Tank Chats

Join The Tank Museum's Historian David Fletcher as he discusses the TV15000, the unique prototype of the FV101 Scorpion armoured reconnaissance vehicle. David examines its development and how it came to be the production Scorpion we know today.
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[@brucemacallan6831]

Yey! I was gunner in one during Op Granby. Many memories. Once in West Germany we were on FTX going flat out on a road, - Our left hand track snapped, driver reacted by slamming on the brakes, which sent us in to a spin, and we ended up, upside down in a ditch. Luckily none or us were injured. A passing Brigadier came and asked us if anyone was hurt, I answered ‘yes sir I am. We did a 360, and a summersault - And nobody even clapped’. I think he laughed.

[@354sd]

Good man carry on

[@familyplans3788]

thats not very funny !! thats Freaking hilarious

[@jamiehobson6336]

British humour at its finest

[@tattyheid7279]

I've got a picture of me standing in front of my Sultan during Op Granby. Excellent little vehicles.

[@itsonlyme9938]

Carry on Tanking.

[@calthepeacelovingclover5935]

In Ireland we loved them so much we used them until they fell apart and couldn't be put back together. Despite the fumes it was great for the Irish landscape with its weight we could easily get it out to the Glen of Imaal for a shoot and without a county council shouting at them for damaging the roads. It also gave the crews a good experience with tracked armored vehicles which we didn't have much of and without them we were mostly improvising to see what we could come up with as we weren't in NATO but wanted to stay a neutral country that could defend itself either at home in Ireland or overseas in UN Peacekeeping missions. So big thanks to England for the tanks, Suas Sasana agus Éire . (Up England and Ireland.)

[@rickansell661]

UK CVRTs fell apart as well - hull seams rewelded so many times that there wasn't enough material to do it again. So we gave them new, thicker, hulls and a nice new Diesel engine and carried on.

[@tacomas9602]

@@rickansell661 aluminum is hard to weld from the beginning. Surprised all of them didn't break.

[@benwinter2420]

Yep . . aluminium welding makes the metal alongside very brittle , the reason they prefer to rivet as much as possible when making thin skinned dinghy's . . also it work hardens & becomes brittle quick when flexed = breaks

[@tlw4237]

@@benwinter2420 And suffers badly from electrolytic corrosion where it contacts steel - as any owner of an ageing Defender can testify.

[@maidenaholic]

We created the fume extraction system for when firing the gun though. But they where amazing little beasts 😂😂.. I preferred the Panhard AML90 if I'm honest.. I enjoyed it's firepower over the scorpion and it's better capability

[@millertime4993]

The little snippets that Fletcher drops in are what make these chats so enjoyable.

[@liamgraham691]

And the legendary mustache.

[@gusgone4527]

@@liamgraham691 Not forgetting the pronunciation aluminium. Classic! The man is a living legend.

[@texasPITBULL54]

Ah yes like him being wrong about soldiers calling the m3 stuart a honey. He claims they didn't but yet why do many ww2 british soldiers when recalling the tank call it a honey? Yes the old man is like any old man has his opinions and will stick to them even though you prove them wrong. We call these people fudds.

[@kod8933]

Just to make it more interesting I suppose

[@feroci-tay5708]

His dry humor is pretty good. As an American, I only catch around half of the references in his is joking. It's also a different style from what I'm used to. But I get a good laugh here and there.

[@jamesoffer5019]

"...crewed by a team of naked men.." That was a strange tangent, David!

[@albertofernandez2490]

Lieutenat Gruber's dream vehicle

[@FeedMeMister]

Purely practicality of course.

[@VCYT]

oooh matron.

[@jorenbaplu5100]

How to avoid people complaining about aluminum or aluminium? Just say alumillium.

[@3216100]

al-yeh-mill-yum. got it.

[@davewolfy2906]

We do not complain, it is aluminium. Just stating a fact.

[@danksinatra9146]

@@davewolfy2906 no

[@tacitdionysus3220]

Those who say it's aluminum do so because it is consistent with other metallic elements like Magnesum, Sodum, Calcum, Potassum, Beryllum, Uranum, and so on.

[@Legitpenguins99]

As a american i couldnt card less. We all know what he is talking about so why does it matter?

[@MrAlphapapa]

The 'Action Man' scorpion tank was the must have toy of the 70's.They even used one in an episode of Dr Who. I would have loved to have the real thing.

[@gitfoad8032]

Yeah, they were great. I remember losing it's turret somehow, made it like a toboggan to sit on. How I didn't mangle my fingertips holding on to the hull just above the whizzing tracks pelting down Sugar Hill at 20mph....

[@davidparsons452]

@@gitfoad8032 my brother and I used mine exactly the same

[@MrAlphapapa]

@@gitfoad8032 Ha Ha goes to show the quality of toys back then : )

[@andrewphillips8341]

I used to put my cat in it. He would stick his head out the hatch and loved being driven around!

[@robertwillis4061]

I had one. A friend & me put my baby sister in mine and ran around the garden with her. Eventually she got bored and wanted out, but she had wet her happy and it had swollen up so we couldn't pull her out. The two is us carried it up stairs to mum, who was all for cutting the top to get her out. Dad came home and reached in through the drivers hatch to unpin the happy. With that she was pulled out nappyless. I was SO happy my tank wasn't destroyed.

[@angrylinuxuser]

alumillium - british response to stallinium!

[@MrBigCookieCrumble]

That's just "aluminium" filtered through a moustache

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

No. It IS aluminium. The US screwed it up when a text (can't remember which) made it into American schools with the Aluminum spelling. Just a typo.

[@bimble7240]

@@princeofcupspoc9073 David is saying alumilium, not aluminium.😁

[@evo5dave]

It's just the cheaper version of alubillium

[@duneydan7993]

My father was stationned in west germany in a belgian light armored cavalry squadron. He was commander in Scorpion and Scimitar during the Cold War and as UN blue helmet in Somalia and Yougoslavia. He is now retired after 40 years of duty and I am really proud of him.

