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Chieftain Mk 3

2019-05-17T15:06:09Z

U4392286: Many readability edits

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_chieftain_mk_3}}
{{About
| about = British medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other uses
| link = Chieftain (Family)
}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_ChieftainMk3.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.57 "Battle March"]] and established the series of end-game ground vehicle for the British tree. The Chieftain imposes a formidable force of reckoning on the battlefield with its heavily sloped armour and powerful [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm armament]].

The Chieftain series maintains the traditional UK lower front plate weak spot and strong turret armour of the Centurion series of tanks while increasing the firepower. Top speed increases from the Centurion line, but overall mobility is comparably worse.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

A major improvement from previous British mediums is the Chieftain's thick, sloped armour. Reaching a compound-angled 152 mm on the turret and a respectable 86 mm at 71° on the upper front hull, the Chieftain can actually resist point-blank shots from some cannons it will face at 8.3. In an up-tier, however, most of these benefits have less impact. This tank should avoid exposing its hull as certain tanks at (and most above) 8.3 can penetrate the hull with an APFSDS shot, knocking out the entire crew or detonating an ammo rack. The armour around the gun breach leaves something to be desired. Lower-rank APDS rounds (e.g. a T-54/55's APDS) can penetrate the right turret face at closer ranges, incapacitating the gunner and commander. The lower glacis is 76 mm at 45°, leading to a significant disadvantage in close-range engagements. Even 7.3 tanks (and many below 7.3) will always penetrate the lower glacis. The Chieftain also has thin side armour, meaning that the tank is vulnerable to flank attacks. The thin side armour also means angling the hull is not effective. A Chieftain should remain hull down (at the very least covering the lower frontal plate) to best take advantage of its armour profile.

'''Armour type:'''

* Cast homogeneous armour (Hull front, Turret)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull sides, Hull rear, Hull roof, Turret roof)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 70-127 mm (43-79°) ''Front glacis'' 76.2 mm (43-44°) ''Lower glacis'' || 88-220 (8-30°) + 13 mm ''Front Top'' 50 mm (1-31°) ''Center Top'' 37 mm (30°) + 13 mm ''Rear Top'' 37 (10°) + 13 mm ''Bottom'' || 37 mm (1-7°) || 13-28 mm
|-
| Turret || 125-250 mm (2-81°) ''Turret front'' 100-220 mm (1-53°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 45-196 mm (1-65°) || 45 mm (1°) || 50.8 mm ''Front'' 25 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 150 mm || 25 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Armour thickness throughout the vehicle is very complex and the tank relies more on sloping thickness to enhance its effective armour.
* The metal boxes on the sides of the turret and hull are 13 mm of structural steel.

=== Mobility ===

The Chieftain Mk 3 suffers from poor horsepower to tonne ratio. It is slow to reach its top speed of 41 km/h on almost any surface and will turn very slowly even when all mobility modules are researched. The Chieftain especially struggles uphill and when pivoting. It has decent reverse speed (~9.4 km/h, compared to the 13 km/h reverse speed of tanks on the Centurion chassis).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 54.4 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 45 (AB)
|-
|41 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|1,023
|1,259
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|584
|660
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|18.80
|23.14
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|10.73
|12.13
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)}}

The Chieftain's 120 mm gun has access to APDS and HESH when stock, with no researchable ammunition. The APDS shell has a very good slope modifier compared to other APDS and will penetrate essentially any vehicle from 8.3 to 9.3, but has relatively weak post-penetration effects. HESH behaves similar to other HESH shells in the game and is a more situational round. The cannon's reload rate is much faster than average for its calibre at its BR (7.5 seconds with a fully-trained crew).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm L11]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 53 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || Two-plane
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 13.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 13.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 9.70 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 320 || 315 || 305 || 294 || 280 || 270
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 1370 || 7.6 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,100 || +0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| L34 || 670 || 17.0 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks_ChieftainMk3.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|Ammo racks of the Chieftain Mk.3.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''53''' ||  ''(+)''||  ''(+)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}

Turret empty: 30 ''(+23)''

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|L21A1 (12.7 mm)|L37A1 (7.62 mm)|L8A1 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L21A1 (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm L21A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount (Ranging)''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 588 (3) || 300 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L37A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L37A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (100) || 650 || -10°/+50° || ±120°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 6,000 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==


Fundamental advantages of Chieftain Mk 3 are its fast fire rate and high penetration. Few vehicles within its BR range can resist the Chieftain's firepower, with some exceptions possibly being a well-positioned [[T95|T95]] or [[Maus|Maus]]. Because the 120 mm APDS shells have such high penetration, one should aim for critical internal modules rather than armour weakpoints. This requires good knowledge of the enemy tanks. You should know where shells, fuel tanks, and crew reside in the vehicles you'll face.

'''Defensively:''' 
The Chieftain's gun is very accurate when equipped with all gun modules -- move to a location overlooking enemy movements from long range. Maintain a hull-down position whenever possible to hide your weaker hull. Consider placing camouflage bushes on your turret to force your enemy to spend more time aiming.

'''Offensively:''' 
The Chieftain's common enemies are the German Leopard 1 tanks and Russian T-54s. Aim for the hull to either knock out the enemy crew or detonate the hull aumminition stowage. Don’t hesitate to try this on IS-3/4 or T-10M as your gun still has sufficient penetration.
Other tanks can be easily knocked out or disabled by aiming for crew members. Don't forget that reload time is your best friend.
While maneuvering, beware to the width of Chieftain; it's very easy to make the mistake of exposing weak areas of the hull.

===Modules===
The first upgrades to head for are ''Parts'' and ''FPE'' for increased survivability. Then prioritize mobility upgrades (the Chieftain needs all the mobility it can get) and gun accuracy upgrades (to further enhance its accurate fire).

*Spare parts
*Extinguishers FPE
*Tracks (Critical for hull rotation speed. In the Chieftain, you'll need every little degree of speed)
*Adjustment shooting
*Elevation mechanism
*Horizontal drive
*Other mobility upgrades as needed

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* Turret armour strong enough to resist APDS, HEATFS and even some APDSFS shells
* Upper frontal plate is heavily sloped, providing adequate protection against enemies of the same rank
* Excellent reload time for a 120 mm (7.5-9.5 seconds)
* Access to 320 mm penetrating APDS shells and powerful HESH shells immediately
* 10 degrees of gun depression
* Has access to a dual plane stabiliser
* Includes an additional range finding .50 calibre machine gun that can be bound to a separate key
* Unlike other British tanks, it has a respectable reverse speed

'''Cons:'''

* Weak hull armour overall
* Lower frontal plate is very poorly armoured and has an ammo rack behind it
* Very weak side and rear armour
* Ammo rack everywhere
* Small ammo variety (APDS or HESH only) means that it struggles with modern composite armour
* APDS deals minimal, punctual damage
* Slowest of all MBTs

== History ==


===Concept===
The idea of a "universal tank" began in Britain in 1944 when Montgomery and other influential people began advocating for a more standardized tank to replace the cruiser and infantry tank classes used on the field. Efforts did not start until after World War II under the General Staff designation A45, with development starting just as the new cruiser tank [[Centurion Mk 3|Centurion]] started to enter military service. The A45 was cancelled in 1948 after development troubles and its inability to be used as a "universal" platform. Ironically, the Centurion proved to be a better "universal tank" platform than the A45.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Development===
The [[Centurion Mk 10|Centurion]] tank series was very successful in British and its allies' service, but the development of new Soviet armour such as the [[IS-3]] and [[T-54 (1951)|T-54/55]] caused the British tank arms race to take another leap forward. Development on the Centurion's successor began in 1951 under the name ''Medium Gun Tank No. 2''. The project's priority was gun and armour, but with mobility to be equal to the Centurion's and weight of fewer than 45 tons. The weight limit caused a program known as the Concept Study Programme to commence in order to find ways to keep the tank under that weight limit yet meet all the armour and firepower specifications. One of the concepts that came out was the usage of bagged charges, which was already in use on naval ships but was a new concept for tank ammunition. Thus, a gun using the bagged charge propellant system began development in 1954, along with a new specification by General Staff that the Medium Gun Tank No.2, now known as ''FV4201'', uses a conventional four crew tank with a turret and a better gun and armour than the Centurion. Though the [[Conqueror|Conqueror heavy tank]] was one such response to the firepower requirement, limited production cut that to only 200 units built.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

The biggest bump to the firepower of the FV4201 was the recommendation of a 120 mm calibre tank cannon. Though the Conqueror used a 120 mm, the new one would incorporate more innovative features such as the bagged charges. Other design features added was the usage of a Rolls-Royce V8 engine, an auxiliary engine, an automatic gearbox, and a reclining seat for the driver. The reclining seat was a very new feature in tank design as it reduced the vehicle's hull height and thus gave it a lower profile. Leyland Motors was assigned to be the main designer for the tank despite their commitment to the Centurion production lines. The manufacturing process of the tank was decided to be cast rather than welded. In 1957, several specifications added to the FV4201 impeded its attempt to fit in the specifications. A bigger turret was designed and it mounted IR equipment for night fighting. Troops requested more frontal and turret side armour, which along with the turret change caused an increase in the tank's overall weight. A controversial decision was also made in 1957 by NATO that tanks should have multi-fuel engines. The FV4201 installed a new engine conforming to these standards in 1958, a German engine derived from a Junkers Jumo aviation engine. This extended development time since the engine compartment had to be redesigned to fit the engine, raising the total tank weight to 50 tons. The engine, designated the L60, was received with a mixed reception by the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) and other users due to its novel features. Britain stayed as the only user of a multi-fuel engine in the Cold War as many other nations found the concept impractical and abandoned it.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

As the FV4201 finalized its prototype stages, General Staff sent a revised specification for it. The tank was to have the firepower of the Conqueror with the mobility of the Centurion, an armour that maximizes the protection-weight ratio, a weight limit at 45 ton with a top speed of 26 mph and an operating range of 300 miles. The first wooden prototype was made in March 1959, with full prototypes ordered in June 1959 for troop trials. Vickers-Armstrong and Royal Ordnance Factory shared the manufacturing process and the first prototypes were built in January 1960. The first two prototype FV4201 was trialled in Germany alongside their new [[Leopard I|Leopard 1]]. The greatest issue with the FV4201 was the engine, which caused many failures due to vibration, a result of the flawed multi-fuel concept. Trials were delayed due to lack of parts to fix broken pieces and redesigns were requested to fix problems. After a lengthy trial period in 1962, the FV4201, now named the '''Chieftain''', was sent to the operational unit in Germany for service and combat trials. The Chieftain was finally accepted for service in 1st May 1963, despite the many faults in the design. The first deliveries of the improved and redesigned Chieftains began in mid-1965. These were the ''Chieftain Mk.1's'', which further revealed problems with the horsepower that the ''Mk.2'' was designed and sent in April 1966. The '''Chieftain Mk.3''' rolled out of the production lines in September 1969, it now weighed 53 tons and the L60 engine was producing 650 hp, still underpowered for the weight. Engine failures were still frequent and left the Chieftain with a sour note until the ''Mk.5'' variant fixed these pressing issues with a new engine and NBC protection. The Mk.5 would be the main variant of the Chieftain in British service. During its production life from 1965 to 1985, a total of 2,265 Chieftains would be built by Britain, with about 1,000 used by the British Army.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Service===
The first British units to receive the Chieftains was the 1st and 5th Royal Tank Regiments back during the trials. The Chieftain, despite its initial engine flaws, proved to be combat-proof and could be upgraded to fit new requirements. Some of these upgrades were the addition of composite add-on armour to fight off new anti-tank technology such as the HEAT rounds. The Chieftain earned the title "most formidable tank in the world" during the 1960's Cold War period and also redefined the specifications of a "main battle tank". Its success is due to its novel main gun and heavily sloped armour, as well as satisfactory mobility and speeds able to compete with the Leopard 1. The Chieftain stayed in use by the British Army On the Rhine on the German border with the Warsaw Pact, which caused the Soviets to in turn station their best tanks such as their T-64's against the Chieftains. The British retained the Chieftains all the way until 1995 when it was replaced by the Challenger I.

The Chieftain was also successful in the export market, primarily in the Middle East to the hands of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman. Another user of the Chieftain was Israel, with Britain initially agreeing to help set up production for locally produced Chieftains. Two Chieftains were sent for trials among the Israeli Defense Force in 1967. After two years of trials and deliberation for the acquirement of the Chieftains, Britain ultimately refused to offer the Israelis the Chieftain for political reasons. The Israeli trials benefit Britain with data on desert combat with the Chieftain, however, and the refusal did jump start Israel's tank program that would become the ''Merkava''.

Despite that, sales to the Middle East soared, with Iran being the major buyer of the Chieftains with at least 887 of mostly the MK3 and MK5 variants sent to them before their revolution in 1979. The Chieftain saw prolonged combat in the Middle East in the Iran-Iraq War, including Operation Nasr which was the largest tank vs. tank battle of the war where the Iranian Chieftains and [[M60A1 (AOS)|M60A1 Pattons]] fought against the Iraqi [[T-62]]s. After that war, the Chieftain in Kuwait then saw combat fighting the Iraqis during their invasion in 1990. Kuwait eventually replaced their Chieftains with the Yugoslavian M-84 tanks, which are a variant of the Soviet T-72s.

The Chieftain is still in service Iran, Jordan, and Oman in varying numbers, about 100 in Iran, 350 in Jordan, and 27 in Oman. The Chieftains underwent local upgrades to keep them up to date against a modern threat, which resulted in the Iran ''Mobarez'' Chieftain upgrade.

== Media ==
''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.''

===Videos===
{{Youtube-gallery|W4R1fPzk-tU|Review: Chieftain Mk. III War Thunder Video Tutorials |XlNDQ2PVPpI|The Chieftain at Bovington|D3OF9IvtHLk|Bovington Tank Museum Tank Chats: Chieftain}}

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/885/ [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> The Chieftain tank: A very British warlord!] 

{{Britain medium tanks}}
<references />

Chieftain Mk 3

2019-05-13T19:33:23Z

U4392286: Trying to change these terribly worded sections to something decent, but got tired and quit halfway through.

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_chieftain_mk_3}}
{{Notice|''This page is about the medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''. For other uses, see [[Chieftain (Disambiguation)]]''}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_ChieftainMk3.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.57 "Battle March"]] and established the series of end-game ground vehicle for the British tree. The Chieftain imposes a formidable force of reckoning on the battlefield with its heavily sloped armour and powerful [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm armament]].

The Cheiftain series maintains the traditional UK lower front plate weak spot and strong turret armour of the Centurion series of tanks while increasing the firepower. Top speed increases from the Centurion line, but overall mobility is comparably worse.

'''Mobility:''' 
The Chieftain Mk.3 suffers from poor a horsepower to tonne ratio. It is slow to reach its top speed of 41 km/h on almost any surface and will turn very slowly even when all mobility modules are researched. The Chieftain especially struggles up hill and when pivoting. It has a decent reverse speed (~9.4 km/h, compared to the 13 km/h reverse speed of tanks on the Centurion chassis).

