Vickers MBT

The Vickers MBT is a series of main battle tanks (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, 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.

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 armor, 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 meters.

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 35 mph (56.33 km/h). 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 aluminum 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 customers. 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 armor 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.

Users

 * India
 * Indian Army - see Vijayanta MBT
 * Iraq
 * Iraqi Army
 * Kenya
 * Kenyan Army
 * Kuwait
 * Kuwait Army
 * Nigeria
 * Nigerian Army
 * Tanzania
 * Tanzanian Army