[@wideyxyz2271]

I remember being overtaken by 3 scorpions on the A1 lol.....Never forget that!

[@benwinter2420]

The old Landrovers had a rather high reverse gear = beat the retreat

[@agnostic47]

I saw two belting along the M4 on the way to Heathrow during a bomb scare.

[@djgingecoldwell10]

As EX RAF Regiment, I have a great affection for this vehicle, loved whizzing around in them, happy memories , of Catterick, Germany and Cyprus.

[@dalemurray6834]

Was just looking for the first RAF REGT comment, your it Ginge.

[@MrHws5mp]

Nice one. Few snippets: The Scorpion was built of 7039 aluminium alloy rather than the 5083 type used on the M113. This actually WAS lighter than either steel or 5083 for a given level of protection, as well as reducing the requirement for internal stiffeners and frames as David describes. At the time, the only other use of 7039 was the in the hull of the M551 Sheridan, but not the turret, making Scorpion the first AFV to be entirely made of the stuff. Welding techniques had to be carefully researched and developed for the 7039 to make sure it didn't become brittle during manufacture and end up cracking in service. As it was, Scopion 90s, upgunned with a Cockerill 90mm weapons, have suffered turret cracking from the increased recoil anyway. When the spec was being written, worldwide deployment in the world of the mid 1960s was being considered, and so the width of the hull was actually set by the distance between trees in a Malaysian rubber plantation of all things! This in turn set the hull length due to skid-steering ratios, which explains the small size. I've heard the 'fumes' reason for withdrawing the Scorpion, but I've also heard an alternative, or possibly complimentary, explanation, namely that the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty (CFE) defines THREE categories: 'Main Battle Tank (MBT)', Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV)', and 'Heavy Armament Combat Vehicle (HACV)', the latter being a catch-all to cover things like the Scorpion, AMX-10RC etc. The treaty then defines TWO sets of numerical limits, one for MBTs and one for IFV+HACVs. The Scorpion's 76mm gun got it classified as a HACV, but the Scimitar was completely unregulated, in fact it doesn''t even appear in the tables of existing vehicles in the treaty's appendix. This meant that every Scorpion which the UK kept would cost NATO a Bradley, Marder or Warrior, but we could keep as many Scimitars as we liked. Given the choice between Warriors and Scorpions, and given the huge numbers of RARDEN 30mm cannons entering service on the Warrior, the Army decided to standardise on the 30mm across the fleet, and as it happened, a handy solution presented itself. At about the same time, the Fox armoured cars were being withdrawn due to their nasty habit of rolling over, so their RARDEN-equipped turrets (similar but different to the Scimitar) were salvaged and refitted to Scorpion hulls to make Sabres. In some respects the Fox turrets were better than the Scimitar ones (better night-vision), but they did require an awkward adaptor to make them fit the Scorpion's turret ring. NOTE: comment rewritten 29/04/23 to reflect actual research I did after posting it, rather than just 2nd hand info.

[@ptonpc]

Thanks for this. Yes, that is the reason I was told also. This comment should be pinned

[@HanSolo__]

7039 is quite a tough type, especially a tempered one. But, like all of the 7000 series, not easy to weld properly. The reason aluminum makes solid protection is its thickness. Projectile traveling through the armor plate loses energy very fast. The steel of the same weight gave lower protection because there was almost none left when the bullet was at the end of its energy affecting a transfer of this energy into spalling/shrapnels. Sharp and still quite fast while searching for the crewmen's arteries. I think KTO Rosomak (AMV Patria with floating feature) has a mixture of thin HHS steel skin plus 7039 T64 underneth.

[@kilianortmann9979]

@@HanSolo__ As I was told, aluminium has 1/3 the weight and 1/3 the strength of steel. So it won't save you any weight just like that. (higher strength aluminium alloys exist, but the same goes for steel) So weight reduction with aluminium comes down to, can you utilize the additional volume in any useful way, for example to prevent buckling, or present resistance to penetration, etc.

[@Colinpark]

I seen one of the 90mm armed ones at the Malaysian Port Dickson museum (well worth the visit) and you can see the cracking in the hull seams.

[@HanSolo__]

@@kilianortmann9979 This is not so simple like 1/3 of weight 1/3 of thicknes. As I said the projectiles got stuck in the soft thick alu plates. You won't need 3x thicker alu plate only twice because projectile won't go further if its not DU APFSDS. Those vehicles were set against AP 7,62x39. Not even 12,7mm which is faaaar from DU dart containing sabot round. I worked in tools designing and I used to sell rare alloys so I do know what Im talking about. When I wrote about HHS and T64 you should already know why. I guess you dont because you wouldnt say "there are hard aluminium alloys but steels as well". I know the procesess and treatments and I know why they picked aluminium for armor. Yes there is a good reason for it.

[@Sturminfantrist]

brings back memorys, when i was 15 and hiking alone with a Bottle of Boose in the Solling forrest, was 5-6 km deep into the woods when i saw a Tank standing near a loogingroad in front of a tree, the Tank had a crash with the tree and few big Bolts from the first wheel were broken. iknocked on the Tank and 3 belgium /flamish tanker came out, spoke with them and they told me about the crash and that this was the Commanders vehicle, the Commander stopped the next Scimitar or Scorpion took over the Vehicle and left the other 2 crewmen togehter with his own Driver back at the broken Tank but he gave them a bottle of Wiskey. The belgiums invited me into the Turret and we drunk Wikey and my "Jaegermeister" boose, i ask them about this Tank and the told me the Jaguar Engine isnt good/reliable and they didnt really love this small thing, the 2 crewmen from the "other Tank" also told me that they got a Leopard 1 kill the day before near Offensen, then i realised it was the same unit i met a day before in the forrest near my hometown. Later they teached me how to use the optics to get a kill, had a lot of fun in the lil Tank with the crew and the Tank and it was the only time someone explained to me how to Aim with a Tank gun because i served later with 19 in a marinestyle unit in the german Navy. i didnt know how long they stand on this place until a recovery vehicle arrived but they had at least a bit of wiskey left in the bottle to come over all the waiting

[@SomeOne-pd6vm]

Very cool ! Was this during some kind of wargames type thing? I'm not sure what circumstances this thing would have been shooting at a Leopard 1.