'''Armour:''' 
A major improvement from previous British mediums is the Chieftain's thick, sloped armour. Reaching a compound-angled 152 mm on the turret and a respectable 86 mm at 71° on the upper front hull, the Chieftain can actually resist point-blank shots from some cannons it will face at 8.3. In an uptier, however, most of these benefits have less impact. This tank should avoid exposing its hull as certain tanks at (and most above) 8.3 can penetrate the hull with an APFSDS shot, knocking out the entire crew or detonating an ammo rack. Armour around the gun breach leaves something to be desired. Lower-tier APDS rounds (e.g. a T-54/55's APDS) can penetrate the right turret face at closer ranges, killing the gunner and commander. The lower glacis is 76 mm at 45°, leading to a significant disadvantage in close-range engagements. Even 7.3 tanks (and many below 7.3) will always penetrate the lower glacis. The Chieftain also has thin side armour, meaning that the tank is vulnerable to flank attacks. The thin side armour also means angling the hull is not effective. A Chieftain should remain hull down (at the very least covering the lower frontal plate) to best take advantage of its armor profile.

'''Firepower:''' 
The Chieftain's 120 mm gun has access to APDS and HESH when stock, with no researchable ammunition. The APDS shell has a very good slope modifier compared to other APDS and will penetrate essentially any vehicle from 8.3 to 9.3, but has relatively weak post-penetration effects. HESH behaves similar to other HESH shells in game and is a more situational round. The cannon's reload rate is much faster than average for its calibre at its BR (7.5 seconds with a fully-trained crew).

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

* Cast homogeneous armour (Hull front, Turret)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull sides, Hull rear, Hull roof, Turret roof)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 70-127 mm (43-79°) ''Front glacis'' 76.2 mm (43-44°) ''Lower glacis'' || 88-220 (8-30°) + 13 mm ''Front Top'' 50 mm (1-31°) ''Center Top'' 37 mm (30°) + 13 mm ''Rear Top'' 37 (10°) + 13 mm ''Bottom'' || 37 mm (1-7°) || 13-28 mm
|-
| Turret || 125-250 mm (2-81°) ''Turret front'' 100-220 mm (1-53°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 45-196 mm (1-65°) || 45 mm (1°) || 50.8 mm ''Front'' 25 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 150 mm || 25 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Armour thickness throughout the vehicle is very complex and the tank relies more on sloping thickness to enhance its effective armour.
* The metal boxes on the sides of the turret and hull are 13 mm of structural steel.

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 54.4 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 45 (AB)
|-
|41 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|1,023
|1,259
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|584
|660
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|18.80
|23.14
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|10.73
|12.13
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm L11]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 53 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || Two-plane
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 13.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 13.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 9.70 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 320 || 315 || 305 || 294 || 280 || 270
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 1370 || 7.6 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,100 || +0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| L34 || 670 || 17.0 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks_ChieftainMk3.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|Ammo racks of the Chieftain Mk.3.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''53''' ||  ''(+)''||  ''(+)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}

Turret empty: 30 ''(+23)''

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|L21A1 (12.7 mm)|L37A1 (7.62 mm)|L8A1 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L21A1 (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm L21A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount (Ranging)''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 588 (3) || 300 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L37A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L37A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (100) || 650 || -10°/+50° || ±120°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 6,000 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

Fundamental average for Chieftain: its rate of shooting and its penetration. With Chieftain there is few vehicle being able to resist to you, perhaps [[T95|T95]] or [[Maus|Maus]], without your skill. Shoot anywhere at your enemy with L15A3 shells, you penetrate armour. Know where you shoot, you will kill all your enemies. That requires good knowledge of the enemy tanks. You have to know where are the shells, fuel tanks, crews. Don’t trouble about the shielding of adversary, your Chieftain is a knife for butter. If you don't know your enemy, look in top on the right during replay penetration to locate the strategic places.

'''Defensively:''' 
The Chieftain's gun is very accurate when equipped with all gun modules -- move to a location overlooking enemy movements from long range. Maintain a hull-down position whenever possible to hide your weaker hull. Consider placing camouflage bushes on your turret to force your enemy to spend more time aiming.

'''Offensively:''' 
The Chieftain's common enemies are the German Leopards 1 tanks and Russian T-54s. Shoot it on front frame, where the shells are, for an assured popcorn effect. Don’t hesitated to try this on IS-3/4 or T-26/28/29, only shell place change (front side or turret rear).
Other tanks could be easily knocked out with fuel tank, or disabled in aiming crew member. Dont forget that reload time is your best friend.
Beware to the width of Chieftain, often you let appear vulnerable parts when you turn in a transverse street.

===Modules===
The first upgrades to head for is ''Parts'' and ''FPE'' for increased survivability. Once you got these two, everything is good, but get the rangefinder for enhanced RB or SB gameplay.

*Spare parts.
*Tracks. (Critical for hull rotation speed. In the Chieftain, you'll need every little degree of speed.)
*Extinguishers FPE.
*Horizontal drive.
*Adjustment shooting.
*Elevation mechanism.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* Turret armour strong enough to bounce APDS, HEATFS and even some APDSFS shells
*Upper frontal plate is heavily sloped, providing adequate protection against same tier rounds
*Excellent reload time for a 120 mm (7.5s - 9.5s)
*Access to 320 mm penetrating APDS shells and HESH shells immediately
*10 degrees of gun depression
*Has access to a dual plane stabiliser
*Includes an additional range finding .50 calibre machine gun that can be separately bound
*Unlike other British tanks, it has a respectable reverse speed

'''Cons:'''

*Weak hull armour overall
*Lower frontal plate is very poorly armoured, and has an ammo rack behind it
*Very weak side and rear armour
*Ammo rack everywhere
*Small ammo variety (APDS or HESH only) means that it struggles with modern composite armour
*APDS deals minimal, punctual damage
*Slowest of all MBTs

== History ==

===Concept===
The idea of a "universal tank" began in Britain in 1944 when Montgomery and other influential people began advocating for more standardized tank to replace the cruiser and infantry tank classes used on the field. Efforts did not start until after World War II under the General Staff designation A45, with development starting just as the new cruiser tank [[Centurion Mk 3|Centurion]] started to enter military service. The A45 was cancelled in 1948 after development troubles and its inability to be used as a "universal" platform. Ironically, the Centurion proved to be a better "universal tank" platform than the A45.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Development===
The [[Centurion Mk 10|Centurion]] tank series was very successful in British and its allies' service, but development of new Soviet armour such as the [[IS-3]] and [[T-54 (1951)|T-54/55]] caused the British tank arms race to take another leap forward. Development on the Centurion's successor began in 1951 under the name ''Medium Gun Tank No. 2''. The project's priority was gun and armour, but with mobility to be equal to the Centurion's and a weight of less than 45 tons. The weight limit caused a program known as the Concept Study Programme to commence in order to find ways to keep the tank under that weight limit yet meet all the armour and firepower specifications. One of the concept that came out was the usage of bagged charges, which was already in use on naval ships, but was a new concept for tank ammunition. Thus, a gun using the bagged charge propellant system began development in 1954, along with a new specification by General Staff that the Medium Gun Tank No.2, now known as ''FV4201'', uses a conventional four crew tank with a turret and a better gun and armour than the Centurion. Though the [[Conqueror|Conqueror heavy tank]] was one such response to the firepower requirement, limited production cut that to only 200 units built.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

The biggest bump to the firepower of the FV4201 was the recommendation of a 120 mm caliber tank cannon. Though the Conqueror used a 120 mm, the new one would incorporate more innovative features such as the bagged charges. Other design features added was the usage of a Rolls-Royce V8 engine, an auxiliary engine, an automatic gearbox, and a reclining seat for the driver. The reclining seat was a very new feature in tank design as it reduced the vehicle's hull height and thus gave it a lower profile. Leyland Motors was assigned to be the main designer for the tank despite their commitment to the Centurion production lines. The manufacturing process of the tank was decided to be cast rather than welded. In 1957, several specifications added to the FV4201 impeded its attempt to fit in the specifications. A bigger turret was designed and it mounted IR equipment for night fighting. Troops requested more frontal and turret side armour, which along with the turret change caused an increase in the tank's overall weight. A controversial decision was also made in 1957 by NATO that tanks should have multi-fuel engines. The FV4201 installed a new engine conforming to these standards in 1958, a German engine derived from a Junkers Jumo aviation engine. This extended development time since the engine compartment had to be redesigned to fit the engine, raising the total tank weight to 50 tons. The engine, designated the L60, was received with mixed reception by the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) and other users due to its novel features. Britain stayed as the only user of a multi-fuel engine in the Cold War as many other nations found the concept impractical and abandoned it.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

As the FV4201 finalized its prototype stages, General Staff sent a revised specification for it. The tank was to have the firepower of the Conqueror with the mobility of the Centurion, an armour that maximizes the protection-weight ratio, a weight limit at 45 ton with a top speed of 26 mph and an operating range of 300 miles. The first wooden prototype was made in March 1959, with full prototypes ordered in June 1959 for troop trials. Vickers-Armstrong and Royal Ordnance Factory shared the manufacturing process and the first prototypes were built in January 1960. The first two prototype FV4201 was trialed in Germany alongside their new [[Leopard I|Leopard 1]]. The greatest issue with the FV4201 was the engine, which caused many failures due to vibration, a result of the flawed multi-fuel concept. Trials were delayed due to lack of parts to fix broken pieces and redesigns were requested to fix problems. After a lengthy trial period in 1962, the FV4201, now named the '''Chieftain''', was sent to the operational unit in Germany for service and combat trials. The Chieftain was finally accepted for service in 1st May 1963, despite the many faults in the design. The first deliveries of the improved and redesigned Chieftains began in mid-1965. These were the ''Chieftain Mk.1's'', which further revealed problems with the horsepower that the ''Mk.2'' was designed and sent in April 1966. The '''Chieftain Mk.3''' rolled out of the production lines in September 1969, it now weighed 53 tons and the L60 engine was producing 650 hp, still underpowered for the weight. Engine failures were still frequent and left the Chieftain with a sour note until the ''Mk.5'' variant fixed these pressing issues with a new engine and NBC protection. The Mk.5 would be the main variant of the Chieftain in British service. During its production life from 1965 to 1985, a total of 2,265 Chieftains would be built by Britain, with about 1,000 used by the British Army.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Service===
The first British units to receive the Chieftains was the 1st and 5th Royal Tank Regiments back during the trials. The Chieftain, despite its initial engine flaws, proved to be combat-proof and could be upgraded to fit new requirements. Some of these upgrades were the addition of composite add-on armour to fight off new anti-tank technology such as the HEAT rounds. The Chieftain earned the title "most formidable tank in the world" during the 1960's Cold War period and also redefined the specifications of a "main battle tank". Its success is due to its novel main gun and heavily sloped armour, as well as a satisfactory mobility and speed able to compete with the Leopard 1. The Chieftain stayed in use by the British Army On the Rhine on the German border with the Warsaw Pact, which caused the Soviets to in turn station their best tanks such as their T-64's against the Chieftains. The British retained the Chieftains all the way until 1995, when it was replaced by the Challenger I.

The Chieftain was also successful on the export market, primarily in the Middle East to the hands of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman. Another user of the Chieftain was Israel, with Britain initially agreeing to help set up production for locally produced Chieftains. Two Chieftains were sent for trials among the Israeli Defense Force in 1967. After two years of trials and deliberation for the acquirement of the Chieftains, Britain ultimately refused to offer the Israelis the Chieftain for political reasons. The Israeli trials benefit Britain with data on desert combat with the Chieftain however, and the refusal did jump start Israel's tank program that would become the ''Merkava''.

Despite that, sales to the Middle East soared, with Iran being the major buyer of the Chieftains with at least 887 of mostly the MK3 and MK5 variants sent to them before their revolution in 1979. The Chieftain saw prolonged combat in the Middle East in the Iran-Iraq War, including Operation Nasr which was the largest tank vs. tank battle of the war where the Iranian Chieftains and [[M60A1 (AOS)|M60A1 Pattons]] fought against the Iraqi [[T-62]]s. After that war, the Chieftain in Kuwait then saw combat fighting the Iraqis during their invasion in 1990. Kuwait eventually replaced their Chieftains with the Yugoslavian M-84 tanks, which are a variant of the Soviet T-72s.

The Chieftain is still in service Iran, Jordan, and Oman in varying numbers, about 100 in Iran, 350 in Jordan, and 27 in Oman. The Chieftains underwent local upgrades to keep them up to date against modern threat, which resulted in the Iran ''Mobarez'' Chieftain upgrade.

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

===Videos===
{{Youtube-gallery|W4R1fPzk-tU|Review: Chieftain Mk. III War Thunder Video Tutorials |XlNDQ2PVPpI|The Chieftain at Bovington|D3OF9IvtHLk|Bovington Tank Museum Tank Chats: Chieftain}}

==References==
<references />

== Read also ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/885/ [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> The Chieftain tank: A very British warlord!] 

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain medium tanks}}

Challenger Mk.2

2019-05-13T17:38:50Z

U4392286: /* Survivability and armour */

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_challenger_1}}
{{About
| about = British medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other uses
| link = Challenger (Disambiguation)
}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_ChallengerMk.2.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''', or just '''{{Specs|pseudonym}}''', is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.77 "Advancing Storm"]].

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

Like the Chieftain Mk.10, the Challenger has a very strong turret front, with composite armour protecting the entire front and part of the sides. The turret front can resist up to 470 mm of long-rod kinetic RHAe (~550 mm for rounds without the long-rod slope modifier) and 600 mm of chemical penetrators. This theoretically makes the strongest part of the turret frontally invulnerable to all top-tier kinetic ammunition in the game. In practice, however, there is a weak spot on the lower leading edge of the turret front, where the backing plate of the composite inside the turret flattens to a 90° angle. This reduces the effective thickness of the lower turret cheeks by approximately 100 mm, making it vulnerable to most long-rod APFSDS. The turret front's painfully average chemical protection means that it is vulnerable to most top-tier ATGMs and HEAT shells (e.g. the prominent [[Rheinmetall L44 (120 mm)]]'s DM12 with 650 mm of penetration). A small portion of the turret front, the area just around the gun, is unprotected by composite armor and is 200 mm of CHA with a 50 mm RHA spall liner. This area extends above the gun and transitions to 60mm CHA at 60°. While these areas are small and unlikely to lead to catastrophic damage when hit (the gun breach will tend to soak up shrapnel), they are important to be wary of.

The Challenger's turret sides are similar to many top-tier MBTs -- they can only resist enemy fire at relatively high angles of attack. Protection is 140 mm RHAe against kinetic and 300 mm RHAe against chemical shells, meaning that the armor can only resist autocannon fire and low-caliber HEAT when struck dead-on.

Compared its turret, the Challenger hull is significantly weaker against kinetic projectiles with only 220 mm of RHAe (~300 mm for projectiles without the long-rod slope modifier) on the UFP. Chemical protection in this area is similar to the turret at 600 mm RHAe. An exception to these numbers is the area directly above the driver's hatch, which is not covered by composite armour and is vulnerable to essentially any anti-tank ammunition. The lower frontal plate is also lacking composite and is comprised of a single 70 mm RHA plate at a slight angle, providing ~80-90 mm of effective thickness. Shots to the LFP will at least incapacitate the driver, or more likely catastrophically detonate the hull ammunition. British tankers should be quite used to this weakspot by this point, as the weak LFP is present on the entire Chieftain line. However, the upper third of the LFP shares some of the UFP's composite protection due to its design. This means that the upper third of the LFP has slightly more protection than the lower sections.

