The Chieftain tank was the most powerful armored combat vehicle in the arsenal of the British Army during the first part of the Cold War. It was also the first main battle tank in the world to feature a 120-mm gun, long before the emergence of the Abrams and the Leopard 2. The rest of the tanks at that time, such as the American M60 Patton, the French AMX-30, and German Leopard 1, were fitted with a less powerful 105-mm gun.
The Chieftain had originally been designed in 1951 under the blue-print designation Medium Gun Tank No 2 as a replacement for the Centurion main battle tank. However, the prototype would be produced several years later, in 1959. Having undergone troop trials with a batch of 40 vehicles, this impressive British tank was finally accepted for service in 1963 as the Chieftain Mk I.
Below, the Chieftain Mk 6 in 1986.
This reliable British main battle tank first saw combat action during the Iraq-Iran War, in the 1980s, and during the 1991 US-led Operation Desert Storm. Due to its big-caliber gun, it turned out to be an excellent tank destroyer. During the Cold War, Chieftain Mk 2, Mk 6, and Mk 11 versions were deployed in West Germany with the British Army of the Rhine. The British exported this tank to Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and Oman. In British service, it would be replaced by the Challenger 1 and 2.
Specifications
Type: Main Battle Tank
Weight: 56 tons
Hull Length: 7.5 m (24 ft, 7 in)
Width: 3.66 m (12 ft)
Height: 2.9 m (9 ft, 6 in)
Armor: Steel: 127-mm-thick on the glacis; 350-mm on the front of tower.
Armament: one L11A5, 120-mm rifled gun; two 7.62-mm machine guns, one on top of turret, the other a coaxial one.
Powerplant: one Leyland L60, 750 HP, diesel engine
Maxium Speed: 43 km/h
Range: 500 km
Below, the Chieftain Mk 2 at a military base.
Chieftain Prototype in 1961
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