Challenger 1 | The Desert Shield
The Challenger 1 main battle tank was designed after the Shir Chieftain project, a proposal to upgrade the powerpack of Britain's first main battle tank (the previous Centurion was designed on the premise of the "gun tank" rather than an MBT), for Iran fell through. Meanwhile, Britain's own projects set to replace Chieftain had been cancelled, and the British army became a potential customer for this upgraded Chieftain. The first Challengers entered service in 1983, and were upgraded to the Mk.2 standard in 1985. Met with love from the regiments who received it, but some controversy from the international market, the Challenger 1 would be disregarded as a true competitor... that is until Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and Britain took its Challengers to war.
In today's video we'll take a look at the history, design, and capabilities of this legendary behemoth, and uncover some of its secrets and accomplishments.
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This video uses footage from the online military action game War Thunder, download and play for free here: warthunder.com/en/registration...
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I know many of you were keen on seeing the F-14 Tomcat in today's episode. Unfortunately I didn't have time to create a wholly new episode this week, so instead we're putting up another video from the old channel. The F-14 will feature in the next episode, so make sure to subscribe and I'll catch you next time!
for a future vid you should discuss some naval stuff like How can Battleships be re-entered in service or a discussion video of the American Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
TOMCATS
3 piece ammo.....ITS 3 PIECE AMMO !!!!!!!!!!!!! And every tank gun needs to be aligned....using the MRS...takes about 15 seconds.....and the rifling IMPROVES Accuracy....hence the worlds longest kill....and it has a stabillised sight....and the thermal sights located on the right HAS NO EFFECT on accuracy, its compensated for or every tank in the world wouldnt hit targets as day sights are offset on every tank....and no record of the 5.2 km kill, 4.7km is recognised.
7:19 - the tank comes with a kitchen ? Very Nice !
Well, Challenger 1 IS the Tomcat of tanks so... They're the Lamborghini Countach of their discipline; not the best, but by far the coolest, gnarliest looking things.
13:20 "And their biggest threat would be American friendly fire" Certified A10 moment
lol the fact that most of casualty in early gulf war desert storm is indeed friendly fire.
If you're in a fight with the Russians, their export customers, and the Americans... American air power is definitely your #1 concern with the Russian tanks coming in a distant 5th.
Browns have had a shit ton of friendly fire incidents 🤣😂
Sorry boys 😢
me when red rocket launchers
I was a crewman/driver on Chally1 in the '80s. I actually took delivery of the first mk2 put into regular service.
I bet that was cool. Thanks.
THE AMERICANS LOVE TO KEEP A REPUTATION GOING SO THEY JUST CONTINUED WITH IT IN THE DESERT - NO CHANGE THERE
I cannot believe that joke I heard so long ago about the British sipping tea in their Challengers... was actually true.
First on our tank the Centurion, yes indeed we have facilities for making hot drinks and a hot meal _inside the tank_ They'd also make hot chocolate and the _unbelievably good_ mug of hot Bovril Best described as 'beef tea' we turn cows into a thick black tar and you put that and hot water in a mug and stir Adding a Madras powder to it makes curry beef tea. It's just the best.
@@MostlyPennyCat lmaoooo
@@cromwell7785 wow, a tank that can talk ! 😝
@@cromwell7785 comment made by a animal that can type and has internet access 😝.
@@cowgoesmoo3850 a comment made by a 17 pounder 😝
Imagine being the guy to set that first 4000 record thinking hah, gonna take a while for anyone to knock that one off
the other guy: hold my tea
@@_invencible_ being able to boil your tea from inside the tank is the most British thing ever.
Imagine being the guy in the Iraqi T55. Knowing you got dunked on so hard it's actually a world record..
That upgraded chieftain with the 1200 horsepower engine would be an epic premium or event vehicle for wt.
theres this jordan challanger 1 in AW with era and smoothbore gun
@@amirulhusniazman6614 Khalid Hybrid
Then its going to be brought to 10.3 since 98% of German Players are garbage at the game.
The centurion and chieftain scored beautifully high marks for their respective times. The centurion was the standard right after World War Two.