Hull sides are generally very weak, as is typical of top-tier MBTs. The upper hull (above the tracks) is comprised of a 20 mm RHA + fuel tanks + 25 mm RHA array. The lower hull (around the tracks) is comprised of 19 mm aluminium side skirts and 34 mm RHA.

'''Armour type:'''

* Composite armour (hull UFP, turret front and sides)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (hull)
* Cast homogeneous armour (gun "mantlet")
* Aluminium (side skirts)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 38-50* mm (60-81°) ''Front glacis'' 70 mm (30°) ''Lower glacis'' || 20 mm (0-3°), 25 mm (74°) ''Top'' 34 + 19 mm ''Bottom'' || 20 mm (29°) ''Top'' 25 mm (30°) || 20 mm 8 mm ''Engine grille''
|-
| Turret || 50* mm (51-54°) 60 mm (55-56°), 200 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 25* + 4 mm (1°) ''Front'' 45 + 4 mm ''Rear'' || 44 + 4 mm (43-48°) 20 mm (85°) ''Turret underside'' || 38 mm ''Front'' 20 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 60 mm || 60 mm
|-
! Composite armour* !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || '''Front glacis:''' ~220 mm @ 60° against ''Kinetic'' ~600 mm @ 60° against ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
| Turret || '''Turret front:''' ~500 mm @ 60° against ''Kinetic'' ~600 mm @ 60° against ''Chemical'' || '''25 mm sections:''' ~ 140 mm @ 0° against ''Kinetic'' ~ 300 mm @ 0° against ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels, torsion bars, and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Turret ring is 60 mm thick.
* 20-25 mm RHA plates surround the fuel tanks on the hull sides.
* Hull composite armour configuration is 50 mm RHA + 200 mm NERA elements + 80 mm RHA.
* Front turret compsoite armour configuration is 50 mm RHA + 600 mm NERA elements + 110 mm RHA.
* Turret side compsoite armour configuration is 25 mm RHA + 300 mm NERA elements + 80 mm RHA.

=== Mobility ===

The Challenger's speed sets it apart from the previous Chieftain tanks, as it is capable of reaching 56 km/h on roads and 46 km/h off-road. Reverse speed is also a noticeable improvement from the Chieftain line. Despite this, the 62 ton mass of this vehicle makes it the slowest of its high-rank contemporaries (e.g. Abrams, Leopard, and Type 90).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 62.0 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 62 (AB)
|-
|56 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|1,860
|____
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|1,061
|1,200
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|30.00
|__.__
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|17.11
|19.35
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
The Challenger bears the [[L11A5 (120 mm)|120 mm L11A5]], an updated but essentially identical version of the gun found on the Chieftains. It has access to the same rounds as the Chieftain Mk.10, with the notable addition of L23A1 APFSDS. L23A1 penetrates angled armor much more efficiently than its predecessor L23, making it especially useful for dealing with Russian late T-series hulls.

=== Main armament ===

{{main|L11A5 (120 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[L11A5 (120 mm)|120 mm L11A5]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 52 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || Two-plane
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 29.50 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 18.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 8.70 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot L15A5 || APDS || 320 || 315 || 305 || 294 || 280 || 270
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 410 || 408 || 405 || 400 || 390 || 380
|-
| Shot L23A1 || APFSDS || 396 || 394 || 387 || 376 || 367 || 357
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot L15A5 || APDS || 1,370 || 7.6 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,100 || +0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 1,535 || 3.9 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 76° || 77° || 78°
|-
| Shot L23A1 || APFSDS || 1,535 || 3.9 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 78° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| L34 || 670 || 17 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Ammo Part
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''52''' || XX ''(X+)'' ||  ''(+)'' ||  ''(+)'' ||  ''(+)'' ||  ''(+)'' ||  ''(+)'' || style="text-align:left" | no
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|L37A2 (7.62 mm)|L8A1 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L37A2 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L37A2]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Commander's cupola mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,300 (100) || 650 || -10°/+50° || ±120°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,300 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

New drivers of the Challenger 1 will appreciate a similar play style to the earlier Chieftain tanks, particularly the [[Chieftain Mk 10]]. Most of the armour's weakpoints could be minimized by assuming a hull-down position on the incline of a hill, and using the Challenger's excellent -10° of gun depression to keep the gun on target. This will increase the angle of the turret and thus increase the effective thickness of the back-plate on the turret.

When encountering common enemies:

* [[T-64B]]: L23A1 APFSDS can theoretically penetrate the UFP, but it is difficult. The drivers port weakspot is the recommended target from the front. If not possible, aim for the breech/cannon barrel to eliminate the threat of return fire
* [[T-64A (1971)]]: APFSDS will go right through the front of this tank, but the Challenger can still be penetrated by the top APFSDS (3BM12) in the weak spot on the turret's leading edge.
* [[Leopard 2K]]: Probably the most dangerous opponent, as its APFSDS can go right through the upper front plate and parts of the turret. Shoot anywhere but the front of the turret, unless trying to take out the Leo's cannon barrel.
* [[Leopard A1A1]]: Its APFSDS poses a risk to the weakspot on the turret, but only if it gets the first shot off. Shoot anywhere.

===Modules===
The FPE module should be a priority, since the fuel tanks are located all around the hull above the tracks, meaning that the tank will be set on fire often. This comes with added protection, however, as the fuel tanks will frequently absorb most shrapnel - protecting the crew and ammunition from the occasional side-shot - giving the player ample time to return fire and eliminate the threat.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

*Good composite armour for both kinetic and chemical protection for both hull and turret
*Very accurate main gun with good gun stabilizers and decent stock APDS shell
*Very good mobility for it weight and size
*Good APFSDS shells
*Good forward and reverse speed

'''Cons:'''

*Large target
*Driver's optics weakspot on the upper frontal plate
*No composite armour on lower glacis plate and rear of the turret
*Average rate of fire
*HESH shell largely useless
*Very thin armour protection
*Ammunition takes a lot of space (easy to hit)

== History ==

In 1977, the Iranian government ordered an improved version of the Chieftain tank, which was arguably the best main battle tank (MBT) in service at its time. The Chieftain offered unparalleled protection and firepower; however, its mobility was lackluster and something its successor needed to improve upon. In response, the engineers at the MVEE created the Chieftain Mk.5(P), from which three additional prototypes were created. It was one of these prototypes that would become the basis for the Challenger 1. Unfortunately, after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the fall of the Shah, Iran canceled its order for an improved Chieftain. In addition, a parallel British tank project (the MBT90) was also abandoned, and the British Army quickly became a new potential customer for a new MBT.

The Challenger's design was based on the cancelled project called "Shir-2”" planned for export to Iran, and retained its deadly 120mm gun and superb armour. The Challenger was also equipped with Chobham armour, a composite armour made from multiple layers of different materials. The additional materials gave the Challenger its distinctive, heavily-sloped armour on the front of the turret and upper glacis. The Challenger’s mobility and off-road capabilities were significantly improved with the installation of a new 1,200 horsepower Rolls-Royce engine and hydropneumatic suspension. The Challenger 1 entered production and service in 1983. Production ended in 1990, having yielded a total of about 420 vehicles. It served primarily with British forces during the Gulf War. It was also used in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the mid 1990s, and Jordan still operates a number of Challenger 1 tanks to this day. The Challenger 1 was withdrawn from active service by 2001 and later replaced by the Challenger 2.

''- From [https://warthunder.com/en/news/5323-development-challenger-1-a-worthy-heir-en Devblog]''

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/news/5323-development-challenger-1-a-worthy-heir-en [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Challenger 1: A Worthy Heir]

{{Britain medium tanks}}

Challenger Mk.2

2019-05-13T15:55:19Z

U4392286: /* Survivability and armour */

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_challenger_1}}
{{About
| about = British medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other uses
| link = Challenger (Disambiguation)
}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_ChallengerMk.2.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''', or just '''{{Specs|pseudonym}}''', is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.77 "Advancing Storm"]].

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

Like the Chieftain Mk.10, the Challenger has a very strong turret, with composite armor protecting the entire front and part of the sides. Frontally, the turret can protect against, at maximum, 470 mm of kinetic (APFSDS, APDS, AP, etc.) and 750 mm of chemical (HEAT, ATGM, etc.) penetrators. This makes the turret theoretically invulnerable to all ammo in the game, excluding the HOT missile on the [[RakJPz 2 (HOT)|Raketenjagdpanzer 2 HOT]]. In practice, however, there is a weak spot on the lower leading edge of the turret front, where the backing plate of the composite inside the turret flattens to a 90° angle. This reduces the effective thickness of the lower turret cheeks by abproximately 100 mm when the tank is level (making it vulnerable to most long-rod APFSDS).

The Challenger hull is significantly weaker, with only 220 mm of RHAe (~300 mm for projectiles without the long-rod slope modifier) for kinetic and 600 mm RHAe for chemical penetrators on the upper frontal plate. An exception is the area directly above the driver's hatch, which is not covered by composite armor and is vulnerable to essentially any anti-tank ammunition. The lower frontal plate is also (mostly) lacking composite and is comprised of a single 70 mm RHA plate at a shallow angle, providing ~80-90 mm of effective thickness. Shots to the LFP will at best only incapacitate the driver, or more likely catastrophically detonate the hull ammunition. British tankers should be quite used to this weakspot by this point, as the weak LFP is present on the entire Chieftain line. However, the upper quarter of the LFP shares some of the UFP's composite protection due to its design. This means that the upper LFP has slightly more protection that the lower LFP.

'''Armour type:'''

* Composite armour (hull UFP, turret front and sides)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (hull)
* Cast homogeneous armour (gun mantlet)
* Aluminium (side skirts)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 38-50* mm (60-81°) ''Front glacis'' 70 mm (30°) ''Lower glacis'' || 20 mm (0-3°), 25 mm (74°) ''Top'' 25 + 19 mm ''Bottom'' || 20 mm (29°) ''Top'' 25 mm (30°) || 20 mm 8 mm ''Engine grille''
|-
| Turret || 50* mm (51-54°) 60 mm (55-56°), 200 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 25* + 4 mm (1°) ''Front'' 45 + 4 mm ''Rear'' || 44 + 4 mm (43-48°) 20 mm (85°) ''Turret underside'' || 38 mm ''Front'' 20 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 60 mm || 60 mm
|-
! Composite armour* !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || '''Front glacis:''' ~220 mm @ 60° against ''Kinetic'' ~600 mm @ 60° against ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
| Turret || '''Turret front:''' ~500 mm @ 60° against ''Kinetic'' ~600 mm @ 60° against ''Chemical'' || '''25 mm sections:''' ~ 140 mm @ 0° against ''Kinetic'' ~ 300 mm @ 0° against ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels, torsion bars, and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Turret ring is 60 mm thick.
* 20-25 mm RHA plates surround the fuel tanks on the hull sides.
* Hull composite armour configuration is 50 mm RHA + 200 mm NERA elements + 80 mm RHA.
* Front turret compsoite armour configuration is 50 mm RHA + 600 mm NERA elements + 110 mm RHA.
* Turret side compsoite armour configuration is 25 mm RHA + 300 mm NERA elements + 80 mm RHA.

=== Mobility ===

The Challenger's speed sets it apart from the previous Chieftain tanks, as it is capable of reaching 56 km/h on roads and 46 km/h off-road. Reverse speed is also a noticeable improvement from the Chieftain line. Despite this, the 62 ton mass of this vehicle makes it the slowest of its high-tier contemporaries (e.g. Abrams, Leopard, and Type 90).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 62.0 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 62 (AB)
|-
|56 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|1,860
|____
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|1,061
|1,200
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|30.00
|__.__
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|17.11
|19.35
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|L11A5 (120 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[L11A5 (120 mm)|120 mm L11A5]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 52 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || Two-plane
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 29.50 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 18.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 8.70 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot L15A5 || APDS || 320 || 315 || 305 || 294 || 280 || 270
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 410 || 408 || 405 || 400 || 390 || 380
|-
| Shot L23A1 || APFSDS || 396 || 394 || 387 || 376 || 367 || 357
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot L15A5 || APDS || 1,370 || 7.6 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,100 || +0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 1,535 || 3.9 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 76° || 77° || 78°
|-
| Shot L23A1 || APFSDS || 1,535 || 3.9 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 78° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| L34 || 670 || 17 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Ammo Part
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''52''' || XX ''(X+)'' ||  ''(+)'' ||  ''(+)'' ||  ''(+)'' ||  ''(+)'' ||  ''(+)'' || style="text-align:left" | no
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|L37A2 (7.62 mm)|L8A1 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L37A2 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L37A2]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Commander's cupola mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,300 (100) || 650 || -10°/+50° || ±120°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,300 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

New drivers of the Challenger 1 will appreciate a similar play style to the earlier Chieftain tanks, particularly the [[Chieftain Mk 10]]. Most of the armour's weakpoints could be minimized by assuming a hull-down position on the incline of a hill, and using the Challenger's excellent -10° of gun depression to keep the gun on target. This will increase the angle of the turret and thus increase the effective thickness of the back-plate on the turret.

When encountering common enemies:

* [[T-64B]]: L23A1 APFSDS can theoretically penetrate the UFP, but it is difficult. The drivers port weakspot is the recommended target from the front. If not possible, aim for the breech/cannon barrel to eliminate the threat of return fire
* [[T-64A (1971)]]: APFSDS will go right through the front of this tank, but the Challenger can still be penetrated by the top APFSDS (3BM12) in the weak spot on the turret's leading edge.
* [[Leopard 2K]]: Probably the most dangerous opponent, as its APFSDS can go right through the upper front plate and parts of the turret. Shoot anywhere but the front of the turret, unless trying to take out the Leo's cannon barrel.
* [[Leopard A1A1]]: Its APFSDS poses a risk to the weakspot on the turret, but only if it gets the first shot off. Shoot anywhere.

===Modules===
The FPE module should be a priority, since the fuel tanks are located all around the hull above the tracks, meaning that the tank will be set on fire often. This comes with added protection, however, as the fuel tanks will frequently absorb most shrapnel - protecting the crew and ammunition from the occasional side-shot - giving the player ample time to return fire and eliminate the threat.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

*Good composite armour for both kinetic and chemical protection for both hull and turret
*Very accurate main gun with good gun stabilizers and decent stock APDS shell
*Very good mobility for it weight and size
*Good APFSDS shells
*Good forward and reverse speed

'''Cons:'''

*Large target
*Driver's optics weakspot on the upper frontal plate
*No composite armour on lower glacis plate and rear of the turret
*Average rate of fire
*HESH shell largely useless
*Very thin armour protection
*Ammunition takes a lot of space (easy to hit)

== History ==

In 1977, the Iranian government ordered an improved version of the Chieftain tank, which was arguably the best main battle tank (MBT) in service at its time. The Chieftain offered unparalleled protection and firepower; however, its mobility was lackluster and something its successor needed to improve upon. In response, the engineers at the MVEE created the Chieftain Mk.5(P), from which three additional prototypes were created. It was one of these prototypes that would become the basis for the Challenger 1. Unfortunately, after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the fall of the Shah, Iran canceled its order for an improved Chieftain. In addition, a parallel British tank project (the MBT90) was also abandoned, and the British Army quickly became a new potential customer for a new MBT.