[@Sturminfantrist]

@@SomeOne-pd6vm Yes during the autumn Manouvres in lower Saxonys Solling region, we had a lot of Manouvres every year with heavy tanks Centurions, Chieftains , M-48, Leo I, ect. all sorts of tracked and wheeled vehicles, and low flying jets and nearly all Nato nations Brits, belgium, german, Dutch sometimes even USA, was like a warzone back then in our region in the 70s and 80s but a lot of for for us Boys

[@Sturminfantrist]

@@SomeOne-pd6vm The scorpion /scimitar unit was part of the blue team and the Leo I kill was a red (orange) team , red played the part of attacking soviet forces.

[@sheeplord4976]

That sounds utterly surreal to me, but I don't live near any flat hiking trails, so who knows.

[@Sturminfantrist]

​@@sheeplord4976 when you grow up in a region with many manouvres in the 70s such things happend, especially the Brits were extrem child friendly, we got a lot of Sweeties when younger and they let us inside their tanks but also the Belgiums and Dutch, our own army the germans was different they dont let us inside their Trucks and Tanks to play. We had two Jet crashes over the years in the region , one brit Phantom FGR in Weservalley and one USAF F-4D only 10-15km away from my home crased into the woods/forrest near Neuhaus 2 times i was inside a driving moving Tank one time when i was 11 in a FV432 brit APC , was in the Commanders Place when the Driver repositioned the Vehicle on a dirt way, was 3 days the whole day long with them and they even fed me with their rations, i remember my mother was worried that i was the whole days with this soldiers and absent from home also i came every day too late in evening back home, another time at 11 the dutch gave us boys a ride inside a DAF 8 Wheeled APC around the Parking spot, the dutch didnt look like soldiers many Dutch conscripts had extrem long hairs back then . Things were different back then , i saw a US soldier handing over a M-16 Rifle to a 10 or 12 year old boy to show him how to aim and handle the thing. Best story i remember when i was 17 in a AVLB M-60 Chassis Bridgelayer on Osterode railwaystation , 2 AVLB waiting for Railwaytransport, was two days there and with the soldiers, 2nd day on evening and a bit cold and i was waiting for the Driver Rick B. from Utah State to move together to the "The Red heart" Stripteaseclub/Broth... so i knocked on the other AVLB and the soldier, same guy which gave the M-16 to the boy, opened the Drivers hatch, he was inside with a 13 or 14 year old german girl both were in love with each other for the last two days, i ask him about Rick and he said that hes inside city and soon back, i said its cold iam freezing , he went out of the tank and we jumped on the nearby 2nd AVLB, he opend the drivers hatch of the other Tank and showed me how to start the engine and activate the heating to have it warm inside, i jumped on the drivers place and did what he showed me before, i started the tank and the heater runs then i closed the hatch and waited until Rick arrived, then we went "on tour" to the "Red Heart" to have fun and drink. I swear on my Mothers and fathers grave its the truth!

[@peterliekens7459]

I was trained on scorpion and spent 5 years in spartan and striker. They have their pro's and con's. During an international exercice I was being evaluated by a German umpire in a Luchs ( a slick 8 wheeled reconaissance vehicle with drivers front and rear) and I had to make a dash to an OP. I got there in time, the umpire didn't. He estimated my speed at a good 68 mph and he didn't dare following us because of stability reasons ( the Luchs officially only reaches 56 mph anyway). To be honest, at moments like that you put a lot of trust in the tracks and even more so in the skills of your driver and keep your fingers crossed. So speed and maneuvrability? Definitely! Reliability? Muh... Protection? Paper thin aluminum, right... Discrete? ( it's a reconnaissance vehicle after all). Well, it's not big of course but a backfiring engine ( with its exhaust next to you so you are deaf within 10 minutes) and tracks that rattle so much you can hear us coming from at least a mile away didn't give me the impression I was 'sneaking my way in'. Armament? The 76 mm handled more as an artillery piece, the 30mm was rather decent. With the striker you could effectively deliver a good punch up to 2,5 miles depending on training and skills of your pilot. In short, the CVR-T series could play an interesting role on the battlefield due to its speed, maneuvrability and low silhouette and to a certain degree their armament but much would depend on the role they were given but due to their vulnerability the crews have to be extremely good trained in all aspects of their trade.

[@peterliekens7459]

I forgot; the suspension was terrible. I was lucky to have, literally, the best driver of the batallion but a inexperienced or reckless driver could easily kill his crew, or at least their backs, in a few minutes through concussions of all sorts. At 6:10 to 6:16 you can see how the suspension doesn't absorb neither 'shocks' nor undulations in the terrain. The result was that either your vehicle started to get into some reinforced sway ( 6:10-6:13) or 'crashed' into the ground when traversing a ditch or so ( 6:13) and everyone got propelled forward. So you really needed a driver who 'felt' the terrain really good and pro-reacted real fast but at the time 'smooth'. If not, due to the cramped compartment, you always hit several ( very hard) objects. When the driver had to brake hard the whole thing almost flipped over ( and then came back again...).. Yes, I've got lower back problems and some hearing loss and I'm quit certain 5 years of cvr-T did not exactly help. Aaahh, the good old days..:-)

[@daemonfool]

Discrete, no... discreet, perhaps.