Say hi to the chally 1 premium in WT
Most people underestimate what a few litres of warm water will do on a very cold day when its difficult to get warm water going as leg Infantry. Morale tends to improve immensely when the soup you eat is warm and your coffee is not a iced one. Fact.
I served during Op Granby and I can tell you that seeing Challengers strutting their stuff. Gave me and those around me, a very warm fuzzy feeling. Thanking Odin that they were on our side. A feeling made even more poignant when inspecting the targets they had destroyed without any losses. Even back then I was keenly aware that the biggest difference between our armour and that of the Iraqis was the quality of the crews manning them. Something subsequent extensive analysis of the data hammered home. It's a principle as old as combat itself. Weapons are only as good as the soldiers wielding them.
Challenger 1, my favourite ever MBT, it just looks amazing, like you put a coat of grey/black paint on it and it looks properly science fiction.
They may have had their issues, but I will always have a soft spot for the Challenger 1/2. It'll be a sad day when the Challenger 2s get retired, though with the downsizing of Britain's armaments industry, that may be an inevitability.
What armaments industry?
@@jugganaut33 Believe it or not, the UK used to have one.
@@jugganaut33 The UK is the 6th largest exporter of military equipment in the world.
Challenger 3 on the way
@@charlesb1602: On paper. Maybe? The majority of Arms sales lately have Been Electro optical / thermal imaging /small arms and Typhoons. The 70+% of typhoon parts and royalties are owned by Airbus (European) and leonardo (Italian) Although the U.K. exports optical Sensors and Thermal sights. They are made from Lithuanian lenses Zweis ( German)Electronics. The U.K. doesn’t own the licenses for many Small arms, or the capacity to make it. Often relying on capacity from FN Belgium for manufacture of 7.62. Even CR2 HESH shells can no longer be manufactured in the U.K. etc. So realistically. NOTHING that the U.K. exports is truly British. Or has been for 20+ years. And 70%+ of all sales revenue is enjoyed by European partners or American partners that own the Patents for the components that go into U.K. branded weapons, sensors, vehicles, ammunition, etc. Getting all of the profit for none of the travel, networking, negotiation, exchanges etc involved in selling Multi million dollar licenses. The U.K. doesn’t have an armaments industry. And the U.K. government seems to be trying damned hard to make it impossible to rebuild one. Considering they had no problem selling the majority stake to Vickers Land systems. All of their tech, armour, patents, prototypes to Rheinmetal. FOR Free. Just to get Challenger 3 . Arguably the worst deal in history considering the design was already drawn up in 2006 by Vickers as the CR2E. The Combat Vehicle 90 program that was supposed to replace warrior back in 2000. Was sold to the Swedish and Germans. Only for the Chassis and License to be bought back at twice the price 20 years later as the AJAX. That is now unfit for service due to it being built by 10 different counties and shipped to the U.K. in Amazon boxes. None of which know how to build a AFV. So the thing rattles itself to pieces, twists is transmission off its housing. Throws its tracks every time it even looks at a rock and can’t cross half the bridges it should be able to or be easily air transportable because some dipshit decided to make it 48 TONS . Because they planned to scrap Main battle tanks all together to save costs. The U.K. armaments industry doesn’t know it’s an arms industry. It’s just a collection of multinational dipshits that have removed any capability of building a Native airframe, Armoured vehicle, missile, sighting system and rifle inside the U.K. You will struggle to name a single piece of British equipment beyond a radio, reactor torpedo and sniper rifle that can be built entirely in the U.K. everything involves Thales,MBDA,Leonardo,zweis,airbus, Because even the infamous 100 year British army Landrover has been discontinued. It’s factory is now in Poland and produces only civilian eco horseshit.
Ahh yes, the all-important Bivvie. No self-respecting Commonwealth Tanker leaves home without one. (Boiling vessel = BV = Bivvie)
We don't call it a "bivvie" mate we call it a "bv". A bivvie is a waterproof bag we pull over our sleeping bag.
