By late November 1950 the number of Centurion tanks delivered to Egypt iwa nine, of which seven left the UK in May and two in October. APDS and HESH).īy the end of 1950 no sales of Centurion tanks had been authorised except to Egypt and certain Commonwealth countries. APDS and HESH) and the new medium tank Chieftain (120 mm. The Ranging Machine Gun (RMS) fire control system was developed for use in the up-gunned Centurion tank (105 mm. In addition, the operation of the Centurion tanks with gasoline required constant and painstaking monitoring" of the fuel system, so that possible leaks could be detected in time. As a whole, the technically obsolete engine put heavy demands on operating, maintenance and repair personnel. As could be expected, these deficiencies were especially apparent under extraordinary climatic conditions (Near East, for example). The road wheels are rubber tyred and are mounted on swing-arms fitted with coil springs and shock absorbers (dampers).Įventually, however, the constant increase in vehicle weight during the course of developing the Centurion tank led to problems with the service life of the engine, transmission and brakes. The Centurion is supported by six pairs of road wheels on each side, each track also passing over a rear drive sprocket, a front idler wheel and four double and two single guide rollers. Thus, the only important new components remaining were the hull, turret housing, main gun and tracks. And the Merritt-Brown steering gears came from older vehicles. This is true, for example, for the V12 Rolls Royce Meteor petrol engine, which represented a throttled-back version of the Spitfire airplane engine and which had already been built into the Cromwell and Comet tanks. Therefore, to the extent possible, proven components of older vehicle types were used. In the concept of the Centurion tank one of the most important development goals was to retain the most reliable tank possible. When things are getting pretty hot, he is the man who brings up the brew of tea and furthermore, when everything seems wrong, he is the man whose extra muscles enable a track-pin to be extracted or changed. In a tank crew the lap gunner or co-driver is the vital man. It may or may not be a good tank, but the designer left out of account the lap gunner, or co-driver. It had a gun on it that will knock the ace out of the ace of spades at 3,000 yards in two shots. The Centurion remained in service in Australia until 1977 when replaced by the Leopard Tank.īy 1950 the new Centurion tank, which could give a very good account of itself against any other known tank, was said to be "in full production" and was already in service in considerable numbers. Australian Centurion Tanks served in Vietnam from 1968 until 1971. Prototype Centurions had been built by the end of WWII. The Centurion Tank was the main British tank of the post war period, also being purchased by the Australian Army from 1951 and by many other armed forces.
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