![]() Improved track, suitable for 56 km/h (35 mph) continuously.Improved frontal aspect to the hull and turret.New turret of cast front and mantlet-less design, with new gun mounting. ![]() The 1968 proposal for a vehicle specification that differed from the Mark 1 in the following respects: Other developments Vickers Main Battle Tank Mark 2 1 fitted with a General Motors Detroit Diesel 12V-71T engine, a thermal sleeve for the gun (L7A1 gun redesignated L7A2) and improved optics. 1 sold to Kuwait in 1970, it includes modifications to the engine filters for use in desert conditions and featured transistored AEI gun control equipment instead of GEC valve, one rear wheel on either side was moved backwards to improve wheel loading, trench crossing and reduce ground pressure, they also lack flotation equipment. 70 tanks were sold to Kuwait and many of a modified version were made in India where the tank was called Vijayanta. It weighed 38,600 kg, carried a 105 mm gun with 44 rounds and had a top speed of 48 km/h. The Vickers was made of welded rolled homogeneous armour plates. In 1964, one of the prototypes was sent to India. The first prototype was completed in 1963. The Vickers MBT Mk 1 was designed to be a simple, low-cost, but effective tank. The development coincided with an agreement with India in 1961 to produce a tank design and help set up a factory there to produce it. ![]() The design would use the new engine and transmission of the Chieftain tank then being developed. With armour twice that of the light tank design, it would still be 12 tonnes lighter than Centurion and hence more mobile. However, with the introduction of the 105 mm L7 gun into the British, US and German tank designs, this light tank would have been less powerful while too large for the reconnaissance role, and so a new design was required. This would be as well equipped as a Centurion but substantially cheaper and with eight Vickers Vigilant anti-tank missiles it would be as effective. The Vickers MBT followed on from a 24-tonne 20-pdr gunned tank design intended for export. Many copied tanks were also built by India under licence as the Vijayanta. ![]() The design makes use of proven components, such as the L7 gun of the Centurion, the Leyland L60 multi-fuel engine, the transmission and fire control system of the Chieftain. The Vickers MBT is a series of main battle tanks (MBTs) developed as a private venture by British company Vickers-Armstrongs for export. ![]()
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