@@joeeasy8144 In fairness the one tanker I knew tended to drawl his words together, which may have been where I got it from. (I am familiar with the waterproof bag as well through camping etc)
We also don't get called tanker. it's tankie or donkey walloper depending on the regiment
@@firkit2 Now 'Tankie' has a completely different connotation for me, because I had to deal with Student Politics. 'Tankie' is a common nickname for Stalinists/extreme Marxists.
I live not far from where Royal Ordinance Leeds, aka Barnbow, once stood. The site was a WW1 munitions factory and there is a memorial to the 'Barnbow Lasses' in a local park. I have a neighbour who used to work there. He told me how one year he oversaw an apprenticeship program that restored (and cut in half) the demonstration Centurion now in Bovington Tank Museum. Anyway, the old factory had been shut down most of my lifetime. Been demolished now, houses built on the site.
I'm pretty sure Britains first MBT was Centurion and not Chieftain. Centurions even served in the UK armed forces until about the mid 90s, so they were around a long time. During my training on Centurion it was never referred to as anything other than being an MBT. Certainly I was never taught nor have I ever heard the "Gun tank" thing before. Everywhere I have ever looked lists the Centurion as the first British MBT, even Wikipedia (as well as the MoD manuals I had to study). Chieftain is always listed as a second generation MBT.
Another informative armor video. Good job.
Challenger is onto it's 3rd Regeneration now.
Good explanation and at the same time we can see the tank in action
This is all bs.. the only reason for the challenger is to protect the BV
I mean dude your name is "kfc jet" you cant convince people that way so easily
@@garlicbreadstick404 LOL IKR
Lol
It would be really interesting to learn if there were any other 5k class shots that missed during the gulf war.
Is this an update to the old video? Feel like it is. Like the content, do keep it up!
Nice doc.
Wasn't the chieftain originally designed to adapt to multiple fuel? Which is why it was under powered
And why it was so unreliable, thanks Leyland..
Yeah, it was a NATO requirement that ever nation had to follow until they all didn’t but Brits being Brits followed the rules.
If it makes ya feel any better, American friendly fire was hard on us as Americans too.
Building a tank with a Tea Kettle? That is hands down the most British thing I have ever seen.
MBT80, LAW80 everything in the 1990s British Army had an 80 in it's name. Then there was the MBT70 and the MIrage 2000 etc etc - you get the idea. So it took like 30 years for marketers to realise that when you name your product after the next decade (or century) for a product thta takes 20 years to develop, it sounds obsolete when it goes into service in the decade after the decade it was named after.
Other's nations tanks suck but the glorious Challenger... Nice channel, keep patting your own shoulder.
Well of course a British tank has an in built kettle for making tea. Probably a more important feature than the gun, armour, and engine put together.
SAY WHAT YOU WILL ABOUT ITS AGE BUT ITS PROVED ITS SELF MORE OFTEN THAN NOT AS A GOOD TANK ,for me proof is in the pudding . AND its onboard kettle is a great idea ,keeping a crew happy is key!! l should also add that most tanks today are just upgrade of their old ones ,so any mods needed should be carried out ASAP ,like thermal /night vision and new power pack will go a long way :)
I love it’s low profile
Tank: OP tracked tractor in the battlefield with a gun that goes BOOM
Any tank with the capacity to make tea is good in my books.
To my mind the latest variants of Challenger are the best looking MBTs ever built. Sure it still has the magically stupid, shoot me here, mail slot to allow easy removal of the driver’s head. But the rest of it just says “chunky ass kicking monster” to me. It gets a lousy deal in War Thunder in that defense and defensive positions aren’t really part of the game. Chieftain suffered the same problem. The game modes reward highly mobile, aggressive play while flipping the bird to any attempt to defend capture points by sticking the damned things out in the open or in utterly utterly flat, urban terrain. Combined with the British lack of decent top tier air defense vehicles, aircraft and sneaky little support vehicles Gaijin has made life very difficult for folks wanting to play Challenger centered forces.
Flat turret sides are a deal breaker.
Could you do a video on the Challenger 1 Falcon ?
