Vickers MK.4 Valiant | The Chieftain Tank Replacement?

The final decades of the Cold War saw a generational change in Western tanks as they faced off against the armies of the Warsaw Pact across Central Europe. The Soviet-led forces were dominated by tanks such as the T-55, T-72 and variants of both, and there were continuing concerns over even newer Soviet tanks with improved armor and firepower. The Western tank armies of NATO were dominated by an older generation of tanks in a long and slow process of improvement and replacement: the British wanted a replacement for the Chieftain, the Americans were replacing the aged M60 with the new M1 Abrams, and the Germans were replacing the Leopard I with the Leopard II. Much of that Western generational change from tanks based on steel armour had come about as a result of the British development of a new type of armor, announced in June 1976 as ‘Chobham’. A whole new level of protection for Western tanks promised to provide a true qualitative edge in protection over their Soviet contemporaries. With this new armor, and a need for a replacement for Chieftain urgently required, there was a clear opportunity for a large and lucrative contract for a new main battle tank for the UK, and potentially for export.
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Article: tanks-encyclopedia.com/vicker...
Sources:
Ground Defence International #69. November 1980
Ground Defence International #70. December 1980
Janes. (1985). Arms and Artillery. Janes Defence Group
Ogorkiewicz, R. (1983). Vickers Valiant. Armor Magazine March-April 1983
Lobitz, F. (2009). Kampfpanzer Leopard 2. Tankograd Publishing, Germany
Foss, C. & McKenzie, P. (1988). The Vickers Tanks. PSL.
BAE. (2012). The Tank Factory.
American Patent US4638713A, Thermal sleeve for gun barrels. Filed 25th November 1985, granted 27th January 1987
Pengelley, R. (1980). The Vickers Valiant Main Battle Tank. International Defense Review
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An article by Andrew Hills
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Edited by Big Turn
Sound edited by Gabethetanker

[@robbo3353]

The accident at Larkhill happened in January 1983 before it went on display around the gulf with the British army "Floater 83"in February. It was taken to 18 command workshops Bovington where we removed the turret and repaired the elevation gearbox and sight. There was no major damage to the hull as we did those two extended trials that year free of problems apart from the final drive failure. Yes I was on that mini bus in Bahrain when the local driver delivered us as a moving target!

[@georgesabitbol2137]

So if the accident at Larkhill didn't sealed its fate. Why was its marketing effort cancelled two years later (July 1985) ? There were even plans to upgrade the Valiant to the Valiant 2 standard (hydrogas suspension + MTU 1200 hp engine).

[@robbo3353]

@@georgesabitbol2137 Hi, although it performed well I think it was realized that a better hull was needed to compliment the cutting edge turret. That resulted in the German Leopard 2 hull been utilized with the Valiant turret and it became the MK7, the British army rejected it in favour of Challenger 2.

[@georgesabitbol2137]

@@robbo3353 Many thanks for your detailed information. It's a shame that they opted for a Leo 2 chassis, the Valiant lighter aluminium chassis would have been a great asset when you see how heavy are the current MBTs. What happened to the aluminium chassis ? Scrapped ? And the early and Universal turrets ?

[@robbo3353]

@@georgesabitbol2137 The hull was stripped and probably scrapped along with the early turret, i'm sure the uni turret went onto the MK7. I left that project to go on MK3 trials in Thailand then commissioning in Nigeria so never saw it again. Happy Days

[@anselmdanker9519]

Thank you for covering this tank design.😀Great work.

[@rosiehawtrey]

Never heard of it. Thanks for the info.

[@peterbreakspear1890]

Very interesting, I am even in two of the pictures. Was I ever that young?

[@DEATH-THE-GOAT]

20 sec in - liked, subscribed and checked the bell

[@ThroneOfBhaal]

Vickers already had a plane called the Valiant... Must really love that name hahaha

[@georgesabitbol2137]

When did the incident in Larkhill occurred ?

[@robbo3353]

January 1983 the army attempted to load it on a side slope in the rain!

[@edwardvincentbriones5062]

can you do a voiced article on excelsior, a rare british world war ii tank?

[@TanksEncyclopediaYT]

Hello Edward, We have a full article on the thing, but we do not currently plan to voice it: tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/gb/a33-assault-tank However, in order to help us with illustrating and publishing, please do consider donating through Patreon or Paypal. www.patreon.com/tankartfund Paypal.me/tankartfund

[@dylanmilne6683]

I appreciate talking up the British tank industry, however, even by the 80's Vickers was closer to having half a century of tank building knowledge than they were close to having a whole century.

[@timsweet3224]

good lad i have been lookin for info on this tank because i first saw it in a book i stole from w h smith in the 9Ts.

[@johnsessions1389]

I use to steal my tank books from the local library when i was a kid lol

[@colderwar]

@Marshall Eddie You are right, spammer, no-one does give a shit

[@widescreennavel]

Image at 22:30 is obviously the back of a pinball game. C'mon, guys!

[@1moderntalking1]

Thick Chobham armour is now not even sufficient .

[@INWMI]

clasic 79-80s the optics looks like the mbt70 ones

[@thenumbere1045]

Newcastle I don't liv far from there

[@circleofsorrow4583]

From what I've seen in my life, the best defence against a world power is asymmetric warfare. Maybe an emphasis on infantry with SAM and AT gear would be far more efficient than 40 tonnes of target. Give some of the infantry dirt bikes or horses for getting into position quickly and perhaps teach some kids how to fly cheap drones with attached explosives into camps and call it a day.

[@captainfactoid3867]

I will say, the Challenger does look much better than its Vicker’s rival

[@georgesabitbol2137]

The Valiant was better than the Challenger 1 in the areas of : - mobility : lighter, better power-to-weight ratio - protection : the glacis layout of the Valiant was much better shaped than the one of the Challenger 1 & 2 - ergonomics : the Valiant was easier to drive (three vision blocks and handlebar instead of old-fashioned steering levers) - firepower : better optics for the commander + more sophisticated FCS.

[@edfrancis712]

@@georgesabitbol2137 aye but worse field of view in ATDU reports

[@georgesabitbol2137]

@@edfrancis712 Even with the 3 vision periscopes ? Could you share these reports on your blog ?

[@REgamesplayer]

@@georgesabitbol2137 I would not say that it was much better in mobility or protection. The only version in which it was mobile was made out of aluminium which is trash at providing protection.

[@edfrancis712]

@@georgesabitbol2137 sure u got FB georges

[@Bod8998]

Chobham pronounced chob-oom

[@fizzyb00t]

Chobham is pronounced /'tʃɒb əm/, not /tʃɒb hæm/

[@jelkel25]

I'm not sure he wasn't trolling, he seemed to over pronounce the given section of said word to a great degree. It's only a shame the stuff wasn't made in Durham!

[@tombrydson781]

It’s pronounced cobham

[@chudthug]

Cone of arc is dead

[@Mungobohne1]

cone of arc is soo bad and whiney compared to them

[@chudthug]

@@Mungobohne1 True. He always struck me as a childish weeb who happened to like tanks