The Challenger's design was based on the cancelled project called "Shir-2”" planned for export to Iran, and retained its deadly 120mm gun and superb armour. The Challenger was also equipped with Chobham armour, a composite armour made from multiple layers of different materials. The additional materials gave the Challenger its distinctive, heavily-sloped armour on the front of the turret and upper glacis. The Challenger’s mobility and off-road capabilities were significantly improved with the installation of a new 1,200 horsepower Rolls-Royce engine and hydropneumatic suspension. The Challenger 1 entered production and service in 1983. Production ended in 1990, having yielded a total of about 420 vehicles. It served primarily with British forces during the Gulf War. It was also used in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the mid 1990s, and Jordan still operates a number of Challenger 1 tanks to this day. The Challenger 1 was withdrawn from active service by 2001 and later replaced by the Challenger 2.

''- From [https://warthunder.com/en/news/5323-development-challenger-1-a-worthy-heir-en Devblog]''

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/news/5323-development-challenger-1-a-worthy-heir-en [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Challenger 1: A Worthy Heir]

{{Britain medium tanks}}

Chieftain Mk 10

2019-04-04T19:51:40Z

U4392286: /* Pros and cons */

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_chieftain_mk_10}}
{{Notice|''This page is about the medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''. For other uses, see [[Chieftain (Disambiguation)]]''}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Chieftain_Mk_10.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.71 "New E.R.A"]]..

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

Armour is identical to the earlier Chieftain variants, but with the addition of Stillbrew composite armor over the turret front and turret ring. Stillbrew covers a majority of a hull-down Chieftain's frontal projection, but certain areas are not covered. Weak points include the area directly around the gun breach and a sliver of the turret ring between the hull and turret composite packages.

Due to the very thick, highly angled armor package, Stillbrew-protected areas are very resistant to KE projectiles up until top-tier longrod APFSDS (e.g. DM33, 3BM42, etc.). The simple composition of Stillbrew means it isn't as efficient against CE threats, but it retains a somewhat respectable CE protection of around 500 mm,

'''Armour types:'''

* Stillbrew composite armour (turret front, turret ring)
* Cast homogeneous armour (hull front, turret)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (hull sides, hull rear, hull roof, turret roof)
* Aluminium (side skirts)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 70-127 mm (40-79°) ''Front glacis'' 76.2 mm (40-45°) ''Lower glacis'' 200* mm (0-45°) ''Turret ring'' || 88-220 (8-30°) + 13 mm ''Front Top'' 50 mm (1-31°) ''Center Top'' 37 mm (30°) + 13 mm ''Rear Top'' 37 (10°) + 13 mm ''Bottom'' || 37 mm (1-7°) || 13-28 mm
|-
| Turret || 125-250 + 80-150* mm (2-81°) Turret front 100-220 mm (1-53°) Gun mantlet || 45-196 mm (1-65°) || 45 mm (1°) || 50.8 mm ''Front'' 25 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 150 mm || 25 mm
|-
! Composite armour* !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || '''Turret ring:''' 200 mm ''Kinetic'' 200 mm ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
| Turret || '''Turret front:''' 450 mm ''Kinetic'' 500 mm ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 16 mm of RHA.
* Stillbrew armour at turret ring is pure 200 mm CHA.
* Stillbrew armour on turret front is composed of (80 to 150 mm CHA) + (60 mm rubber) + (150 to 250 mm CHA).

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 57.2 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 53 (AB)
|-
|48 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|1,178
|???
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|672
|???
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|20.59
|???
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|11.75
|???
|-
|}
== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm L11]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 53 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || Two-plane
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 21.4 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 13.4 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 9.70 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 320 || 315 || 305 || 294 || 280 || 270
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 410 || 408 || 405 || 400 || 390 || 380
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 1370 || 7.6 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 1535 || 3.89 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 76° || 77° || 78°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,100 || +0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| L34 || 670 || 17.0 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''53''' ||  ''(+)''||  ''(+)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}


=== Machine guns ===

{{main|L37A1 (7.62 mm)|L8A1 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L37A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L37A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (100) || 650 || -10°/+50° || ±120°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 6,000 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==
The Chieftain Mk 10 has a similar playstyle to the earlier marks, but gains much-needed additional turret armor. This allows the player to maintain a much stronger hull-down position, as Chieftain turrets without Stillbrew can be penetrated very easily at this rank. The added L23 APFSDS round helps with engaging stronger armor at longer distances as well. These factors make the Mk 10 a "super Chieftain" of sorts; it retains its weaknesses (a weak hull and low mobility) and doubles down on its strengths (a heavily-armoured turret and powerful gun).

A player should seek to avoid brawling and instead entrench themselves in a hull-down, supportive position for the team.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Stillbrew composite turret armor
* L23 APFSDS
* 10 degrees of gun depression

'''Cons:'''

* Poor mobility
* Weak, CHA hull comprised only of CHA
* Many ammo racks in the hull

== History ==

===Concept===
The idea of a "universal tank" began in Britain in 1944 when Montgomery and other influential people began advocating for more standardized tank to replace the cruiser and infantry tank classes used on the field. Efforts did not start until after World War II under the General Staff designation A45, with development starting just as the new cruiser tank [[Centurion Mk 3|Centurion]] started to enter military service. The A45 was cancelled in 1948 after development troubles and its inability to be used as a "universal" platform. Ironically, the Centurion proved to be a better "universal tank" platform than the A45.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Development===
The [[Centurion Mk 10|Centurion]] tank series was very successful in British and its allies' service, but development of new Soviet armour such as the [[IS-3]] and [[T-54 (1951)|T-54/55]] caused the British tank arms race to take another leap forward. Development on the Centurion's successor began in 1951 under the name ''Medium Gun Tank No. 2''. The project's priority was gun and armour, but with mobility to be equal to the Centurion's and a weight of less than 45 tons. The weight limit caused a program known as the Concept Study Programme to commence in order to find ways to keep the tank under that weight limit yet meet all the armour and firepower specifications. One of the concept that came out was the usage of bagged charges, which was already in use on naval ships, but was a new concept for tank ammunition. Thus, a gun using the bagged charge propellant system began development in 1954, along with a new specification by General Staff that the Medium Gun Tank No.2, now known as ''FV4201'', uses a conventional four crew tank with a turret and a better gun and armour than the Centurion. Though the [[Conqueror]] heavy tank was one such response to the firepower requirement, limited production cut that to only 200 units built.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

The biggest bump to the firepower of the FV4201 was the recommendation of a 120 mm caliber tank cannon. Though the Conqueror used a 120 mm, the new one would incorporate more innovative features such as the bagged charges. Other design features added was the usage of a Rolls-Royce V8 engine, an auxiliary engine, an automatic gearbox, and a reclining seat for the driver. The reclining seat was a very new feature in tank design as it reduced the vehicle's hull height and thus gave it a lower profile. Leyland Motors was assigned to be the main designer for the tank despite their commitment to the Centurion production lines. The manufacturing process of the tank was decided to be cast rather than welded. In 1957, several specifications added to the FV4201 impeded its attempt to fit in the specifications. A bigger turret was designed and it mounted IR equipment for night fighting. Troops requested more frontal and turret side armour, which along with the turret change caused an increase in the tank's overall weight. A controversial decision was also made in 1957 by NATO that tanks should have multi-fuel engines. The FV4201 installed a new engine conforming to these standards in 1958, a German engine derived from a Junkers Jumo aviation engine. This extended development time since the engine compartment had to be redesigned to fit the engine, raising the total tank weight to 50 tons. The engine, designated the L60, was received with mixed reception by the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) and other users due to its novel features. Britain stayed as the only user of a multi-fuel engine in the Cold War as many other nations found the concept impractical and abandoned it.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

As the FV4201 finalized its prototype stages, General Staff sent a revised specification for it. The tank was to have the firepower of the Conqueror with the mobility of the Centurion, an armour that maximizes the protection-weight ratio, a weight limit at 45 ton with a top speed of 26 mph and an operating range of 300 miles. The first wooden prototype was made in March 1959, with full prototypes ordered in June 1959 for troop trials. Vickers-Armstrong and Royal Ordnance Factory shared the manufacturing process and the first prototypes were built in January 1960. The first two prototype FV4201 was trialed in Germany alongside their new [[Leopard I|Leopard 1]]. The greatest issue with the FV4201 was the engine, which caused many failures due to vibration, a result of the flawed multi-fuel concept. Trials were delayed due to lack of parts to fix broken pieces and redesigns were requested to fix problems. After a lengthy trial period in 1962, the FV4201, now named the '''Chieftain''', was sent to the operational unit in Germany for service and combat trials. The Chieftain was finally accepted for service in 1st May 1963, despite the many faults in the design. The first deliveries of the improved and redesigned Chieftains began in mid-1965. These were the ''Chieftain Mk 1's'', which further revealed problems with the horsepower that the ''Mk 2'' was designed and sent in April 1966. The ''[[Chieftain Mk 3]]'' rolled out of the production lines in September 1969, it now weighed 53 tons and the L60 engine was producing 650 hp, still underpowered for the weight. Engine failures were still frequent and left the Chieftain with a sour note until the [[Chieftain Mk 5|Mk 5]] variant fixed these pressing issues with a new engine and NBC protection. The Mk 5 would be the main variant of the Chieftain in British service. During its production life from 1965 to 1985, a total of 2,265 Chieftains would be built by Britain, with about 1,000 used by the British Army.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Service===
The first British units to receive the Chieftains was the 1st and 5th Royal Tank Regiments back during the trials. The Chieftain, despite its initial engine flaws, proved to be combat-proof and could be upgraded to fit new requirements. Some of these upgrades were the addition of composite add-on armour to fight off new anti-tank technology such as the HEAT rounds. The Chieftain earned the title "most formidable tank in the world" during the 1960's Cold War period and also redefined the specifications of a "main battle tank". Its success is due to its novel main gun and heavily sloped armour, as well as a satisfactory mobility and speed able to compete with the Leopard 1. The Chieftain stayed in use by the British Army On the Rhine on the German border with the Warsaw Pact, which caused the Soviets to in turn station their best tanks such as their [[T-64A (1971)|T-64's]] against the Chieftains. The British retained the Chieftains all the way until 1997, when it was replaced by the Challenger II, initially being used in addition to Challenger I.

The Chieftain was also successful on the export market, primarily in the Middle East to the hands of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman. Another user of the Chieftain was Israel, with Britain initially agreeing to help set up production for locally produced Chieftains. Two Chieftains were sent for trials among the Israeli Defense Force in 1967. After two years of trials and deliberation for the acquirement of the Chieftains, Britain ultimately refused to offer the Israelis the Chieftain for political reasons. The Israeli trials benefit Britain with data on desert combat with the Chieftain however, and the refusal did jump start Israel's tank program that would become the ''Merkava''.

Despite that, sales to the Middle East soared, with Iran being the major buyer of the Chieftains with at least 887 of mostly the MK3 and MK5 variants sent to them before their revolution in 1979. The Chieftain saw prolonged combat in the Middle East in the Iran-Iraq War, including Operation Nasr which was the largest tank vs. tank battle of the war where the Iranian Chieftains and [[M60A1 (AOS)|M60A1 Pattons]] fought against the Iraqi [[T-62]]s. After that war, the Chieftain in Kuwait then saw combat fighting the Iraqis during their invasion in 1990. Kuwait eventually replaced their Chieftains with the Yugoslavian M-84 tanks, which are a variant of the Soviet T-72s.

The Chieftain is still in service Iran, Jordan, and Oman in varying numbers, about 100 in Iran, 350 in Jordan, and 27 in Oman. The Chieftains underwent local upgrades to keep them up to date against modern threat, which resulted in the Iran ''Mobarez'' Chieftain upgrade.

===Legacy===
The Chieftain helped revolutionize tank design with its innovative features. The most important was the reclining driver seat, which allowed the tank to have a lower profile as the driver was now that highest part of the hull in tank design. It also had the most powerful NATO tank armament in service until the advent of the German Rheinmetall 120 mm, which came about two decades later. Chieftain can be considered the definitive main battle tank of the 1960s and help transition the path between second-generation main battle tanks and the third.

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

==References==
<references />

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/news/4946-development-chieftain-mk-10-dressing-up-for-war-en [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Chieftain Mk.10: Dressing Up for War]

Chieftain Mk 10

2019-04-04T19:35:49Z

U4392286: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_chieftain_mk_10}}
{{Notice|''This page is about the medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''. For other uses, see [[Chieftain (Disambiguation)]]''}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Chieftain_Mk_10.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.71 "New E.R.A"]]..

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

Armour is identical to the earlier Chieftain variants, but with the addition of Stillbrew composite armor over the turret front and turret ring. Stillbrew covers a majority of a hull-down Chieftain's frontal projection, but certain areas are not covered. Weak points include the area directly around the gun breach and a sliver of the turret ring between the hull and turret composite packages.

Due to the very thick, highly angled armor package, Stillbrew-protected areas are very resistant to KE projectiles up until top-tier longrod APFSDS (e.g. DM33, 3BM42, etc.). The simple composition of Stillbrew means it isn't as efficient against CE threats, but it retains a somewhat respectable CE protection of around 500 mm,

'''Armour types:'''

* Stillbrew composite armour (turret front, turret ring)
* Cast homogeneous armour (hull front, turret)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (hull sides, hull rear, hull roof, turret roof)
* Aluminium (side skirts)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 70-127 mm (40-79°) ''Front glacis'' 76.2 mm (40-45°) ''Lower glacis'' 200* mm (0-45°) ''Turret ring'' || 88-220 (8-30°) + 13 mm ''Front Top'' 50 mm (1-31°) ''Center Top'' 37 mm (30°) + 13 mm ''Rear Top'' 37 (10°) + 13 mm ''Bottom'' || 37 mm (1-7°) || 13-28 mm
|-
| Turret || 125-250 + 80-150* mm (2-81°) Turret front 100-220 mm (1-53°) Gun mantlet || 45-196 mm (1-65°) || 45 mm (1°) || 50.8 mm ''Front'' 25 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 150 mm || 25 mm
|-
! Composite armour* !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || '''Turret ring:''' 200 mm ''Kinetic'' 200 mm ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
| Turret || '''Turret front:''' 450 mm ''Kinetic'' 500 mm ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 16 mm of RHA.
* Stillbrew armour at turret ring is pure 200 mm CHA.
* Stillbrew armour on turret front is composed of (80 to 150 mm CHA) + (60 mm rubber) + (150 to 250 mm CHA).

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 57.2 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 53 (AB)
|-
|48 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|1,178
|???
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|672
|???
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|20.59
|???
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|11.75
|???
|-
|}
== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm L11]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 53 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || Two-plane
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 21.4 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 13.4 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 9.70 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 320 || 315 || 305 || 294 || 280 || 270
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 410 || 408 || 405 || 400 || 390 || 380
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 1370 || 7.6 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 1535 || 3.89 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 76° || 77° || 78°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,100 || +0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| L34 || 670 || 17.0 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''53''' ||  ''(+)''||  ''(+)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}


=== Machine guns ===

{{main|L37A1 (7.62 mm)|L8A1 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L37A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L37A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (100) || 650 || -10°/+50° || ±120°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 6,000 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==
The Chieftain Mk 10 has a similar playstyle to the earlier marks, but gains much-needed additional turret armor. This allows the player to maintain a much stronger hull-down position, as Chieftain turrets without Stillbrew can be penetrated very easily at this rank. The added L23 APFSDS round helps with engaging stronger armor at longer distances as well. These factors make the Mk 10 a "super Chieftain" of sorts; it retains its weaknesses (a weak hull and low mobility) and doubles down on its strengths (a heavily-armoured turret and powerful gun).