I remember driving my Chally at 70kph during driver training. It was on road, down hill for just a short stint though.
Still counts.
Just a heads up y'all, I subbed to this channel when it was first announced, and was just wondering "why haven't I seen anything from this channel yet", and found that there have been several videos posted so far. Not a single one has made it to my feed. Fuck KZhead
The British loved the Churchill so much that they decided to make every tank like that one. Forever.
I’m afraid the infantry support tank was born in 1916. And will probably be the same in 2116
Nonsense. Centurion was a completely different design concept to Churchill, the latter being an infantry support tank. Centurion, Chieftain and Challenger have absolutely nothing in common with the Churchill.
It is never the tool in use that is weak, a well trained determined crew is a threat to any cutting edge machine.
The MOD never learn from their mistakes.
Very interesting. I was the REME Staff Sergeant who lead the team in Saudi to carry out the Chobham side armour and front ERA upgrades just before the conflict started. Hard work for 3 weeks upgrading all the tanks but very rewarding to think this upgrade saved lives.
What happened to the challeneger with the Cromwell chassis?
More Power, more terrain speed!! #Tank got dropped into Tropical Rainforest (4 tier canopy) country. Tank: sheeeeeeettttt....
Koala plox: brevity codes for tanks, and is there a soviet equivalent to them? Saw your brevity codes for anes vid, and you mentioned that there were brevity codes for tanks too.
Um, our first main battle tank was the Centurion, not Chieftain.
Centurion was developed as a "Gun tank", slightly different to an MBT. It still needed support from other tank types like the Caernarvon or Conqueror, so it doesn't truly fit the bill as a main battle tank until you get to the Mk.7 variant
@@ArmorCast No, the 1st ever MBT is the Centurion.
@@carwyngriffiths no
Can you explain to how and why smooth bore barrels are better than rifled. In days past it seemed rifling was preferred, now it's the opposite. Why? TY, terrific channel.
I found the answer for this once in a video about the Abrams, but I dont remember what is was lmao
Answer? Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot. A rifled barrel will hinder the performance of it, and considering that APFSDS is the common round(I think) it is now preferred to have a smooth bore.
Yes
This has now dated. Challenger III announced with 120mm smooth bore gun. Vastly improved situational awareness on the cyber battlefield...a whole new turret...reactive armour planned to be fitted...same chassis .Fewer of them
And it proves the video end correct; It's a tank for today, not the future
@Armor Cast technically the Shir 1 did make it past prototype stage: as the Jordanian Khalid
Challenger III has given up the Rifled barrel for the 120 smooth bore. Long Live the Rifling!
What game is this at 5 minutes In?
TANK IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS PERSONAL AND TANKS ON PAPER DONT WIN WARS THATS DONE ON THE BATTLEFIELD SO WELL DONE CHALLENGER PROVING ITSELF ON THE BATTLEFIELD
Well, Challenger is not the only tank with a Rifled gun. In India, we followed the same idea in Arjun tanks.
but unlike Indias Arjun, Cr2 is more likely to face modern heavy armored MBT. Indias neighbours primarily field 80´s era sovjet MBT for wich Arjuns gun is good enough
@@zhufortheimpaler4041 I think you are forgetting China has more mordernish MBTs.... thou not Abrams or Chally or Leos
@@vvgplays yeah but i dont think China and India will fight a War in the high Himalaya with MBT´s respectively, the MBT´s wont matter that much in that situation. its high mountain warfare on foot and with fieldguns plus maybe high altitude capable helicopters.
Just made it exactly 600 likes
I feel that then Jordanian challengers would be a welcome addition to the sdf armory.
Rule the Challenger, RULE BRITTANIA
I wonder if it'd be possible to built a tank in the style of the Scorpion from Halo
The closest to that is the Merkava.
isnt the armored recovery variant of the leopard 2 more powerful? it has a 30 metric tone crane.