[@neilwilson5785]

Thanks mate, interesting stuff.

[@genericpersonx333]

In fairness, I think the main issue is that the designers clearly were focused on making a modern-day M22 Locust, air-transportable to the extreme, so they didn't appreciate that the Scorpion was actually going to be spending most of its time on the ground as part of a ground force. So just like the M22, it really was an impressive tank for its size, but its size was just a bit too small for the battlefield it was going to be on. If they had added just a few centimeters to a few select areas, they'd have been able to fit the turret-slewing mechanisms, a better ventilator, given the driver the room needed, and gave the suspension the room to move. But if they did that, it would have been the better part of a ton of weight added and that much tighter a squeeze in the airplanes. Still, rather a Scorpion than a BDRM!

[@wbertie2604]

@@peterliekens7459 Sounds a bit like the issues with the Vickers series before WW2 which, AFAIK, was due to them being too short for the speed they were going at. An engineer might be able to say ore.

[@jeremykent1671]

My Dad bought me the die cast Scorpion from your gift shop best part of 40 years ago! I remember it came with a little bit of green netting for camouflage. Thanks for a great memory of a day with him and my grandfather who was 8th Army .

[@unixnerd23]

Still have mine :-)

[@akizeta]

@andy morris That's the Striker, IIRC.

[@PieAndChips]

Still have my Dinky Striker!

[@atomicshadowman9143]

Dinky, I had one. Hopefully still in the basement.

[@Thetasigmaalpha]

Ohh the memories. My action man sitting in the top of his tank.

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@robwillmer994]

Well well at 8.24 is yours truly in the drivers seat. Happy Days. OR GLORY LIVING ON ☠

[@leighneil]

Looks really cold mate!

[@neilwilson5785]

The comments section is gold dust - loads of ex-crews of these wonderful vehicles sharing their experiences. Don't miss it!

[@nattybumpo7156]

Fletcher chats are the best ones.

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@dynaflow666]

Toxic fumes? We had these also in our Marder APC, but they were mostly discharged by the crew itself.

[@SvenTviking]

All that sauerkraut!

[@stephenbritton9297]

"Why don't you guys ever talk about Jorg behind his back?" "it's not safe to be behind his back with a gas mask!!"

[@GM4ThePeople]

@Graham Clarke Ausgefahrt gerade in dem Fahr(t)gestell! ;)

[@benwinter2420]

Lucky you's did't eat kangaroo meat over there. . that stuff makes you out gas like a beast

[@brucemacallan6831]

When I was on Chieftain and Challenger 1, live firing, their was a phenomenon we called 'Cordite farts'. Seriously when you had been inhaling the fumes produced when firing the main armament for any length of time, you would release these deadly farts, with a particularly vile sulfurous stench to them.

[@catlee8064]

Ahhh...brings back memories of being on my Scimitar cruising round Hohne ranges....obeying the speed limit of course....

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

We once managed to get 60 mph out of a Spartan on a German autobahn, I remember the shock on the face of a merc driver as we overtook him. We were late for an RV so took a ‘short cut’...

[@catlee8064]

@Kernal Scott 2 Well....it was limited....but if you removed a fuse, behind the engine, the limiter stopped working....my dvr reported over 55 mph!! Yes it had a 30mm Rarden, awesome gun, but very underpowered!

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

@Kernal Scott 2 actually in retrospect it was ******* stupid. If we’d had a track problem at that speed we’d have wiped ourselves out. And anyone else nearby. But we were young, and late, and worried about getting in trouble for that.

[@catlee8064]

@Kernal Scott 2 Yeah when we're young nothing can touch us....up until it goes incredibly wrong!!

[@catlee8064]

@Kernal Scott 2 ...and some damn good memories!

[@townsville69]

Army speak - "unpleasant fumes" Civilian Doctor speak - "toxic gas that causes multiple cancers and early death"

[@Salesman9001]

During basic instructor told us that we should never touch these items without protective gear or spent time indoors without full chemical suit as they were somewhat irritating to skin and fumes would make one nauseated. Chemicals used were listed in my "dangerous chemical guide" book as extremely toxic, highly carcinogenic, environmental hazard and fumes could cause brain damage even after short exposure and death after longer exposure. After that every warning given to me was magnified tenfold in my head.

[@pickeljarsforhillary102]

WWI tankers: First time?

[@harrisonvc9175]

wouldnt a small fan have fixed the probkem

[@Orinslayer]

@@harrisonvc9175 Well we cant have that now can we, too hEaVy.

[@MrDgwphotos]

I'm wondering why they didn't add a bore evacuator to the gun?

[@paulalderton2644]

Spent many a happy hour in a Scorpion in West Germany in the early 80's - fabulous little wagon!

[@andrewdash5477]

I grew up next to the Alvis test track in Baginton, a village about 5 miles from the Holyhead Road factory. Many a time on the way home from school we would see a couple of Scorpions or Scimitars driving along the road to get to the track, only occasionally were they put onto trailers to do the journey. The soundtrack to my childhood was that Jaguar J60 singing as the tanks went around the track, if I hear one at a show now it takes me straight back.

[@kippamip]

A shame they are going to be building over that old test track and works very soon.

[@andrewdash5477]

@@kippamip I happened to be riding past earlier in the summer as they were pulling down the old gatehouse and buildings, sad to see.

[@kippamip]

@@andrewdash5477 yes indeed. A family friend had his business based out of the gatehouse. And I have a few friends who use to work for in transit. Such a shame to see all the heavy industry disappearing from Cov.

[@gilanbarona9814]

Indonesia and the Philippines have used this tank quite well for years. It was quite a nimble and effective vehicle in mountainous jungle terrain. Indonesia had a version that was equipped with a Cockerill 90mm gun. We loved these tanks. Thanks for the video, Sir Fletcher.

