Main Battle Tanks

Discussion in 'Postwar' started by Gerard, Sep 16, 2008.

  1. Capt.Sensible

    Capt.Sensible Well-Known Member

    We can't go on here without a good look at the Centurion, a real favourite amongst folk of my generation. This site is a good resource, especially for the less well-known variants;
    Centurion series of main battle tanks
     
  2. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    Great Link Capt! Funny but I think of the Centurion the IDF always comes into my mind. They were used extensively in the 6 day war as well as the Yom Kippur war. a great tank and was as good as anything that the Russians had at the time.
     
  3. Capt.Sensible

    Capt.Sensible Well-Known Member

    Great Link Capt! Funny but I think of the Centurion the IDF always comes into my mind. They were used extensively in the 6 day war as well as the Yom Kippur war. a great tank and was as good as anything that the Russians had at the time.

    Yes, very well thought of by the IDF once they had been modified - new power-packs, I think. Some great shots from the 1973 Yom Kippur War here, toward the bottom of the page. No Centurions but lots of Warsaw Pact kit in various states:
    Google Image Result for http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r110/tanks_alotmp/25-3.jpg
     
  4. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    What happened on the 16th September 2007???

    I was off by two days...try the 14th.

    If you don't figure it out, PM me.
     
  5. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

  6. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    You just beat me to it!!!! The evolution of the Stug!!!
     
  7. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    I was off by two days...try the 14th.

    If you don't figure it out, PM me.
    Thankfully I recovered my memory of international affair and now understand what you are talking about!!! Sorry for questioning you!!!! :D
     
  8. Union464

    Union464 Member

    The best tank of the immediate post-war period, and for quite a considerable time after that, was the Centurion, in my opinion. The Centurion, especially the Centurion Mk III, was the tank that just kept on giving for many, many years for many armies round the world. Even when it was obsolescent, it was still effective. Read:

    Centurion Tank, the backbone of Aussie armour

    Centurion Tank - Development, production and performance

    Admire:

    IWM Duxford - Europe's premier aviation museum : Centurion tank

    Cruiser Tank (A41) "Centurion"

    Sho't

    Marvellous.
     
  9. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Having seen the insides of the turret of the Chieftain - I can well imagine what the Centurians and Challengers looks like and I am pleased that my experience in Tanks was restricted to the WW2 utility models with the Churchill 1V being - to my mind - the best available as we had some room to sleep in the turret......
    Cheers
     
  10. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    von Poop likes this.
  11. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    Is that a Turkish Flag waving away beside pole?
     
  12. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Is that a Turkish Flag waving away beside pole?

    Gotthard,

    As it is a NATO parade I feel it must be the flag of Turkey.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  13. phylo_roadking

    phylo_roadking Very Senior Member

    I wonder how quickly Clarkson could get one of those around the Ring???
     
  14. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    Interesting to note that the T-72 was the export version of the T-64. Didnt know that.

    Apparently nobody knows that, for they are two different designs made at different plants, sharing the same gun and some little bits and pieces only ;)

    And by MBT I take we should be talking serious metal.

    Like this:

    [​IMG]

    Now that's what I call a tank with cojones!
     
  15. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    Apparently nobody knows that, for they are two different designs made at different plants, sharing the same gun and some little bits and pieces only ;)

    And by MBT I take we should be talking serious metal.

    Like this:

    [​IMG]

    Now that's what I call a tank with cojones!
    Thanks for pointing that out Za, but apparently I wasnt the only one under this misconception as Global security.org found reason to state that it was a parallel design as opposed to a development of! From this link: T-72 Medium Tank

    The T-72, which entered production in 1971, was first seen in public in 1977. The T-72, introduced in the early 1970s, is not a further development of the T-64, but rather a parallel design chosen as a high-production tank complementing the T-64 (Writers italics, not mine). So I wasnt the only one who was under that impression!! :p
     
  16. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  17. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    I see MBT production is drawing to a close in the UK, with BAE moving manufacturing abroad.
    Talk of Swedish produced Chassis in the future.
     
  18. urqh

    urqh Senior Member

     
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  19. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    Thanks for pointing that out Za, but apparently I wasnt the only one under this misconception as Global security.org found reason to state that it was a parallel design as opposed to a development of! From this link: T-72 Medium Tank

    The T-72, which entered production in 1971, was first seen in public in 1977. The T-72, introduced in the early 1970s, is not a further development of the T-64, but rather a parallel design chosen as a high-production tank complementing the T-64 (Writers italics, not mine). So I wasnt the only one who was under that impression!! :p

    You are misreading, Gotti. The T-64 / T-72 mix was High / Low mix, the T-72 being built in case the higher spec T-64 became a corker. Also the T-72 was the lower tech model, able to be exported to "lesser" countries, look up for the expression "monkey model".

    Again in globalsecurity read T64 Tank

    The T-64 entered production in 1966, was fielded in 1967, and was first seen in public in 1970. Numerous variants were produced during a very long production run. The T-64 tank was later on considered to have formed a landmark in the history of tank development in the Soviet Union, as every tank of the Soviet T-series entering service ever since (including T-72 and its modifications, T-80, T-80U, T-80UD, Ukrainian T-84, etc) was based on the design concepts initially introduced in the T-64 tank design, so all the above-enumerated tanks can be called 'direct descendants' of the T-64, its 'children' and 'grandchildren'.

    While the T-64 is closely related to the T-72, the T-64 was produced solely for the Soviet Army and the slightly less capable T-72 was exported world-wide. Unlike the T-72, the T-64 has an infra-red searchlight on the left side of the 125mm gun, a different power pack, narrower track, a different suspension, and a slightly different turret.

    Also see The Threat of the Premium Tank: The Product and Process of the Soviet Experience

    This study investigates the tank development concept of simultaneously evolving two parallel tank designs, and fielding both tanks in a high-low force mix. The high end of this force would consist of very high value and innovative Premium Tanks which incorporate the highest technology available at a given time. Because of their inherent high cost, complexity, and high risk design, premium tanks are normally produced in relatively small numbers. The low end of this force mix would be made up of Main Battle Tanks that are less sophisticated and cheaper to produce than premium tanks, and would be produced in much larger numbers. Focusing on the Soviet example of premium tank development, this study emphasizes the massive impact these tanks have had in the past as well as the projected threat new premium tanks constitute for the future. This study concludes with an examination of a future premium tank design that represents a new and projected premium tank threat. The employment of the next premium tank may give a new adversary a critical advantage for the future.
    I don't think you'll be able to access the article, but I have it somewhere in a pdf.
     
  20. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    Ah right!! Thats fair enough Za.
     

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