Depends on what you mean by "powerful". That one lacks the towing capacity of the CRARRV for example
Well, I really love challenger series.
kind of reminds of clarkson with his big lambo tractor on his farm, just shredding the grass
Something most forget or dont know is HEP and HESH rounds have a maximum velocity of 750m/s for the explosive to spread properly and not just splatter like a very angry egg on the enemy position. This necessitates the smaller bag charge however I am surprised as I have never seen a brass cased charge in any turret cam for a challenger. Its also possible my dumb ass just missed it as I never have liked the UK tanks save chieftain.
The vent tubes pop out the breech a bit sharpish
Thanks, appreciate the tip off.
Best tank in the world . And the best looking. Great British engineering
We can't say we didn't get our money's worth out of the old, often updated, M1 design.
McFarland one near Springfield I like that one better I don't the other ones although I don't like being there
War thunder just explains how we won nearly every war, better gaming chair.
The fin round fired from Challenger does not spin as it has rings that eliminate tie spine.. So a Challenger Fin round should be as accurate as one fired from a smooth bore gun. The HESH round is allowed to spin.
The Challenger's fin rounds aren't quite as accurate as those fired from the smoothbore 120mm, though that's more to do with the thing's fire control system (which was slow at best... downright outdated at worst). The thing is though, that a lot of people assume Challenger's gun is MORE accurate, because they apply the same thought process you would to rifling a handgun in order to fire a conical bullet... At the very maximum, the Challenger's rounds are going to be AS accurate as those of the smoothbore guns, though in practise, they were more like 15-20% worse...
Jordan is retiring 400 challenger 1 tanks
Challenger be yeeting 🅱️ESH
American Friendly Fire is the biggest threat to any British vehicle, let's not kid ourselves.
search engine optimization engagement
Shir 1 was the Chieftain 900 or Khalid! I really need to take you to Bovington and show you around properly. Most of your research is correct but, there are gaps and a few mistakes.
Khalid was developed FROM the Shir 1, not the other way around. As for Chieftain 900, that's a different project entirely
We really should think of designing a new tank instead of relying on upgrades
"Build the tank for tomorrow, not for today" You can't expect UK politicians to think ahead, that's asking far too much of them, they have more important things to be doing...like lines of crack in the toilets, and watching po-I mean tractor videos.
Aha breakfast video!
When has this bunker busting HESH rounds really mattered so much that you couldn't just use 120mm recoilless rifles based on some other vehicle?
weren't those record long distance kills using Hesh rounds? If so they will stand for a very long time as the swansong of the rifled gun! ps I served at same time as Purbrick's father in chieftain
Nah, seems to be a recurring misconception recently for some reason that a couple KZhead channels have repeated, but everything I can find including testimonies from the two tanks’ crews say they were standard fin rounds
@@ArmorCast the sight graticules run out well before 3200m for apfsds. But on to 5000m for hesh
Britain’s next tank Needs an export variant like the leopard 2 because that’s why the leopard 2 is so successful and more you sell The cheaper the tanks become and the longer they can be in service because there’s lots of spare parts that’s the main problem with the Challenger 2 Because it was only produced for the British Army When Britain’s order was for field production stopped and that means there was no more spare parts being made but if Britain’s next tank was exported it be cheaper for Britain and it would make maintenance easier and cheaper plus there is countries that would buy British like Australia,Canada and even more Because Canada and Australia have buy Type 26 frigates and for example if CANZUK happens Britain could supply the countries with equipment,tanks,ships,planes and other things like that I know this is not very likely but to really future proof a tank you need to 2x it armour put a 140m or a 130mm railgun and add anti-missile defence
too bad, that it is just another upgrade, this time with german Leo2 Components. the market is already filled by Leo2, t90, t84 and M1, so it is unlikely that a british contender would have a chance, unless it is significantly surperior to existing platforms. Leo2 and Leclerc will start phaseout at the end of the decade and the MGCS will start to replace them. at that time Cr3, wich is just an Cr2 with technology upgrades that bring it up to 2020 standarts, will enter service..... the UK should have invested/joined in the MGCS programme and for the meantime leased Leo2 or M1
@@zhufortheimpaler4041 not happening we are not relying on other countries and Britain has got a chance when Leopard 2 need replacing and we have got new Technologies in the works for tanks.We are going to take the frigate market in Europe and quite a lot of countries in the world and Britain’s going hydrogen power
@@jammiedodger7040 the UK is already lagging behind with MBT developement, and also its Frigate developement is not the only one in Europe. Germany and France will start to introduce the MGCS around the same time, Cr3 will be fully operational.
