Vickers Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle is based on the Mk 3 and is
equipped with a main winch, pulleys, cables and towbars. Some vehicles have a
crane capable of lifting 4,000 kg. The Vickers Armoured Bridgelayer or
Vickers AVLB is also based on the Mk 3 and is equipped with a hydraulically
operated launch and recovery system for an MLC 60/70 scissors bridge with a
length of 13.41 m. = Prototypes=
A Vickers MBT Mk 2 version was planned, to be equipped with four Swingfire
anti-tank missiles in addition to the main gun, but this did not enter
production. Other changes included a new turret design and tracks that could
sustain running at 56 kilometres per hour. Only one prototype was built.
The Vickers MBT Mk 4 Valiant was designed in 1977. It mounted a
"Universal Turret" which was offered with different gun options such as the
rifled 120mm Royal Ordnance L11A5 from the Challenger, the 44-calibre
smoothbore 120mm Rheinmetall L44 or the smoothbore GIAT CN-120 F1. The fire
control system was Marconi's "Centaur". The hull was made of aluminium which
proved to be too weak for the turret. This was only a prototype.
The Vickers MBT Mk 7, developed in the 1980s, was a further development of the
Mk 4 and was offered to the British Army and to a number of potential export
costumers. In the end, only one prototype was built. The Mk 7 had the
same "Universal Turret" but the hull and chassis came from the Leopard 2. The
tank was fitted with Chobham armour and had a fire control system with a Marconi
digital computer, a SFIM day sight and a Philips 2nd Gen thermal imager.
There was also a Vickers Anti-aircraft Tank, equipped with the Marksman turret,
as well as a self-propelled 155mm howitzer with the GBT 155 turret. The
GBT 155 was unveiled in 1982 and was armed with the same 155mm ordnance as
the AS-90. It was designed primarily for existing tank chassis'.
Operators = Current operators=
Kenya - 76 MBT Mk 3 and 7 ARV delivered in 1979–1982
Nigeria - 136 MBT Mk 3, 12 ARV and 26 AVLB delivered in 1983–1995
Tanzania - 4 ARV delivered in 1989 = Former operators=
Kuwait - 70 MBT Mk 1 delivered in 1970–1972, probably no longer
operational See also
Challenger 1 and 2 Chieftain
Vijayanta References
Orgorkiewcz, R M AFV Profile No. 45 Vickers Battle Tank, Profile Publishing