A player should seek to avoid brawling and instead entrench themselves in a hull-down, supportive position for the team.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Stillbrew composite turret armor (protection: 450mm against kinetic rounds and 500mm against chemical rounds).
* Shot L23 APFSDS Capable of penetrating 408mm of steel @ 100m @90°
* Decent gun depression
* Peforms very well in a hull down position

'''Cons:'''

* Bad mobility.
* Upper and lower frontal plates are weak due to the lack of Stillbrew armor.
* Ammo-racks everywhere.

== History ==

===Concept===
The idea of a "universal tank" began in Britain in 1944 when Montgomery and other influential people began advocating for more standardized tank to replace the cruiser and infantry tank classes used on the field. Efforts did not start until after World War II under the General Staff designation A45, with development starting just as the new cruiser tank [[Centurion Mk 3|Centurion]] started to enter military service. The A45 was cancelled in 1948 after development troubles and its inability to be used as a "universal" platform. Ironically, the Centurion proved to be a better "universal tank" platform than the A45.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Development===
The [[Centurion Mk 10|Centurion]] tank series was very successful in British and its allies' service, but development of new Soviet armour such as the [[IS-3]] and [[T-54 (1951)|T-54/55]] caused the British tank arms race to take another leap forward. Development on the Centurion's successor began in 1951 under the name ''Medium Gun Tank No. 2''. The project's priority was gun and armour, but with mobility to be equal to the Centurion's and a weight of less than 45 tons. The weight limit caused a program known as the Concept Study Programme to commence in order to find ways to keep the tank under that weight limit yet meet all the armour and firepower specifications. One of the concept that came out was the usage of bagged charges, which was already in use on naval ships, but was a new concept for tank ammunition. Thus, a gun using the bagged charge propellant system began development in 1954, along with a new specification by General Staff that the Medium Gun Tank No.2, now known as ''FV4201'', uses a conventional four crew tank with a turret and a better gun and armour than the Centurion. Though the [[Conqueror]] heavy tank was one such response to the firepower requirement, limited production cut that to only 200 units built.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

The biggest bump to the firepower of the FV4201 was the recommendation of a 120 mm caliber tank cannon. Though the Conqueror used a 120 mm, the new one would incorporate more innovative features such as the bagged charges. Other design features added was the usage of a Rolls-Royce V8 engine, an auxiliary engine, an automatic gearbox, and a reclining seat for the driver. The reclining seat was a very new feature in tank design as it reduced the vehicle's hull height and thus gave it a lower profile. Leyland Motors was assigned to be the main designer for the tank despite their commitment to the Centurion production lines. The manufacturing process of the tank was decided to be cast rather than welded. In 1957, several specifications added to the FV4201 impeded its attempt to fit in the specifications. A bigger turret was designed and it mounted IR equipment for night fighting. Troops requested more frontal and turret side armour, which along with the turret change caused an increase in the tank's overall weight. A controversial decision was also made in 1957 by NATO that tanks should have multi-fuel engines. The FV4201 installed a new engine conforming to these standards in 1958, a German engine derived from a Junkers Jumo aviation engine. This extended development time since the engine compartment had to be redesigned to fit the engine, raising the total tank weight to 50 tons. The engine, designated the L60, was received with mixed reception by the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) and other users due to its novel features. Britain stayed as the only user of a multi-fuel engine in the Cold War as many other nations found the concept impractical and abandoned it.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

As the FV4201 finalized its prototype stages, General Staff sent a revised specification for it. The tank was to have the firepower of the Conqueror with the mobility of the Centurion, an armour that maximizes the protection-weight ratio, a weight limit at 45 ton with a top speed of 26 mph and an operating range of 300 miles. The first wooden prototype was made in March 1959, with full prototypes ordered in June 1959 for troop trials. Vickers-Armstrong and Royal Ordnance Factory shared the manufacturing process and the first prototypes were built in January 1960. The first two prototype FV4201 was trialed in Germany alongside their new [[Leopard I|Leopard 1]]. The greatest issue with the FV4201 was the engine, which caused many failures due to vibration, a result of the flawed multi-fuel concept. Trials were delayed due to lack of parts to fix broken pieces and redesigns were requested to fix problems. After a lengthy trial period in 1962, the FV4201, now named the '''Chieftain''', was sent to the operational unit in Germany for service and combat trials. The Chieftain was finally accepted for service in 1st May 1963, despite the many faults in the design. The first deliveries of the improved and redesigned Chieftains began in mid-1965. These were the ''Chieftain Mk 1's'', which further revealed problems with the horsepower that the ''Mk 2'' was designed and sent in April 1966. The ''[[Chieftain Mk 3]]'' rolled out of the production lines in September 1969, it now weighed 53 tons and the L60 engine was producing 650 hp, still underpowered for the weight. Engine failures were still frequent and left the Chieftain with a sour note until the [[Chieftain Mk 5|Mk 5]] variant fixed these pressing issues with a new engine and NBC protection. The Mk 5 would be the main variant of the Chieftain in British service. During its production life from 1965 to 1985, a total of 2,265 Chieftains would be built by Britain, with about 1,000 used by the British Army.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Service===
The first British units to receive the Chieftains was the 1st and 5th Royal Tank Regiments back during the trials. The Chieftain, despite its initial engine flaws, proved to be combat-proof and could be upgraded to fit new requirements. Some of these upgrades were the addition of composite add-on armour to fight off new anti-tank technology such as the HEAT rounds. The Chieftain earned the title "most formidable tank in the world" during the 1960's Cold War period and also redefined the specifications of a "main battle tank". Its success is due to its novel main gun and heavily sloped armour, as well as a satisfactory mobility and speed able to compete with the Leopard 1. The Chieftain stayed in use by the British Army On the Rhine on the German border with the Warsaw Pact, which caused the Soviets to in turn station their best tanks such as their [[T-64A (1971)|T-64's]] against the Chieftains. The British retained the Chieftains all the way until 1997, when it was replaced by the Challenger II, initially being used in addition to Challenger I.

The Chieftain was also successful on the export market, primarily in the Middle East to the hands of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman. Another user of the Chieftain was Israel, with Britain initially agreeing to help set up production for locally produced Chieftains. Two Chieftains were sent for trials among the Israeli Defense Force in 1967. After two years of trials and deliberation for the acquirement of the Chieftains, Britain ultimately refused to offer the Israelis the Chieftain for political reasons. The Israeli trials benefit Britain with data on desert combat with the Chieftain however, and the refusal did jump start Israel's tank program that would become the ''Merkava''.

Despite that, sales to the Middle East soared, with Iran being the major buyer of the Chieftains with at least 887 of mostly the MK3 and MK5 variants sent to them before their revolution in 1979. The Chieftain saw prolonged combat in the Middle East in the Iran-Iraq War, including Operation Nasr which was the largest tank vs. tank battle of the war where the Iranian Chieftains and [[M60A1 (AOS)|M60A1 Pattons]] fought against the Iraqi [[T-62]]s. After that war, the Chieftain in Kuwait then saw combat fighting the Iraqis during their invasion in 1990. Kuwait eventually replaced their Chieftains with the Yugoslavian M-84 tanks, which are a variant of the Soviet T-72s.

The Chieftain is still in service Iran, Jordan, and Oman in varying numbers, about 100 in Iran, 350 in Jordan, and 27 in Oman. The Chieftains underwent local upgrades to keep them up to date against modern threat, which resulted in the Iran ''Mobarez'' Chieftain upgrade.

===Legacy===
The Chieftain helped revolutionize tank design with its innovative features. The most important was the reclining driver seat, which allowed the tank to have a lower profile as the driver was now that highest part of the hull in tank design. It also had the most powerful NATO tank armament in service until the advent of the German Rheinmetall 120 mm, which came about two decades later. Chieftain can be considered the definitive main battle tank of the 1960s and help transition the path between second-generation main battle tanks and the third.

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

==References==
<references />

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/news/4946-development-chieftain-mk-10-dressing-up-for-war-en [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Chieftain Mk.10: Dressing Up for War]

Chieftain Mk 10

2019-04-04T19:17:25Z

U4392286: /* Survivability and armour */

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_chieftain_mk_10}}
{{Notice|''This page is about the medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''. For other uses, see [[Chieftain (Disambiguation)]]''}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Chieftain_Mk_10.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.71 "New E.R.A"]]..

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

Armour is identical to the earlier Chieftain variants, but with the addition of Stillbrew composite armor over the turret front and turret ring. Stillbrew covers a majority of a hull-down Chieftain's frontal projection, but certain areas are not covered. Weak points include the area directly around the gun breach and a sliver of the turret ring between the hull and turret composite packages.

Due to the very thick, highly angled armor package, Stillbrew-protected areas are very resistant to KE projectiles up until top-tier longrod APFSDS (e.g. DM33, 3BM42, etc.). The simple composition of Stillbrew means it isn't as efficient against CE threats, but it retains a somewhat respectable CE protection of around 500 mm,

'''Armour types:'''

* Stillbrew composite armour (turret front, turret ring)
* Cast homogeneous armour (hull front, turret)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (hull sides, hull rear, hull roof, turret roof)
* Aluminium (side skirts)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 70-127 mm (40-79°) ''Front glacis'' 76.2 mm (40-45°) ''Lower glacis'' 200* mm (0-45°) ''Turret ring'' || 88-220 (8-30°) + 13 mm ''Front Top'' 50 mm (1-31°) ''Center Top'' 37 mm (30°) + 13 mm ''Rear Top'' 37 (10°) + 13 mm ''Bottom'' || 37 mm (1-7°) || 13-28 mm
|-
| Turret || 125-250 + 80-150* mm (2-81°) Turret front 100-220 mm (1-53°) Gun mantlet || 45-196 mm (1-65°) || 45 mm (1°) || 50.8 mm ''Front'' 25 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 150 mm || 25 mm
|-
! Composite armour* !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || '''Turret ring:''' 200 mm ''Kinetic'' 200 mm ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
| Turret || '''Turret front:''' 450 mm ''Kinetic'' 500 mm ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 16 mm of RHA.
* Stillbrew armour at turret ring is pure 200 mm CHA.
* Stillbrew armour on turret front is composed of (80 to 150 mm CHA) + (60 mm rubber) + (150 to 250 mm CHA).

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 57.2 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 53 (AB)
|-
|48 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|1,178
|???
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|672
|???
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|20.59
|???
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|11.75
|???
|-
|}
== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm L11]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 53 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || Two-plane
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 21.4 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 13.4 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 9.70 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 320 || 315 || 305 || 294 || 280 || 270
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 410 || 408 || 405 || 400 || 390 || 380
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 1370 || 7.6 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 1535 || 3.89 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 76° || 77° || 78°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,100 || +0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| L34 || 670 || 17.0 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''53''' ||  ''(+)''||  ''(+)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}


=== Machine guns ===

{{main|L37A1 (7.62 mm)|L8A1 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L37A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L37A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (100) || 650 || -10°/+50° || ±120°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 6,000 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==
''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Stillbrew composite turret armor (protection: 450mm against kinetic rounds and 500mm against chemical rounds).
* Shot L23 APFSDS Capable of penetrating 408mm of steel @ 100m @90°
* Decent gun depression
* Peforms very well in a hull down position

'''Cons:'''

* Bad mobility.
* Upper and lower frontal plates are weak due to the lack of Stillbrew armor.
* Ammo-racks everywhere.

== History ==

===Concept===
The idea of a "universal tank" began in Britain in 1944 when Montgomery and other influential people began advocating for more standardized tank to replace the cruiser and infantry tank classes used on the field. Efforts did not start until after World War II under the General Staff designation A45, with development starting just as the new cruiser tank [[Centurion Mk 3|Centurion]] started to enter military service. The A45 was cancelled in 1948 after development troubles and its inability to be used as a "universal" platform. Ironically, the Centurion proved to be a better "universal tank" platform than the A45.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Development===
The [[Centurion Mk 10|Centurion]] tank series was very successful in British and its allies' service, but development of new Soviet armour such as the [[IS-3]] and [[T-54 (1951)|T-54/55]] caused the British tank arms race to take another leap forward. Development on the Centurion's successor began in 1951 under the name ''Medium Gun Tank No. 2''. The project's priority was gun and armour, but with mobility to be equal to the Centurion's and a weight of less than 45 tons. The weight limit caused a program known as the Concept Study Programme to commence in order to find ways to keep the tank under that weight limit yet meet all the armour and firepower specifications. One of the concept that came out was the usage of bagged charges, which was already in use on naval ships, but was a new concept for tank ammunition. Thus, a gun using the bagged charge propellant system began development in 1954, along with a new specification by General Staff that the Medium Gun Tank No.2, now known as ''FV4201'', uses a conventional four crew tank with a turret and a better gun and armour than the Centurion. Though the [[Conqueror]] heavy tank was one such response to the firepower requirement, limited production cut that to only 200 units built.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

The biggest bump to the firepower of the FV4201 was the recommendation of a 120 mm caliber tank cannon. Though the Conqueror used a 120 mm, the new one would incorporate more innovative features such as the bagged charges. Other design features added was the usage of a Rolls-Royce V8 engine, an auxiliary engine, an automatic gearbox, and a reclining seat for the driver. The reclining seat was a very new feature in tank design as it reduced the vehicle's hull height and thus gave it a lower profile. Leyland Motors was assigned to be the main designer for the tank despite their commitment to the Centurion production lines. The manufacturing process of the tank was decided to be cast rather than welded. In 1957, several specifications added to the FV4201 impeded its attempt to fit in the specifications. A bigger turret was designed and it mounted IR equipment for night fighting. Troops requested more frontal and turret side armour, which along with the turret change caused an increase in the tank's overall weight. A controversial decision was also made in 1957 by NATO that tanks should have multi-fuel engines. The FV4201 installed a new engine conforming to these standards in 1958, a German engine derived from a Junkers Jumo aviation engine. This extended development time since the engine compartment had to be redesigned to fit the engine, raising the total tank weight to 50 tons. The engine, designated the L60, was received with mixed reception by the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) and other users due to its novel features. Britain stayed as the only user of a multi-fuel engine in the Cold War as many other nations found the concept impractical and abandoned it.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

As the FV4201 finalized its prototype stages, General Staff sent a revised specification for it. The tank was to have the firepower of the Conqueror with the mobility of the Centurion, an armour that maximizes the protection-weight ratio, a weight limit at 45 ton with a top speed of 26 mph and an operating range of 300 miles. The first wooden prototype was made in March 1959, with full prototypes ordered in June 1959 for troop trials. Vickers-Armstrong and Royal Ordnance Factory shared the manufacturing process and the first prototypes were built in January 1960. The first two prototype FV4201 was trialed in Germany alongside their new [[Leopard I|Leopard 1]]. The greatest issue with the FV4201 was the engine, which caused many failures due to vibration, a result of the flawed multi-fuel concept. Trials were delayed due to lack of parts to fix broken pieces and redesigns were requested to fix problems. After a lengthy trial period in 1962, the FV4201, now named the '''Chieftain''', was sent to the operational unit in Germany for service and combat trials. The Chieftain was finally accepted for service in 1st May 1963, despite the many faults in the design. The first deliveries of the improved and redesigned Chieftains began in mid-1965. These were the ''Chieftain Mk 1's'', which further revealed problems with the horsepower that the ''Mk 2'' was designed and sent in April 1966. The ''[[Chieftain Mk 3]]'' rolled out of the production lines in September 1969, it now weighed 53 tons and the L60 engine was producing 650 hp, still underpowered for the weight. Engine failures were still frequent and left the Chieftain with a sour note until the [[Chieftain Mk 5|Mk 5]] variant fixed these pressing issues with a new engine and NBC protection. The Mk 5 would be the main variant of the Chieftain in British service. During its production life from 1965 to 1985, a total of 2,265 Chieftains would be built by Britain, with about 1,000 used by the British Army.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Service===
The first British units to receive the Chieftains was the 1st and 5th Royal Tank Regiments back during the trials. The Chieftain, despite its initial engine flaws, proved to be combat-proof and could be upgraded to fit new requirements. Some of these upgrades were the addition of composite add-on armour to fight off new anti-tank technology such as the HEAT rounds. The Chieftain earned the title "most formidable tank in the world" during the 1960's Cold War period and also redefined the specifications of a "main battle tank". Its success is due to its novel main gun and heavily sloped armour, as well as a satisfactory mobility and speed able to compete with the Leopard 1. The Chieftain stayed in use by the British Army On the Rhine on the German border with the Warsaw Pact, which caused the Soviets to in turn station their best tanks such as their [[T-64A (1971)|T-64's]] against the Chieftains. The British retained the Chieftains all the way until 1997, when it was replaced by the Challenger II, initially being used in addition to Challenger I.