@@zhufortheimpaler4041 Germany doesn’t have the ship capacity
@@jammiedodger7040 yes, as germany does not need a big "high seas fleet", as it is a primarily landlocked country. on the other hand, germany is building some of the most modern warships and submarines in the world.
2:13 thought he said the rolls royce C0ND0M lol
Shall we all donate to Koala to recreate a British Armament Industry? Bringing back military manufacturing in the UK?
Goodday will the Challenger 3 still run a rifle barrel if so why
It was the royal hussars not SCOTS DG that did poorly on the cat trophy competition SCOTS DG were still in Tidworth on Cheiftan
You forgot to mention the poor reliability of the Leyland multi fuel engine in the Chieftain.
Unfortunately we get our assignments
sheer in farsi means lion btw
THALES? It's 'Ta-les', Koala.
Only we Brits would produce an MOT with the same hydragas suspension as the Austin Metro! Lol
British design Tank Does it make tea? Of course😂😏☕
Weak lower Glasis plate INTENSIFIES!
0:58 first British MBT was the Centurion
"French company Thales" is actually pronounced tal-ess. Heres a Thales video with an Australian sales rep pronouncing the company name (probably not exactly as the French would ... but a lot closer than "thales") ;) ... kzhead.info/sun/mJShoJxxnGd7lWg/bejne.html
Challanges get stuck in mud very easily.
TAKE AIM AND FIRE - NO MATTER WHO OR WHAT - THEY GOT THE JOB DONE - NOT A FLUKE SHOOTS AT ALL - I BET THOSE ON THE RECEIVING END - DID`NT SCOFF LONG THINKING YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME - A TANK IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PERSONAL WHO OPERATE IT - TAKE A BOW GUYS THAT SHOWED THEM
Not a fluke, crew training and skill.
Of course the British would make sure tea was an option while cruising in a tank. Of course.
Armour has a U. your scottish. use the correct gallic additions
it's quiet interesting to see that the nation comming up with the concept of a tank always was the one with the least clue of what a tank is about...
Cope harder
we pesants have to gring for a long time to get jets and armor cast just gets all tanks for free for promoting the game
Oh I grind the stuff too, been playing for seven years!
All gums have a breaking in period
Technically speaking I was a civilian and underage
Britains first Main Battle Tank was Centurion not Cheiftain
Centurion was more a great ww2 vehicle that got upgraded like the super sherman. It just didn't see combat in ww2 it was on the way to the frontline (whole way driving under its own power to prove a point iirc) when the war ended. It wouldnt have been able to deal with soviet super heavies of the time or keep up with light tanks, MBTs have the firepower to deal with them + anything else and the mobility to rival lighter tanks.