[@yoda5565]

I always enjoy David's down to earth presentations and his focus on crew / vehicle interaction. I had the chance to play around in a Skorp' in the early 80's at a NATO Boeselager competition. I am 5' 5" and was 130 lbs. at the time. It was TIGHT inside for me. The manually cranked turret was also an unpleasant surprise. However, it is fast and maneuverable, certainly compared to the M113 I was in at the time (I won't even bring up the M901). I failed to notice at the time and did not see any mention of it in the video, but there's no electric kettle for the crew. How bloody uncivilized. Allons

[@HGZinc]

No Boiling Vessel? I think we've found the *real* reason they withdrew Scorpion from service.

[@minuteman4199]

In Canada we put Scorpion turrets on General Motors of Canada built Swiss Mowag Piranhas, and called the resulting contraption a Cougar, "Armoured Vehicle General Purpose". In the end three of our four armoured regiments were equipped with them. They were deployed into Somalia for sure, and maybe other places as well. As an armoured car probably not a bad piece of kit, and lots of fun to play with by me when I was a teen aged reservist.

[@petethebastard]

Australia used Scorpion turrets on M113 Fire Support Vehicles, to replace the Saladin turrets.

[@MrHws5mp]

IIRC, the Canadians used them and used them until they literally stress-cracked the turrets because the aluminium had work-hardened from all the shooting they'd done.

[@stevestruthers6180]

@@MrHws5mp Well, the Canadians got their money's worth and then some because they were cheaper than buying proper tanks for the reserve forces.

[@ManicEngine]

Scorpions seemed pretty big when I saw them used in the New Zealand Army. Mind you, I was only ten years old at the time

[@ahorsewithnoname643]

Comparable in size to a 109/110 Landrover. Didn't last long in NZ service as they were a bit unstable. A friends driver rolled one resulting in it being sent back to Britain for repairs and on another occasion a driver was burnt when he was trapped in the vehicle after rolling and catching fire.

[@sunnyjim1355]

And Wagon Wheels were as big as dustbin lids when I was ten years old, I swear.

[@benwinter2420]

Oz Norforce used Toyota Landcuisers . . the Landrovers have been an debacle for Australia army reliability wise & sinister in adoption . . as well as for the UK forces in Afghanistan . . which was a crime that killed

[@lawrencecaile]

I was with the 17/21 Lancers when we got 10 Scorpions for trials, I picked up the Colonel and took him to the sidings some 120 miles away, Well the lads unloaded the Scorpions checked them over and set of for camp, right Caile says the Colonel we'll go for a cup of tea first then set off we'll catch them up before they get back to camp, catch them up, I was doing 90 in the landrover and we never caught a glimse of them, on getting to camp Colonel ask at the guardroom if they had seen the scorpions, he was told that they had arrived some 30 minutes ago, we went around to the hangers and found out that they had been overtaking Merc's doing 90 mph, the Colonel went balistic, and got in touch with the powers that be , mentioned how fast these things went and wanted them governed down, they said they couldn't as they were on trials, Colonel did get his way they were pulled down to 50 mph, much to they annoyance of the drivers.

[@HanSolo__]

This is just insane. Before Leopard 2 had its top speed blocked there was an officer that went for a "ride" on a good road. When he was back, he came out all white on his face and said: "Never do this in a tank..." And they reduced the speed to 72km/h. Engineers said it could run more than 90km/h.

[@StaffordMagnus]

I can imagine how much the tracks must have appreciated whizzing along at 90mph!

[@Mjk10957]

Im bloody surprised you got 90 out of a land rover let alone the bloody doors didn't fall of. I also find it amusing when in a land rover going 50 or a above and the bloody doors start rattling all over the place like the flipping thing going to take off 🤣🤣🤣. I have found memories of being in the back of a land rover in Jordan on excerise back in 05. NO seats let me tell you something it not funny sitting in the back of a lanie in a rocky desert with no seats i was flying around in the back of the thing. Could off been worse could of been a old bedford truck or a RB44 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@lawrencecaile]

@@Mjk10957 The Landrover. 89 EN 89 was used by the Colonel and me being a tinkler, had played around with the timing, at one stage I was pulling a trailer doing 80, the Colonel told me to pull over so he could have a go at it, another new experiance for him no doubt

[@sunnyjim1355]

@UK Firearms and air Guns I've only been in an old LandRover once, back in about '82. It wasn't the law to wear seatbelts then.... you can see where this is going. On a sharpish, right-turn corner, the door popped open and I was literally staring down at the tarmac whizzing by when the driver fortunately grabbed me by my shirt and yanked me back into the vehicle! Never again! 😂

[@Boolag01]

I knew a NZ Army Scorpion driver who reckoned it could do over 100kph on a sealed road. In fact they had a reputation for overtaking tour buses driving near Waiouru. They also had a reputation for rolling when cornering on gravel roads at speed. At least a couple commanders were killed in this manner over the years, leading the NZ army to prohibit high speed road transit.

[@mattyallen3396]

Them catch alight didn't help

[@cerbuscankerous3714]

Driving these on opps was definately an art, novice drivers needed close supervision as gear and speed selection on corhers was essential , I saw more than one roll theirs. I was a driver of these for four years and had some amazing experiencs before moving on to command a Sultan.

[@barrymerchant3320]

I served on CVRT and CVRW from 1976 until 1998, with both the Regular Army and the TA, at one time crewed all variants inc Sabre, except Striker and Samson, however did require some Samson aid at times.