The Chieftain was also successful on the export market, primarily in the Middle East to the hands of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman. Another user of the Chieftain was Israel, with Britain initially agreeing to help set up production for locally produced Chieftains. Two Chieftains were sent for trials among the Israeli Defense Force in 1967. After two years of trials and deliberation for the acquirement of the Chieftains, Britain ultimately refused to offer the Israelis the Chieftain for political reasons. The Israeli trials benefit Britain with data on desert combat with the Chieftain however, and the refusal did jump start Israel's tank program that would become the ''Merkava''.

Despite that, sales to the Middle East soared, with Iran being the major buyer of the Chieftains with at least 887 of mostly the MK3 and MK5 variants sent to them before their revolution in 1979. The Chieftain saw prolonged combat in the Middle East in the Iran-Iraq War, including Operation Nasr which was the largest tank vs. tank battle of the war where the Iranian Chieftains and [[M60A1 (AOS)|M60A1 Pattons]] fought against the Iraqi [[T-62]]s. After that war, the Chieftain in Kuwait then saw combat fighting the Iraqis during their invasion in 1990. Kuwait eventually replaced their Chieftains with the Yugoslavian M-84 tanks, which are a variant of the Soviet T-72s.

The Chieftain is still in service Iran, Jordan, and Oman in varying numbers, about 100 in Iran, 350 in Jordan, and 27 in Oman. The Chieftains underwent local upgrades to keep them up to date against modern threat, which resulted in the Iran ''Mobarez'' Chieftain upgrade.

===Legacy===
The Chieftain helped revolutionize tank design with its innovative features. The most important was the reclining driver seat, which allowed the tank to have a lower profile as the driver was now that highest part of the hull in tank design. It also had the most powerful NATO tank armament in service until the advent of the German Rheinmetall 120 mm, which came about two decades later. Chieftain can be considered the definitive main battle tank of the 1960s and help transition the path between second-generation main battle tanks and the third.

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

==References==
<references />

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/news/4946-development-chieftain-mk-10-dressing-up-for-war-en [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Chieftain Mk.10: Dressing Up for War]

Chieftain Mk 10

2019-04-04T19:16:53Z

U4392286: /* Survivability and armour */

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_chieftain_mk_10}}
{{Notice|''This page is about the medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''. For other uses, see [[Chieftain (Disambiguation)]]''}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Chieftain_Mk_10.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.71 "New E.R.A"]]..

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

Armour is identical to the earlier Chieftain variants, but with the addition of Stillbrew composite armor over the turret front and turret ring. Stillbrew covers a majority of a hull-down Chieftain's frontal projection, but certain areas are not covered. Weak points include the area directly around the gun breach and a sliver of the turret ring between the hull and turret composite packages.

Due to the very thick, highly angled armor package, Stillbrew-protected areas are very resistant to KE projectiles up until top-tier longrod APFSDS (e.g. DM33, 3BM42, etc.). The simple composition of Stillbrew means it isn't as efficient against CE threats, but it retains a somewhat respectable CE protection of around 500 mm,

'''Armour types:'''

* Stillbrew composite armour (turret front, turret ring)
* Cast homogeneous armour (hull front, turret)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (hull sides, hull rear, hull roof, turret roof)
* Aluminium (side skirts)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 70-127 mm (40-79°) ''Front glacis'' 76.2 mm (40-45°) ''Lower glacis'' 200* mm (0-45°) ''Turret ring'' || 88-220 (8-30°) + 13 mm ''Front Top'' 50 mm (1-31°) ''Center Top'' 37 mm (30°) + 13 mm ''Rear Top'' 37 (10°) + 13 mm ''Bottom'' || 37 mm (1-7°) || 13-28 mm
|-
| Turret || 125-250 + 80-150* mm (2-81°) Turret front 100-220 mm (1-53°) Gun mantlet || 45-196 mm (1-65°) || 45 mm (1°) || 50.8 mm ''Front'' 25 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 150 mm || 25 mm
|-
! Composite armour* !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || '''Turret ring:''' 200 mm ''Kinetic'' 200 mm ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
| Turret || '''Turret front:''' 450 mm ''Kinetic'' 500 mm ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 16 mm of RHA.
* Stillbrew armour at turret ring is pure 200 mm CHA.
* Stillbrew armour on turret front is composed of (80-150 mm CHA) + (60 mm Rubber) + (150 to 250 mm CHA).

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 57.2 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 53 (AB)
|-
|48 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|1,178
|???
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|672
|???
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|20.59
|???
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|11.75
|???
|-
|}
== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm L11]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 53 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || Two-plane
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 21.4 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 13.4 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 9.70 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 320 || 315 || 305 || 294 || 280 || 270
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 410 || 408 || 405 || 400 || 390 || 380
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 1370 || 7.6 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 1535 || 3.89 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 76° || 77° || 78°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,100 || +0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| L34 || 670 || 17.0 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''53''' ||  ''(+)''||  ''(+)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}


=== Machine guns ===

{{main|L37A1 (7.62 mm)|L8A1 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L37A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L37A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (100) || 650 || -10°/+50° || ±120°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 6,000 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==
''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Stillbrew composite turret armor (protection: 450mm against kinetic rounds and 500mm against chemical rounds).
* Shot L23 APFSDS Capable of penetrating 408mm of steel @ 100m @90°
* Decent gun depression
* Peforms very well in a hull down position

'''Cons:'''

* Bad mobility.
* Upper and lower frontal plates are weak due to the lack of Stillbrew armor.
* Ammo-racks everywhere.

== History ==

===Concept===
The idea of a "universal tank" began in Britain in 1944 when Montgomery and other influential people began advocating for more standardized tank to replace the cruiser and infantry tank classes used on the field. Efforts did not start until after World War II under the General Staff designation A45, with development starting just as the new cruiser tank [[Centurion Mk 3|Centurion]] started to enter military service. The A45 was cancelled in 1948 after development troubles and its inability to be used as a "universal" platform. Ironically, the Centurion proved to be a better "universal tank" platform than the A45.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Development===
The [[Centurion Mk 10|Centurion]] tank series was very successful in British and its allies' service, but development of new Soviet armour such as the [[IS-3]] and [[T-54 (1951)|T-54/55]] caused the British tank arms race to take another leap forward. Development on the Centurion's successor began in 1951 under the name ''Medium Gun Tank No. 2''. The project's priority was gun and armour, but with mobility to be equal to the Centurion's and a weight of less than 45 tons. The weight limit caused a program known as the Concept Study Programme to commence in order to find ways to keep the tank under that weight limit yet meet all the armour and firepower specifications. One of the concept that came out was the usage of bagged charges, which was already in use on naval ships, but was a new concept for tank ammunition. Thus, a gun using the bagged charge propellant system began development in 1954, along with a new specification by General Staff that the Medium Gun Tank No.2, now known as ''FV4201'', uses a conventional four crew tank with a turret and a better gun and armour than the Centurion. Though the [[Conqueror]] heavy tank was one such response to the firepower requirement, limited production cut that to only 200 units built.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

The biggest bump to the firepower of the FV4201 was the recommendation of a 120 mm caliber tank cannon. Though the Conqueror used a 120 mm, the new one would incorporate more innovative features such as the bagged charges. Other design features added was the usage of a Rolls-Royce V8 engine, an auxiliary engine, an automatic gearbox, and a reclining seat for the driver. The reclining seat was a very new feature in tank design as it reduced the vehicle's hull height and thus gave it a lower profile. Leyland Motors was assigned to be the main designer for the tank despite their commitment to the Centurion production lines. The manufacturing process of the tank was decided to be cast rather than welded. In 1957, several specifications added to the FV4201 impeded its attempt to fit in the specifications. A bigger turret was designed and it mounted IR equipment for night fighting. Troops requested more frontal and turret side armour, which along with the turret change caused an increase in the tank's overall weight. A controversial decision was also made in 1957 by NATO that tanks should have multi-fuel engines. The FV4201 installed a new engine conforming to these standards in 1958, a German engine derived from a Junkers Jumo aviation engine. This extended development time since the engine compartment had to be redesigned to fit the engine, raising the total tank weight to 50 tons. The engine, designated the L60, was received with mixed reception by the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) and other users due to its novel features. Britain stayed as the only user of a multi-fuel engine in the Cold War as many other nations found the concept impractical and abandoned it.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

As the FV4201 finalized its prototype stages, General Staff sent a revised specification for it. The tank was to have the firepower of the Conqueror with the mobility of the Centurion, an armour that maximizes the protection-weight ratio, a weight limit at 45 ton with a top speed of 26 mph and an operating range of 300 miles. The first wooden prototype was made in March 1959, with full prototypes ordered in June 1959 for troop trials. Vickers-Armstrong and Royal Ordnance Factory shared the manufacturing process and the first prototypes were built in January 1960. The first two prototype FV4201 was trialed in Germany alongside their new [[Leopard I|Leopard 1]]. The greatest issue with the FV4201 was the engine, which caused many failures due to vibration, a result of the flawed multi-fuel concept. Trials were delayed due to lack of parts to fix broken pieces and redesigns were requested to fix problems. After a lengthy trial period in 1962, the FV4201, now named the '''Chieftain''', was sent to the operational unit in Germany for service and combat trials. The Chieftain was finally accepted for service in 1st May 1963, despite the many faults in the design. The first deliveries of the improved and redesigned Chieftains began in mid-1965. These were the ''Chieftain Mk 1's'', which further revealed problems with the horsepower that the ''Mk 2'' was designed and sent in April 1966. The ''[[Chieftain Mk 3]]'' rolled out of the production lines in September 1969, it now weighed 53 tons and the L60 engine was producing 650 hp, still underpowered for the weight. Engine failures were still frequent and left the Chieftain with a sour note until the [[Chieftain Mk 5|Mk 5]] variant fixed these pressing issues with a new engine and NBC protection. The Mk 5 would be the main variant of the Chieftain in British service. During its production life from 1965 to 1985, a total of 2,265 Chieftains would be built by Britain, with about 1,000 used by the British Army.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Service===
The first British units to receive the Chieftains was the 1st and 5th Royal Tank Regiments back during the trials. The Chieftain, despite its initial engine flaws, proved to be combat-proof and could be upgraded to fit new requirements. Some of these upgrades were the addition of composite add-on armour to fight off new anti-tank technology such as the HEAT rounds. The Chieftain earned the title "most formidable tank in the world" during the 1960's Cold War period and also redefined the specifications of a "main battle tank". Its success is due to its novel main gun and heavily sloped armour, as well as a satisfactory mobility and speed able to compete with the Leopard 1. The Chieftain stayed in use by the British Army On the Rhine on the German border with the Warsaw Pact, which caused the Soviets to in turn station their best tanks such as their [[T-64A (1971)|T-64's]] against the Chieftains. The British retained the Chieftains all the way until 1997, when it was replaced by the Challenger II, initially being used in addition to Challenger I.

The Chieftain was also successful on the export market, primarily in the Middle East to the hands of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman. Another user of the Chieftain was Israel, with Britain initially agreeing to help set up production for locally produced Chieftains. Two Chieftains were sent for trials among the Israeli Defense Force in 1967. After two years of trials and deliberation for the acquirement of the Chieftains, Britain ultimately refused to offer the Israelis the Chieftain for political reasons. The Israeli trials benefit Britain with data on desert combat with the Chieftain however, and the refusal did jump start Israel's tank program that would become the ''Merkava''.

Despite that, sales to the Middle East soared, with Iran being the major buyer of the Chieftains with at least 887 of mostly the MK3 and MK5 variants sent to them before their revolution in 1979. The Chieftain saw prolonged combat in the Middle East in the Iran-Iraq War, including Operation Nasr which was the largest tank vs. tank battle of the war where the Iranian Chieftains and [[M60A1 (AOS)|M60A1 Pattons]] fought against the Iraqi [[T-62]]s. After that war, the Chieftain in Kuwait then saw combat fighting the Iraqis during their invasion in 1990. Kuwait eventually replaced their Chieftains with the Yugoslavian M-84 tanks, which are a variant of the Soviet T-72s.

The Chieftain is still in service Iran, Jordan, and Oman in varying numbers, about 100 in Iran, 350 in Jordan, and 27 in Oman. The Chieftains underwent local upgrades to keep them up to date against modern threat, which resulted in the Iran ''Mobarez'' Chieftain upgrade.

===Legacy===
The Chieftain helped revolutionize tank design with its innovative features. The most important was the reclining driver seat, which allowed the tank to have a lower profile as the driver was now that highest part of the hull in tank design. It also had the most powerful NATO tank armament in service until the advent of the German Rheinmetall 120 mm, which came about two decades later. Chieftain can be considered the definitive main battle tank of the 1960s and help transition the path between second-generation main battle tanks and the third.

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

==References==
<references />

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/news/4946-development-chieftain-mk-10-dressing-up-for-war-en [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Chieftain Mk.10: Dressing Up for War]

Chieftain Mk 10

2019-04-04T19:15:27Z

U4392286: /* Survivability and armour */

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_chieftain_mk_10}}
{{Notice|''This page is about the medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''. For other uses, see [[Chieftain (Disambiguation)]]''}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Chieftain_Mk_10.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{specs|name}}''' is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.71 "New E.R.A"]]..

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

Armour is identical to the earlier Chieftain variants, but with the addition of Stillbrew composite armor over the turret front and turret ring. Stillbrew covers a majority of a hull-down Chieftain's frontal projection, but certain areas are not covered. Weak points include the area directly around the gun breach and a sliver of the turret ring between the hull and turret composite packages.

