The Vickers MBT was a series of main battle tank

Main battle tank

A main battle tank , also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the heavy direct fire role of many modern armies. They were originally conceived to replace the light, medium, heavy and super-heavy tanks. Development was spurred onwards in the Cold War with the development...

s (MBTs) 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

Centurion tank

The Centurion, introduced in 1945, was the primary British main battle tank of the post-World War II period. It was a successful tank design, with upgrades, for many decades...

, and the Leyland L60 multi-fuel engine, transmission and fire control system of the Chieftain

Chieftain tank

The FV 4201 Chieftain was the main battle tank of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s. It was one of the most advanced tanks of its era, and at the time of its introduction in 1966 had the most powerful main gun and heaviest armour of any tank in the world...

. A large number of tanks was also build by India under licence.

Variants

• The Vickers MBT Mk 1 was designed to be a simple, low cost, but effective tank. The first prototype was completed in 1963. 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
  Kuwait
  The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
  
   and a large number of a modified version were made in India where the tank was called Vijayanta
  Vijayanta
  The Vijayanta main battle tank was built in India based on a licensed design of the Vickers Mk.1. The Vijayanta was the first indigenous tank of the Indian army. The prototype was completed in 1963 and the tank entered service in 1965. The first 90 vehicles were built by Vickers in the UK...
  
  .

• 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 dag/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
  Kenya
  Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
  
   and Nigeria
  Nigeria
  Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
  
  . 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
  Swingfire
  Swingfire was a British wire-guided anti-tank missile developed in the 1960s and produced from 1966 until 1993.-Development:Swingfire was developed by Fairey Engineering Ltd and the British Aircraft Corporation. It replaced the Vickers Vigilant missile in British service...
  
   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 (34.8 mph). Only one prototype was build.

• 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 120 mm rifled gun L11A5 from the Challenger, the 44-calibre smoothbore 120mm L44 from Rheinmetall or the smoothbore GIAT CN-120 F1. The fire control system was Marconi's "Centaur". The hull was made of alluminium 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 build. 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
  Marksman anti-aircraft system
  Marksman is a British anti-aircraft weapon system, consisting of a turret, a Marconi Series 400 radar and two Swiss 35 mm Oerlikon autocannons...
  
   turret, as well as a self-propelled 155 mm howitzer with the GBT 155 turret. The GBT 155 was unveilled in 1982 and was armed with the same 155 mm ordnance as the AS-90
  AS-90
  The AS-90 is a lightly armoured self-propelled artillery piece used by the British Army. It was first delivered in 1993...
  
  . It was designed primarely for existing tank chassis'.

Operators

- 76 MBT Mk 3 and 7 ARV delivered in 1979-1982 - 70 MBT Mk 1 delivered in 1970-1972, probably no longer operational - 136 MBT Mk 3, 12 ARV and 26 AVLB delivered in 1983-1995 - 4 ARV delivered in 1989

See also

• Challenger 1 and 2
• Chieftain
  Chieftain tank
  The FV 4201 Chieftain was the main battle tank of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s. It was one of the most advanced tanks of its era, and at the time of its introduction in 1966 had the most powerful main gun and heaviest armour of any tank in the world...
  
  
• Vijayanta
  Vijayanta
  The Vijayanta main battle tank was built in India based on a licensed design of the Vickers Mk.1. The Vijayanta was the first indigenous tank of the Indian army. The prototype was completed in 1963 and the tank entered service in 1965. The first 90 vehicles were built by Vickers in the UK...