[@armoureddiver5262]

Spent several happy years on CVR(T). You mentioned the narrowness of the vehicle several times. I had heard that this came out of experience in Malaya. The width was constrained so the vehicle could go between the trees of a rubber plantation should the need have arisen! A pity you missed out on the fleet, the names of which were one of the cleverest things about the vehicles FV 101 Scorpion 76mm gun vehicle FV 102 Striker Anti Tank Guided Weapon Vehicle (4 + 4 Swingfire missiles) FV 103 Spartan APC (personel carrier) FV 104 Samaritan Ambulance FV 105 Sultan Command Vehicle FV 106 Samson Recovery Vehicle FV 107 Scimitar 30mm Rarden gun vehicle Sabre 30mm (used Scorpion hull with Fox (CVR(W) turret There was also a thing called Streaker which was a Spartan with a flatbed - not brought into service Spartan and Scorpion were also modified to provide OPFOR (Opposing Force Vehicles in BATUS known as Strurgeon and Salamander respectively. vehicle identified surprised

[@garethfairclough8715]

My dad was involved in the trials for these things, back in the late 60s/early 70s. I always did have a soft spot for them, after growing up hearing his stories about them.

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@Real_Claudy_Focan]

Belgium made a good use of these ! Fun, fast, powerful

[@tijotypo5252]

im happy to see you David Fletcher 😊😊

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@nigeh5326]

Action man’s favourite AFV 😊 mine was indestructible unlike my action man back in the 70s

[@kirk130013]

I had the Spartan😀

[@edwinlamont4187]

Yeah, mine survived a parachute drop from the roof of a 2 story house no problems. Pity not all my action men could say the same, a few serious injuries there. The special mission pods made it as well. It was grand to almost all the parachutes opening and them floating to the ground.

[@darkwarrior6465]

Unfortunately one i had the tracks snapped and later on i lost my action man's body 😂

[@Liendoelcm]

I Remember when the Scorpion first came out with BAOR, one of them near Celle, was booked by the Jerry police for speeding! The driver when he got back to his camp and told what had happened, had free beer for the night! Nobody had heard of a tank being done for speeding!

[@reubensandwich9249]

Nobody says "Jaguar" like a Brit. David makes it sound that much more unique.

[@JohnyG29]

How do you say it?

[@jalefkowit]

@@JohnyG29 For Americans, it’s a two-syllable word: “jag-wahr.” Whereas for Brits it’s a three-syllable word: “jag-yoo-wahr.”

[@SuperBobbster]

That's because he's pronouncing it properly 🤣

[@nickdanger3802]

In Mexico it is pronounced YAG-wahr. The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large felid species and the only extant member of the genus Panthera native to the Americas.

[@untruelie2640]

@@nickdanger3802 In German, it's pronounced similarly: "YAH-gu-ahr"

[@stevestruthers6180]

The Canadian Army looked at buying a number of Scorpions as a potential recce vehicle, but never followed through. Testing revealed that the Scorpion didn't fare too well in Canada's harsh winter weather conditions and a number of the Scorpions that were being tested had developed serious engine fires. The other problem was that the Scorpion was deemed too expensive by the government, as it was seeking to cut defence spending. What ended up happening was the army ended up getting the Cougar, a six-wheeled vehicle based on the Swiss-designed MOWAG 6x6 platform that mounted a Scorpion turret. The Cougar was intended to be part of a family of vehicles designated Armoured Vehicle General Purpose (AVGP), where the MOWAG 6 x 6 platform would be used as a common hull to save money and simplify maintenance, and modified as needed to adapt it for specific purposes. The other vehicles in the AVGP family were the Grizzly and the Husky. The Grizzly was a 6 x 6 wheeled armoured personnel carrier that mounted a Cadillac-Gage One-Metre turret equipped with a 50 calibre Browning M2 heavy machine gun and a Browning M1919 machine gun rechambered to accept 7.62mm NATO ammunition. A roof-mounted fan was installed on the turret of the Cougar to assist with clearing out noxious fumes filling the turret after the main gun was fired. Whether the fan was more effective at removing fumes than the stock CVR(T) Scorpion turret is unclear. The Husky was equipped with a small crane and it was employed as an armoured recovery and armoured engineering vehicle. It lacked a turret. The Cougar was primarily used as a reconnaissance vehicle, tank trainer and infantry fire-support vehicle. The government of the day wanted to get out of the tank business entirely and thought it could save money and still retain corporate memory of armoured fighting tactics by buying a vehicle like the Cougar. The Cougar had substantial problems, not least of which was the inherent high centre of gravity that was a natural result of the 6 x 6 hull having a short, narrow wheelbase. The Cougar was also top-heavy due to the Scorpion turret. This conspired with the high centre of gravity to make the vehicle prone to tipping over unless considerable care was taken while driving the vehicle. The Cougar could also over due to the recoil of the main gun if the turret was traversed 90 degrees to the right or left from the centre line. The Cougar was also designed to be amphibious. However, during pre-delivery amphibious trials, a Cougar sank, resulting in the death of one of the testing staff. None of the AVGP vehicles were deployed with Canada's NATO contingent in West Germany prior to 1990. While a number of Cougars and Grizzly APCs were deployed with the UN mission in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the vast majority were used for domestic service. Many Cougars saw extensive service with armoured reserve units throughout Canada, until being retired in the early 2000s.

[@petethebastard]

Australia used Scorpion turrets on M113 Fire Support Vehicles, to replace the Saladin turrets. Great vid, as always!

[@johnfisk811]

The Sabre was a Scorpion with a Fox armoured car turret.

[@HanSolo__]

I still like Fennek more.

[@brucemacallan6831]

The Scimitar was almost identical.

[@Alakazzam09]

FV 101 was one of the first ever Revell kits my dad and I made when I was a kid. I've built a few more since then and have a little platoon of them on my shelf now. Still one of my favorites.