Due to the very thick, highly angled armor package, Stillbrew-protected areas are very resistant to KE projectiles up until top-tier longrod APFSDS (e.g. DM33, 3BM42, etc.). The simple composition of Stillbrew means it isn't as efficient against CE threats, but it retains a somewhat respectable CE protection of around 500 mm,

'''Armour types:'''

* Stillbrew composite armour (turret front, turret ring)
* Cast homogeneous armour (hull front, turret)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (hull sides, hull rear, hull roof, turret roof)
* Aluminium (side skirts)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 70-127 mm (40-79°) ''Front glacis'' 76.2 mm (40-45°) ''Lower glacis'' 200* mm (0-45°) ''Turret ring'' || 88-220 (8-30°) + 13 mm ''Front Top'' 50 mm (1-31°) ''Center Top'' 37 mm (30°) + 13 mm ''Rear Top'' 37 (10°) + 13 mm ''Bottom'' || 37 mm (1-7°) || 13-28 mm
|-
| Turret || 125-250 + 80-150* mm (2-81°) Turret front 100-220 mm (1-53°) Gun mantlet || 45-196 mm (1-65°) || 45 mm (1°) || 50.8 mm ''Front'' 25 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 150 mm || 25 mm
|-
! Composite armour* !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || '''Turret ring:''' 200 mm ''Kinetic'' 200 mm ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
| Turret || '''Turret front:''' 450 mm ''Kinetic'' 500 mm ''Chemical'' || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 16 mm of RHA.
* Stillbrew armour at turret ring is pure 200 mm CHA.
* Stillbrew armour on turret front is composed of 80-150 mm CHA + 60 mm Rubber + 150-250 mm CHA.

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 57.2 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 53 (AB)
|-
|48 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|1,178
|???
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|672
|???
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|20.59
|???
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|11.75
|???
|-
|}
== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm L11]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 53 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || Two-plane
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 21.4 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 13.4 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 9.70 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 320 || 315 || 305 || 294 || 280 || 270
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 410 || 408 || 405 || 400 || 390 || 380
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 1370 || 7.6 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 1535 || 3.89 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 76° || 77° || 78°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,100 || +0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| L34 || 670 || 17.0 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''53''' ||  ''(+)''||  ''(+)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}


=== Machine guns ===

{{main|L37A1 (7.62 mm)|L8A1 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L37A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L37A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (100) || 650 || -10°/+50° || ±120°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 6,000 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==
''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Stillbrew composite turret armor (protection: 450mm against kinetic rounds and 500mm against chemical rounds).
* Shot L23 APFSDS Capable of penetrating 408mm of steel @ 100m @90°
* Decent gun depression
* Peforms very well in a hull down position

'''Cons:'''

* Bad mobility.
* Upper and lower frontal plates are weak due to the lack of Stillbrew armor.
* Ammo-racks everywhere.

== History ==

===Concept===
The idea of a "universal tank" began in Britain in 1944 when Montgomery and other influential people began advocating for more standardized tank to replace the cruiser and infantry tank classes used on the field. Efforts did not start until after World War II under the General Staff designation A45, with development starting just as the new cruiser tank [[Centurion Mk 3|Centurion]] started to enter military service. The A45 was cancelled in 1948 after development troubles and its inability to be used as a "universal" platform. Ironically, the Centurion proved to be a better "universal tank" platform than the A45.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Development===
The [[Centurion Mk 10|Centurion]] tank series was very successful in British and its allies' service, but development of new Soviet armour such as the [[IS-3]] and [[T-54 (1951)|T-54/55]] caused the British tank arms race to take another leap forward. Development on the Centurion's successor began in 1951 under the name ''Medium Gun Tank No. 2''. The project's priority was gun and armour, but with mobility to be equal to the Centurion's and a weight of less than 45 tons. The weight limit caused a program known as the Concept Study Programme to commence in order to find ways to keep the tank under that weight limit yet meet all the armour and firepower specifications. One of the concept that came out was the usage of bagged charges, which was already in use on naval ships, but was a new concept for tank ammunition. Thus, a gun using the bagged charge propellant system began development in 1954, along with a new specification by General Staff that the Medium Gun Tank No.2, now known as ''FV4201'', uses a conventional four crew tank with a turret and a better gun and armour than the Centurion. Though the [[Conqueror]] heavy tank was one such response to the firepower requirement, limited production cut that to only 200 units built.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

The biggest bump to the firepower of the FV4201 was the recommendation of a 120 mm caliber tank cannon. Though the Conqueror used a 120 mm, the new one would incorporate more innovative features such as the bagged charges. Other design features added was the usage of a Rolls-Royce V8 engine, an auxiliary engine, an automatic gearbox, and a reclining seat for the driver. The reclining seat was a very new feature in tank design as it reduced the vehicle's hull height and thus gave it a lower profile. Leyland Motors was assigned to be the main designer for the tank despite their commitment to the Centurion production lines. The manufacturing process of the tank was decided to be cast rather than welded. In 1957, several specifications added to the FV4201 impeded its attempt to fit in the specifications. A bigger turret was designed and it mounted IR equipment for night fighting. Troops requested more frontal and turret side armour, which along with the turret change caused an increase in the tank's overall weight. A controversial decision was also made in 1957 by NATO that tanks should have multi-fuel engines. The FV4201 installed a new engine conforming to these standards in 1958, a German engine derived from a Junkers Jumo aviation engine. This extended development time since the engine compartment had to be redesigned to fit the engine, raising the total tank weight to 50 tons. The engine, designated the L60, was received with mixed reception by the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) and other users due to its novel features. Britain stayed as the only user of a multi-fuel engine in the Cold War as many other nations found the concept impractical and abandoned it.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

As the FV4201 finalized its prototype stages, General Staff sent a revised specification for it. The tank was to have the firepower of the Conqueror with the mobility of the Centurion, an armour that maximizes the protection-weight ratio, a weight limit at 45 ton with a top speed of 26 mph and an operating range of 300 miles. The first wooden prototype was made in March 1959, with full prototypes ordered in June 1959 for troop trials. Vickers-Armstrong and Royal Ordnance Factory shared the manufacturing process and the first prototypes were built in January 1960. The first two prototype FV4201 was trialed in Germany alongside their new [[Leopard I|Leopard 1]]. The greatest issue with the FV4201 was the engine, which caused many failures due to vibration, a result of the flawed multi-fuel concept. Trials were delayed due to lack of parts to fix broken pieces and redesigns were requested to fix problems. After a lengthy trial period in 1962, the FV4201, now named the '''Chieftain''', was sent to the operational unit in Germany for service and combat trials. The Chieftain was finally accepted for service in 1st May 1963, despite the many faults in the design. The first deliveries of the improved and redesigned Chieftains began in mid-1965. These were the ''Chieftain Mk 1's'', which further revealed problems with the horsepower that the ''Mk 2'' was designed and sent in April 1966. The ''[[Chieftain Mk 3]]'' rolled out of the production lines in September 1969, it now weighed 53 tons and the L60 engine was producing 650 hp, still underpowered for the weight. Engine failures were still frequent and left the Chieftain with a sour note until the [[Chieftain Mk 5|Mk 5]] variant fixed these pressing issues with a new engine and NBC protection. The Mk 5 would be the main variant of the Chieftain in British service. During its production life from 1965 to 1985, a total of 2,265 Chieftains would be built by Britain, with about 1,000 used by the British Army.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Service===
The first British units to receive the Chieftains was the 1st and 5th Royal Tank Regiments back during the trials. The Chieftain, despite its initial engine flaws, proved to be combat-proof and could be upgraded to fit new requirements. Some of these upgrades were the addition of composite add-on armour to fight off new anti-tank technology such as the HEAT rounds. The Chieftain earned the title "most formidable tank in the world" during the 1960's Cold War period and also redefined the specifications of a "main battle tank". Its success is due to its novel main gun and heavily sloped armour, as well as a satisfactory mobility and speed able to compete with the Leopard 1. The Chieftain stayed in use by the British Army On the Rhine on the German border with the Warsaw Pact, which caused the Soviets to in turn station their best tanks such as their [[T-64A (1971)|T-64's]] against the Chieftains. The British retained the Chieftains all the way until 1997, when it was replaced by the Challenger II, initially being used in addition to Challenger I.

The Chieftain was also successful on the export market, primarily in the Middle East to the hands of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman. Another user of the Chieftain was Israel, with Britain initially agreeing to help set up production for locally produced Chieftains. Two Chieftains were sent for trials among the Israeli Defense Force in 1967. After two years of trials and deliberation for the acquirement of the Chieftains, Britain ultimately refused to offer the Israelis the Chieftain for political reasons. The Israeli trials benefit Britain with data on desert combat with the Chieftain however, and the refusal did jump start Israel's tank program that would become the ''Merkava''.

Despite that, sales to the Middle East soared, with Iran being the major buyer of the Chieftains with at least 887 of mostly the MK3 and MK5 variants sent to them before their revolution in 1979. The Chieftain saw prolonged combat in the Middle East in the Iran-Iraq War, including Operation Nasr which was the largest tank vs. tank battle of the war where the Iranian Chieftains and [[M60A1 (AOS)|M60A1 Pattons]] fought against the Iraqi [[T-62]]s. After that war, the Chieftain in Kuwait then saw combat fighting the Iraqis during their invasion in 1990. Kuwait eventually replaced their Chieftains with the Yugoslavian M-84 tanks, which are a variant of the Soviet T-72s.

The Chieftain is still in service Iran, Jordan, and Oman in varying numbers, about 100 in Iran, 350 in Jordan, and 27 in Oman. The Chieftains underwent local upgrades to keep them up to date against modern threat, which resulted in the Iran ''Mobarez'' Chieftain upgrade.

===Legacy===
The Chieftain helped revolutionize tank design with its innovative features. The most important was the reclining driver seat, which allowed the tank to have a lower profile as the driver was now that highest part of the hull in tank design. It also had the most powerful NATO tank armament in service until the advent of the German Rheinmetall 120 mm, which came about two decades later. Chieftain can be considered the definitive main battle tank of the 1960s and help transition the path between second-generation main battle tanks and the third.

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

==References==
<references />

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/news/4946-development-chieftain-mk-10-dressing-up-for-war-en [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Chieftain Mk.10: Dressing Up for War]

Black Prince

2019-03-28T19:44:28Z

U4392286: /* Usage in the battles */ Completely incorrect description of turret armor, the 10mm and 50mm portions sit ON TOP OF the normal 152mm turret armor.

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_a_43_black_prince}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Black Prince.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''A.43 Black Prince''' is a Rank IV gift British infantry tank with a battle rating of 6.0. The tank was added in [[Update_1.53_"Firestorm"|Update 1.53 "Firestorm"]] and is one of the first British tanks to be introduced into the game. The vehicle is a modified Churchill tank, featuring heavier armour and a heavier primary armament, which gives it superior firepower and protection at the cost of the vehicle's mobility.

The A43 Black Prince has the legendary OQF-17 Pounder Cannon; this cannon was made famous by the '''[[Sherman Firefly|Sherman Firefly]]''', '''[[Achilles|M10 Achilles]]''' and its ability to destroy the German 8.8 cm heavy tanks such as the [[Tiger_H1|Tiger tank]] It also features a single 7.62 mm BESA machine gun, which works great for destroying light tanks and SPAA vehicles.

The A43 Black prince makes enemy players retreat in fear, as it offers one of the most powerful guns available in the game, capable of destroying a [[Ferdinand|Ferdinand]], [[IS-2]] and other tanks from over 1 km away. The reloading time is great for its rank, at a mere 7.6s and when coupled with the tank's heavy armour, can stand as quite a lethal opponent.

However, the Black Prince does have some negatives. The extra armour adds extra weight to the vehicle, which makes it rather slow with a top speed of 10MPH and only -1MPH reverse speed. With the tank's low profile, it makes it difficult to see over foreign obstacles such as debris, hills and walls. The A43 is a rather long tank, and as such, it's not impossible to get wedged between ditches, or get stuck when climbing over an obstacle, as the vehicle lacks sufficient engine power required to pull itself over the obstacles. The only weakness in the Black Prince's excellent armour is along the sides, and its vulnerability to HE rounds, which will often bounce and enter through the roof. The ammunition is located along the sides of the vehicle, making these a primary weakspot for enemy players to target.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Turret front, Turret sides, Cupola)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
| colspan="6" align="center" | '''Tank Armour Table'''
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 152 mm ''Front plate'' 57 mm (70°) ''Front glacis'' 139 mm (20-60°) ''Lower glacis'' || 82 mm ''Top'' 95 mm ''Bottom'' || 51 mm (20°) ''Top'' 25 mm (60°) ''Bottom'' || 25 mm ''Front'' 18 mm ''Engine deck''
|-
| Turret || 152 mm (6-83°) ''Turret front'' 152 mm (0-25°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 95 mm || 101 + 4 mm || 38 mm (73°) ''Front'' 18 mm ''Bottom''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 100 mm || 38 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and chassis construction are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 18-25 mm thick.
* There is a 19 mm thick plate separating the engine compartment to the crew's.
* A 50 mm turret ring shield is present on the front of the turret.

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armour weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 50.0 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 18.3 (AB)
|-
|17.2 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|452
|556
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|310
|350
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|9.04
|11.12
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|6.20
|7.00
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|Ordnance QF 17-pounder (76 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Ordnance QF 17-pounder (76 mm)|76 mm OQF 17-pounder]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 89 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 10.1 || 14.0 || _._ || _._ || _._
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 10.1 || 11.9 || _._ || _._ || _._
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 7.6 || _._ || _._ || _._
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot Mk.6 || AP || 160 || 157 || 133 || 112 || 96 || 86
|-
| Shell Mk.1 || HE || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9
|-
| Shot Mk.4 || APC || 165 || 160 || 138 || 108 || 94 || 81
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || APCBC || 171 || 168 || 156 || 143 || 130 || 120
|-
| Shot SV Mk.1 || APDS || 228 || 226 || 207 || 189 || 159 || 134
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot Mk.6 || AP || 883 || 7.7 || N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shell Mk.1 || HE || 883 || 7.0 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 883 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| Shot Mk.4 || APC || 883 || 7.7 || N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || APCBC || 883 || 7.7 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot SV Mk.1 || APDS || 1203 || 1.7 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| 17pdr Shell SS Mk.1 || 754 || 8.4 || 13 || 5 || 20 || 50
|-
|}

===== Shell types =====
The Black Prince is equipped with some of the most lethal ammunition types in the game. It can carry a combination of different type or just a single type of projectiles.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Round !! Shell composition !! Combat usage
|-
| Shell Mk.1 || '''HE''' - '''H'''igh '''E'''xplosive ('''HE''') || It is ideal for destroying SPAA and Lightly armoured tanks
|-
| Shot Mk.4 || '''APC''' - '''A'''rmor '''P'''iercing '''C'''ap || When the standard round fails to penetrate
|-
| Shot Mk.6 || '''AP''' - '''A'''rmour '''P'''iercing || It is able to to knocking out crew and vital parts such as engines, tract, cannons etc.
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || '''APCBC''' - '''A'''rmour '''P'''iercing '''C'''apped '''B'''allistic '''C'''ap || It is able to penetrate and detonated inside of the enemy tank causing maximum damage.
|-
| Shot SV Mk.1 || '''APDS''' - '''A'''rmour '''P'''iercing '''D'''iscarding '''S'''abot || This is able to cause maximum damage to enemy tanks.
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''XX''' || XX ''(+XX)'' || XX ''(+XX)'' || XX ''(+XX)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|BESA (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[BESA (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm BESA]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 8,100 (225) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

When playing this tank you will, immediately notice the speed and length, it is not a fast tank. You will also notice that it can sometimes struggle to get up hills and small embankments. It is recommended, to stay on flat terrain and to make small sharp turns. This will keep more momentum than a single big turn which will lose most of your much needed momentum.