@@kalumbailey5103 That’s not what MBTs are at all, a MBT is just supposed to be a tank that is a generalist or in other words, a Fancier Medium tank. You don’t need to pen a Russian heavy tank, you just need to have the best, well rounded tank (for your country needs but that’s a different story)
Yeah they get in we don't want the job although they don't put that u exist they know ur there
Hey I really like the content and the videos Koala, but I have some problems with a few things you said. One that composite armor increases HEAT protection but at the cost of it being less effective against KE rounds is 100% false. Yes it does increase HEAT protection but it also increases KE Protection as well however the armor does have to absorb the KE round so I guess I'll give you 75% false lol. If that were the case tanks would use solid armor as a base for KE rounds then a layer of ERA for HEAT protection (end of the cold war before main stream composite use). Two, The west as a whole in the cold war was designing their tanks for the Soviets charging the Fulda gap with armor like crazy but if you look at western tank design as a whole and stretch back to the beginning they are all designed for infantry support on some level. Even looking at the shape of the T55 vs any American tank of the time M26 to M60 you can see it plain as day not to mention the big M2 inside of the commanders cupola on M60. Three reasons why western tank designs are so much larger than the east, number one is gun depression. Everything I'm going to say about the basis of East vs West tank design will be from the time period of the beginning of the cold war because this is still pretty much where we both get our doctrine for WW3. The East and West have the same ideology. The smaller a target you present the harder it is to make a hit, and of that target you present it should be the hardest area to score a knock out of the vehicle. The west usually has very armored frontal turret arches and relatively weak upper hull glacis because the hull of the tank is most likely going to be penetrated regardless of armor given (reason why the heavy tank died out) so instead of making something heavy with needless armor (heavy tank) you make it as light as possible but not as to completely remove its protection and increase its mobility as much as possible (medium tank). Here is where gun depression comes in, it allows that tank to always present its hardest target the turret and nothing else and do it quick. The East is a little different they build their tanks for very flat terrain so the tank is smaller in comparison to western tanks because you don't have much to hide the weakest parts of the vehicle and that leads to a beefy and angular frontal turret arch and front upper glacis of the hull and little gun depression because of the size and the roundness of the turret. Second reason is Crew comfort a roomier tank going to be more ergonomic and in turn the crew performance will be better and if the tank is on fire its easier and faster to get out of but at the cost of a bigger target. East vs. West is pretty much vehicle survivability vs. crew survivability. Last but not least Infantry support. The West from day one with the tank has always had infantry in mind and the bigger it is the more infantry can use it as cover to cross an open area. Now yes I will give you that tanks are not great in urban environments even with infantry support but the tank provides protection from small arms shrapnel and blasts which any armored vehicle can provide. Yes even M1126 which is only protected up too 14.5mm AP. Back to my main point, in the 60's and 70's rifled guns yes kind of did put it in to an infantry support role but 80' on that's just silly in my opinion. Yes HESH or HEP is cheap but there is just better stuff for the role of infantry support. HEAT-MP Infantry light vehicles and fortifications buildings cars you name it, it will probably kill it just as good if not better than HESH. Canister is the older stuff but who can argue with 1000 10mm tungsten balls. There is the HE OR T stuff which is Kind of like a pseudo APHE round but the real MVP is the new M1147 Advanced Multi Purpose round. Essentially It is a programable HE OR T round It can air burst point detonate or point detonate delay. Expensive yes but for the price of one it replaces 4 rounds. I believe the Israelis are working on something like it as well but again HESH or HEP is just somewhere in between HEAT and regular HE but the fact of the matter is if a 50 pound 120mm HEanything regardless if its from a rifled or smoothbore cannon your dead plain and simple lol and if it doesn't kill you your maimed for life. But having the ability to fire HESH or HEP is not the end all be all weapon for a tank to be intended for the infantry support. Just my thoughts opinions and input on the matter. I'm a subscriber and I may have just blew 3 hours on writing this comment but keep on making videos! P.S. 2 part ammunition extends the load time by about twice that of single piece ammo extends not reduces lol.
The centurion is Britain’s first MBT. It’s also the world’s first MBT. Not sure why a guy as knowledgeable as koala forgot this
Bit of a technicality. Chieftain was Britain’s first MBT that was DESIGNED as an MBT from the get-go. The Centurion was actually designed as a standard medium tank during WW2, and then became what’s called a “gun tank”, same as the M47 Patton, the M103, and the FV214 Conqueror (the latter two of which are often erroneously called “heavy tanks”). The first Centurion model that can be considered a proper main battle tank is the Mk.9 (or the Mk.7/2, but from memory the Mk.9 actually came first). A lot of people mistake the “main battle tank” as just being an alternate name for the “medium tank” in a world where “heavy tanks” no longer exist… but that’s not the case. Medium tanks, heavy tanks, gun tanks, and main battle tanks, are all distinct classes of vehicle. I actually meant to do a dedicated explainer video about this concept, but haven’t yet gotten around to it. The old KZhead channel of ManyMilesAway has a decent explainer on the gun tank concept though