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@barrywood7322]

I was once umpiring on a large exercise when a scimitar took out fifteen m60s the yanks were screaming blue murder that a little thing like that couldn’t take a tank out until my commander pointed out all the crews were standing on the back decks and were shot😂😂😂

[@zxbzxbzxb1]

Cunning :D

[@brucemacallan6831]

In my experience the fumes weren't that much of a problem as long as you weren't closed down. One thing we used to do when live firing was to loosen the headlights and turn them 180 deg otherwise the blast from the MA would shatter the class/bulb. I remember once when we were firing flare rounds for a Saber Sqn on a night shoot, - Gun was almost full elevation, so to get a better view, I was looking out of the turret and depressing the firing switch with my boot. Lol.

[@Player_Review]

history is such a pleasure we indulge in. kudos to the tank museum for preserving it.

[@mozki1]

The Sabre had the 30mm turret removed from the FV 721 CVR(W) Fox armoured car with a raised turret ring. This was to make up for the squat height of the repurposed Fox turret. The chassis of the Fox was then "cast" and disposed off. Whereas the Sabre was modified along with some of the CVR(T) range by the fitting of a Perkins diesel engine. As a part of the MOD's single fuel concept. Preferred driving the Jaguar J60 versions...the look on Joe Public faces as you drive past them in the fast lane....in a "Tank" ..priceless

[@MrHws5mp]

The main reason for the adaptor ring was the difference in turret ring sizes. Off the top of my head, the Fox was 1.2m and the Scorpion was 1.35(ish).

[@1701enter]

Love it well done David

[@paulkirkland3263]

As interesting, informative and entertaining as always. The Tank Museum is a gem.

[@michaelporzio7384]

10:46 I was always taught you never do a flying start on a slack tow cable (physics and such) seems like a very good way to snap a tow cable and send the ends flying about so they can maim whoever is in their path. Firstly you take up the slack then pull slowly and gradually pick up speed. Also, you never stand near the cable when it is under tension.

[@leighneil]

You were taught right.

[@davedickinson822]

They were using the kinetic tow ropes (like snatch straps) supplied in the CES. Basically plaited nylon that acted like bungee cord.

[@tutnallman]

kinetic energy rope.

[@Bgog86411]

I love these things. My favourite tank series.

[@vonsopas]

Thanks for sharing this videos. Keep up the good work and hopefully I'll be able to visit your museum soon.

[@90nutters]

One of the best tank chats yet. I absolutely loved it and have learnt loads!

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@colinthistlethwaite5026]

Takes me back to Castlemartin and the Para Sqn RAC who were issued with the CVR [T] Scorpion and the Mk 5 Ferret armed with Swingfire ATGW

[@sigurdivar4227]

This is quite interesting. Wouldn't mind a series om movies about the whole family of vehicles, and the Sabre aswell. Thank you for this movie!

[@mkms685]

The Armed Forces of the Philippines acquired and used these things in the late 80's up until now. But it was too costly and hard to maintain since the parts were so hard to reach and utterly expensive, so only a few of these survived and most of the surviving units got the engines replaced.

[@francistercero7396]

Either that or the turrets got cannibalized and put on M113's I think

[@hsc894]

@@francistercero7396 It did, and looks very odd-looking seeing the turret of a Scorpion, and the chassis of an M113. A Frankenstein's monster of the Phil. Army, if you will.

[@russwoodward8251]

A fascinating vehicle. Thank you David Fletcher.

[@Kettenhund31]

I remember one exercise in Germany back in the 1970s when I was a Military Policeman (RMP): a bemused German copper complained to us that the British panzers were breaking the speed limit! Poor bloke couldn't understand how this was possible!

[@ahorsewithnoname643]

We would race traffic on the highway past our camp only we would stay off the road.

[@alistairsamson299]

Especially if the bloody driver had pulled the speed limiting fuse

[@Kettenhund31]

@Rod 1984 Really?

[@mikesadillan5834]

The worst part of 2020 was the absence of Mr. Fletcher. Good to see him back.

[@sunnyjim1355]

And good to see he's still wearing the same top, trousers and shoes. He's a national treasure is our David... the Fred Dibhan of tanks, proper blokes.

[@garrywatters1140]

Ex R.E.M.E vm who loved working on and driving all the variants of CVRT back in the 80's and 90's.

[@bellakaldera3305]

One of these was featured at the Military Timeline Expo event that was held at the Orange airport in Massachusetts, very cool. I appreciate getting more background on this vehicle, having encountered it at the event.

[@Wildschwein_Jaeger]

"Nigil why didn't you bring the propeller?" "Well sir, I thought our odd chance of crossing a river was slim."

[@Temp0raryName]

"Roger did remember though. Trouble is that it fell off the back, because there were no stowage boxes for it."

[@Wildschwein_Jaeger]

"Well at least were fast and agile sir" "About that Nigil...would you be as so kind to start slewing the gun the other way round? That way when the enemy attacks, tomorrow, they will be in our sights, almost, as we retrea... I mean dash to cover."

[@Wildschwein_Jaeger]

"Sir the men are a bit overcome by the fumes, permission to take a smoke break." "Granted."

[@siafilia3935]

My country still uses this light tank. I even saw them on the highway a year ago! They might still be effective in the jungles of Borneo. Which explains why it is still in use.

[@Broadshore]

Such a cool little Light Tank. One of my Favorites.

[@diquadhumungersaur492]

my neighbour as a kid,1970s/80s, was a captain in the 22nd tanks.. he brought a scorpion and a fox troop carrier to our high school in Ipswich and parked em on the sports field for the whole school to inspect and drool over.. still love tanks to this day

[@krisguntner4805]

One of my favorite armored vehicles of all time.

[@andrewaarons5058]

marvelous you keep us well informed

[@ShaneBaker]

Thanks. Fascinating as always.

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@benmoore8537]

Love the content Tank Museum. Please do a tank chat on the SDKFZ-234, this is a remarkable vehicle and the most advanced armoured car of WW2.

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , Mr Fletcher .

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@boswood]

A most interesting, twelve minute tale. Thank you.

[@Electronzap]

Looks like really fun vehicles to drive around!

[@philkennedy342]

Thanks for that really enjoyable insight into there design and use many thanks for sharing 👍👍👍

[@coartramey7382]

The ideal tanker is a short, thin, naked man with rubber bones and chrome lungs.

[@fastmongrel]

Dont forget the three arms each arm having two elbows.

[@thomaswilliams2253]

And a fantastic mustache...

[@drtyboy]

I see Mr Fletcher in a video, and hit like before the play button!!

[@dawoudabdulaziz9920]

Early for Tank Chats. Life is good.

[@kippamip]

I loved doing my CVRT conversion before we deployed to Kosovo. I was QRH and we was deploying without CR2 so I was lucky to get these added to my FMT. Scorpion had just be phased out as I reached my unit in 2001, however we had scimitar and spartan. These we're great vehicles and excellent battlefield taxis. I reckon the MOD made a big boo boo getting rid of these. I don't see ajax filling their boot's.

[@Musketeer009]

With all those TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) I think you actally worked for IBM (International Business Machines). Can you translate please?

[@kippamip]

@@Musketeer009 🤣🤣🤣 most thing's are abbreviated in the military. An FMT is basically a military driving licence. And QRH stands for The Queen's Royal Hussars.

[@tisFrancesfault]

Iirc, Ajax was primarily trialed by RAC challenger crews, and not those who actually conduct recci. The cynic would suggest it was a was for the army to side step critics.

[@Musketeer009]

@@kippamip Thank you sir. 👍

[@kippamip]

@@tisFrancesfault I don't think ajax was intended as a direct replacement for CVRT but having said that it would be the smallest tracked vehicle in the arsenal, although it is touted as a medium platform. By the looks of things the recce regs will be sticking with wheeled platforms for a while.

[@john-zm8uc]

I crewed both the Scorpion and Scimitar back in the late 80's. Fun fact your could fit several cans of larger down the barrel of a Scorpion and one in each smoke discharger :)

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@Lasenggo]

We had Scorpions here in the Philippines. The vehicles have been retired but turrets are still in use, they were mated by Elbit to M113A2 hulls.

[@thecatwithatophat4069]

I'd like to thank the Canadian Armed Forces for giving me the chance to get inside a Scorpion. I can't imagine what its like on the battlefield but I had a heck of a time getting in and out while it was sitting still in a parking lot.

[@kikufutaba1194]

It is quite an attractive looking vehicle. Thank you for the review and presentation

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@LeadTechnicianIII]

Thank you so much!

[@Steve-bo6ht]

I'll always remember my eldest brother passing his tracked licence at Catterick 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers 1985 on the Scorpion with the Jaguar six cylinder petrol engine and said the instructor at the time told him to keep open it up on the A roads and managed speeds of 85 mph.

[@murrayking7770]

Great video, I have a Spartan in my garage and it’s a fantastic little machine, but of a tight fit though to get in and out!

[@michaelguthrie7315]

Happy days,60 mph in reverse on the Hohne range road,because we could( in a Scimitar)

[@sdslofi1107]

My little brother got one sent over from the UK as a Christmas gift, and my god even as a toy it's huge

[@DSzaks]

Wow, that's amazing they got their hands on the prototype vehicle. I can hardly believe it still exists.

[@Daemascus]

Clip-on drive system just sounds like an outboard motor strapped to the back

[@Hybris51129]

Jeremy Clarkson must have had a hand in that design choice as we saw with his "Toyboata" years later.

[@dposcuro]

No, even worse: Originally, the FV100 series had much larger track guards around the front drive sprockets, that semi-enclosed the sprocket, with a hole near the middle. From what I can gather, is that you would have these auxiliary boxes that would bolt onto the drive sprocket and track guard, in which you would have a gear box, that drove a propeller.

[@umt1cardiff]

@@dposcuro problem was the guards were made from fiberglass and didnt last the first exercise

[@sidneyhall4076]

I was in recce troop 4/7 RDG loved the vehicle, loved firing the 76mm, overall a fun vehicle to be in, the driver had the best seat, commander and gunners were a bit cramped, storage was the pits, but it had a heater (if it worked)

[@sauleverett1307]

in our camp in Germany we used to take our Spartans on a "road test" every week. That was until the RSM found out we were racing each other up the autobahn to the first junction and back (a box of herforder beer bought by the loser). Word got back that brits in fast moving tanks were playing chicken by swerving in and out of the bust stops to make the locals flee in fright at what looked like a run away tank.

[@siquq]

Great video!

[@alanfaulkner6329]

Fabulous fleet of vehicles.

[@kreuzrittergottes9336]

I see Fletcher and tank mesuem, I click.

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@julienpillonca3228]

Tank you very much

[@1moderntalking1]

Outstanding

[@Lets_get_wealthy]

Awesome video

[@niceuneazy9965]

More fletch please he makes my day!! 😂

[@m3cvfm]

When i worked at 18 Command Workshop ,i worked in the Light Tank Shop . It was many years ago now.

[@johnstevens1575]

I think these are brilliant light tanks, especially when upgunned with the Cockerill 90mm. The British have produced some very innovative tanks since Mother.

[@wbertie2604]

I used to get woken up at 9am on Sunday mornings as these went out for a spin from the local army barracks and then past the house I lived in. It was more a case of being shaken out of bed than being woken up. One of them had an accident once and took out the bus stop.

[@leonh67]

👍👍👍👍 I have a new Museum Of London video. Check out my new travel vlog channel, please 😉 Thanks

[@matthewbrooker]

Love it. It's close relative, Scimitar, still used in BATUS.

[@davewolfy2906]

The black bloke - the one not wearing a tie. Someone who actually does something.