The A43 Black Prince has one of the thickest armour installations of any tanks. The front is able to be continuously hit by larger and more powerful calibre tanks at close range without taking much, if any damage. However, if you come up against a tank shooting HEAT or HE rounds they will likely penetrate the armour with ease. Do not expose the sides to the enemy player, as it is one of the weakest parts of the tank, seconded only to the lower front part of the turret. Not only that, the sides contain the location of the ammunition; If it is hit, it is likely to detonate. If the ammunition does not detonate, the vehicle's crew will be incapacitated.

The Black Prince has a slow transverse turret at 10.5 degrees a second. This is one of the most heavily armoured turrets in the game. With the only weakness being the roof.
It lacks a top-mounted machine gun, which is normally a deterrent against low flying aircraft, making the vehicle more vulnerable to be attacks by a planes, and an easy target for bombers. The turret's slow traverse speed also makes the use of the internal machine gun useless against aircraft attacks.
Due to the low profile of this tank, being hit in the lower front turret is a rare occurrence. You still need to be careful of HEAT and HE rounds, as the low profile design will allow the enemy rounds to enter the turret's machine gun port and either knock out the loader: if using an APCR or solid shot round, OR, if using other rounds such as APCBC, APBC and HEAT, it is very likely that all the turret crew will be eliminated.

However, the A43 Black Prince does have one of the most powerful cannons in the game, and is capable of destroying tiger tanks and other heavily armoured vehicles from short to long distances, and is equipped with many different ammunition types which are viable for different situations. The APDS is the recommended choice for giving the gun the full potential of being capable of destroying more heavily armoured targets at longer ranges.

When engaged in combat with heavier and more lethal vehicles, using the APDS rounds will allow you to cause major/critical damage. In-order to get the most protection for the tank and crew, do not expose the sides or allow enemies to get to the rear of the vehicle. Instead, turn the front of tank towards the enemy player but give it a slight angle. The enemy rounds will have a higher chance of richocheting off of the frontal plate, however, if the enemy tank uses HE ammunition, there is a high chance that the round may bounce and enter the vehicle's roof.

If engaged in close quarters combat, do not allow the other tank to circle and flank you, instead aim for the vehicle's tracks and destroy them and move away, then finish it off. Most importantly, do not allow them to get the rear of the tank, as you will be unable to effectively hit the enemy due to the twin radiators on the back of the vehicle, and the turret's slow traverse.

In terms of tactics:

'''Offensive:''' Keep your distance from enemy tanks, as the cannon is capable of destroying most tanks from long distances with relative ease. Combined with the slow speed of the vehicle, you'll find yourself being capable of firing on the move despite the lack of a stabiliser. The tank's low profile makes it difficult to see over terrain and obstacles, so it is often best to remain on level ground.

Avoid letting the enemy flank you at all costs, as the sides of the Black Prince are the softest weak points, containing the ammunition storage. If the sides of the vehicle are penetrated by enemy rounds, the ammunition will likely detonate, or the crew will be knocked out/critically injured, making you an easy target.

It's best to avoid letting enemy players flank you from behind, as the turret's traverse will prevent you from being able to hit them quick enough, and the twin radiators on the back of the vehicle will prevent the turret from rotating all the way.

 '''Defensive:''' When playing the Black Prince, it is often best to find a well-protected and concealed place, I.E. an ally tank, dense woodland or between rubble. Make sure the front of the tank is facing the enemy with a slight angle in order to get the most out of the vehicle's armour, whilst the cannon will allow you to destroy the enemy tanks from long distances. However don’t expose the sides or the rear due to weakness and some vulnerability in the design of the tank.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* Powerful primary armament
** High weapon accuracy
** Ammunition is not stored in the turret
** APDS is able to penetrate and cause major damage to enemies from long distances, and is capable of destroying most tanks in a single shot at close ranges. (As long as you know where to hit)
** Various ammunition types which can be lethal
** Good reloading speed of 7.6s with stock crew, with further crew skills and qualifications, it becomes one of the fastest in the rank.
* Great Armour
** Effective at long ranges
** Frontal armour can often only be penetrated at close range
** The turret's armour is strong compared to others in the same rank
** The lower front of the turret has an additional 50mms of armour
* Repair times
**The vehicle can often be repaired quickly
* Crew
** With advancement on crew skills and qualifications, the tank can be a lethal opponent
* Good Rewards
** Being a premium vehicle, the Silver Lion and Research Point output can be quite high

'''Cons:'''

* Mobility.
** The vehicle's traverse is slow compared to others in the same rank
** It struggles to climb hills without losing significant speed
** Max speed 10 Mph (16 Kph).
** Max reverse speed of -1 Mph (-1.6 Kph).
** The vehicle can often not be able to climb steep hills
** The length of the vehicle can get it stuck in ditches easily
*Ammunition.
** Ammunition is stored in the sides of the tank, making it easy to hit
* Armour
** The vehicle's side armour is weak, allowing it to be easily damaged from the sides.
* Turret
** The turret's traverse is slow compared to others at only 10.5/s
** The rear mounted radiators make shooting from behind tedious
** The low profile can make shooting over obstacles hard
** The vehicle is vulnerable to most HE and explosive-based ammunition
** The turret machine gun port is only 10mms thick, and can be penetrated easily
** Lacks any form of top-mounted anti-aircraft weaponry

== History ==

===Development===
The '''Black Prince''' is an experimental design that was to use the British Infantry tank, the [[Churchill Mk VII|Churchill]], as the basis with much more armour and a better gun. The name originates from Edward of Woodstock, otherwise known as the “Black Prince”, a 14th century military leader. The Churchill and its branch of infantry tanks, in the course of World War II, was becoming slightly obsolete in the highly mobile style of warfare the cruiser tanks proved much better at. The infantry tanks were originally made for heavy, breakthrough style of warfare with infantry, so they were kept around in a style of “heavy tanks”, but the Axis’ gradually increasing anti-tank capacity caused the armour of the infantry tanks to be considered insufficient.

To keep the infantry tanks relevant in the course of World War II, the Churchill was upgraded in armour and armament to better compete against the changing anti-tank warfare, starting in 1943. The original Churchill tank in the later part of World War II had the QF 75 mm cannon (British-produced 75 mm from the Americans) and about 102 mm of armour average, and weighed about 38 tons. The Black Prince upgraded the armour to 152 mm thick, widened the tracks by 10 inches, modified the suspensions for the new weight. The 75 mm gun was instead replaced by the QF 17-pounder cannon, which was one of the best Allied anti-tank guns in service. The larger gun required a larger turret and a larger turret ring on the hull. All these modifications increased the tank weight by ten tons, but kept the engine used in the regular Churchill, so the tank was considered under-powered, only able to reach up to 10 mph on roads and this limited the tank’s operational radius. The tank was designated the '''Tank, Infantry, Black Prince (A43)''' and the A43 model was for a Staff Specification number issued in 1943 for an interim tank that could be made until the development of a “Universal Tank”.

===Deployment===
However, by the time the Black Prince was ready in May 1945; it was too late for it to see service in World War II. Even if it had, many more tank designs such as the [[Sherman Firefly|Sherman Firefly]] and the [[Comet I|Comet]] are much more mobile and effective, yet have the same 17-pounder gun available. Also, a new tank about to be introduced, the [[Centurion Mk 1|Centurion]], has the same protection level as the Black Prince, yet with the same gun and is way more mobile than the Black Prince. This caused the Black Prince to fall into obsolescence and the project, along with the entire line of the infantry tank concept in British tank doctrine, was abandoned in favor of a concept of more mobile tanks with great firepower and protection, which would eventually form the idea of the main battle tanks.

== Media ==

'''Skins''' and camouflages for the Black Prince from http://live.warthunder.com:

*[http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23A43 '''#A43''' Keyword]
*[http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23black_prince '''#black_prince''' Keyword] (more choses)
{{Youtube-gallery|OPzYg0Ely_Y|Review War Thunder Black Prince Gameplay & Review by ''DigitalDigging''|jAIrKnD83YY|Review War Thunder Black Prince Spotlight by ''Minoxen''}}

===Obtainable===
This tank can only be obtained; exclusively with the purchase of, one of the following British tank packs. The packs are currently available to buy; from the official war thunder store. For Playstation 4 it can indeed be brought from the official PSN store. 
[https://store.gaijin.net/story.php?title=A43-Black-Prince-Advanced-Pack War Thunder A43 Black Prince Adanced Pack] [https://store.gaijin.net/story.php?title=Royal-Guard-Advanced-Pack War Thunder Royal Guard Advanced Pack]

[https://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/827/ [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Pioneering British Tanks in War Thunder with developer's answers]

== Read also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

''ETC.''

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain heavy tanks}}
{{Britain premium ground vehicles}}

Chieftain Mk 3

2019-02-01T19:27:19Z

U4392286: Overall clarifications, information additions, and grammatical improvements.

{{Specs-Card|code=uk_chieftain_mk_3}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_ChieftainMk3.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{specs|name}}''' is a Rank VI British medium tank with a battle rating of {{specs|br|ab}} (AB) and {{specs|br|rb}} (RB/SB). It was introduced in [[Update 1.57 "Battle March"]] and established the series of end-game ground vehicle for the British tree. The Chieftain imposes a formidable force of reckoning on the battlefield with its heavily sloped armour and powerful [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm armament]].

The Cheiftain series maintains the traditional UK lower front plate weak spot and strong turret armour of the Centurion series of tanks while increasing the firepower. Top speed increases from the Centurion line, but overall mobility is comparably worse.

'''Mobility:''' 
The Chieftain Mk.3 suffers from poor a horsepower to tonne ratio. It is slow to reach its top speed of 41 km/h on almost any surface and will turn very slowly even when all mobility modules are researched. The Chieftain especially struggles up hill and when pivoting. It has a decent reverse speed (~9.4 km/h, compared to the 13 km/h reverse speed of tanks on the Centurion chassis).

'''Armour:''' 
A major improvement from previous British mediums is the Chieftain's thick, sloped armour. Reaching a compound-angled 152 mm on the turret and a respectable 86 mm at 71° on the upper front hull, the Chieftain can actually resist point-blank shots from some cannons it will face at 8.3. In an uptier, however, most of these benefits have less impact. This tank should avoid exposing its hull as certain tanks at (and most above) 8.3 can penetrate the hull with an APFSDS shot, knocking out the entire crew or detonating an ammo rack. Armour around the gun breach leaves something to be desired. Lower-tier APDS rounds (e.g. a T-54/55's APDS) can penetrate the right turret face at closer ranges, killing the gunner and commander. The lower glacis is 76 mm at 45°, leading to a significant disadvantage in close-range engagements. Even 7.3 tanks (and many below 7.3) will always penetrate the lower glacis. The Chieftain also has thin side armour, meaning that the tank is vulnerable to flank attacks. The thin side armour also means angling the hull is not effective. A Chieftain should remain hull down (at the very least covering the lower frontal plate) to best take advantage of its armor profile.

'''Firepower:''' 
The Chieftain's 120 mm gun has access to APDS and HESH when stock, with no researchable ammunition. The APDS shell has a very good slope modifier compared to other APDS and will penetrate essentially any vehicle from 8.3 to 9.3, but has relatively weak post-penetration effects. HESH behaves similar to other HESH shells in game and is a more situational round. The cannon's reload rate is much faster than average for its calibre at its BR (7.5 seconds with a fully-trained crew).

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

* Cast homogeneous armour (Hull front, Turret)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull sides, Hull rear, Hull roof, Turret roof)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 70-127 mm (43-79°) ''Front glacis'' 76.2 mm (43-44°) ''Lower glacis'' || 88-220 (8-30°) + 13 mm ''Front Top'' 50 mm (1-31°) ''Center Top'' 37 mm (30°) + 13 mm ''Rear Top'' 37 (10°) + 13 mm ''Bottom'' || 37 mm (1-7°) || 13-28 mm
|-
| Turret || 125-250 mm (2-81°) ''Turret front'' 100-220 mm (1-53°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 45-196 mm (1-65°) || 45 mm (1°) || 50.8 mm ''Front'' 25 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 150 mm || 25 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Armour thickness throughout the vehicle is very complex and the tank relies more on sloping thickness to enhance its effective armour.
* The metal boxes on the sides of the turret and hull are 13 mm of structural steel.

=== Mobility ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
|-
! Weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Add-on Armor weight (tons)
! colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 54.4 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 45 (AB)
|-
|41 (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|1,023
|1,259
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|584
|660
|-
! colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
! colspan="1" | Mode
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
|''Arcade''
|18.80
|23.14
|-
|''Realistic/Simulator''
|10.73
|12.13
|-
|}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Ordnance BL Tk. L11 (120 mm)|120 mm L11]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 53 || -10°/+20° || ±180° || Two-plane
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 13.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 13.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 9.70 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 320 || 315 || 305 || 294 || 280 || 270
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| Shot L15A3 || APDS || 1370 || 7.6 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,100 || +0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke characteristic
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity in m/s
! Projectile Mass in kg
! ''Screen radius in m''
! ''Screen time in s''
! ''Screen hold time in s:''
! ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
|-
| L34 || 670 || 17.0 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks_ChieftainMk3.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|Ammo racks of the Chieftain Mk.3.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''53''' ||  ''(+)''||  ''(+)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}

Turret empty: 30 ''(+23)''

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|L21A1 (12.7 mm)|L37A1 (7.62 mm)|L8A1 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L21A1 (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm L21A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount (Ranging)''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 588 (3) || 300 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L37A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L37A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (100) || 650 || -10°/+50° || ±120°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[L8A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A1]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 6,000 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

Fundamental average for Chieftain: its rate of shooting and its penetration. With Chieftain there is few vehicle being able to resist to you, perhaps [[T95|T95]] or [[Maus|Maus]], without your skill. Shoot anywhere at your enemy with L15A3 shells, you penetrate armour. Know where you shoot, you will kill all your enemies. That requires good knowledge of the enemy tanks. You have to know where are the shells, fuel tanks, crews. Don’t trouble about the shielding of adversary, your Chieftain is a knife for butter. If you don't know your enemy, look in top on the right during replay penetration to locate the strategic places.

'''In long range fight:''' 
Your gun is very precise with all the shooting ameliorations. Do not forget to protect your frame, it is fragile. The turret protects you well. Invest in camouflage plants, 1 or 2 seconds lost by the aiming enemy is deadly for him.

'''An aggressive way to play:''' 
Your best clients are the German “Leopards” and all the Russian series “T-xx”. Shoot it on front frame, where the shells are, for an assured popcorn effect. Don’t hesitated to try this on IS-3/4 or T-26/28/29, only shell place change (front side or turret rear).
Other tanks could be easily knocked out with fuel tank, or disabled in aiming crew member. Dont forget that reload time is your best friend.
Beware to the width of Chieftain, often you let appear vulnerable parts when you turn in a transverse street.

===Modules===
The first upgrades to head for is ''Parts'' and ''FPE'' for increased survivability. Once you got these two, everything is good, but get the rangefinder for enhanced RB or SB gameplay.

*Spare parts.
*Tracks. (Critical for hull rotation speed. In the Chieftain, you'll need every little degree of speed.)
*Extinguishers FPE.
*Horizontal drive.
*Adjustment shooting.
*Elevation mechanism.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* Very good turret
* Can bounce APDS and also HEATFS with the turret
* Front hull armour is sloped very sharply
* Excellent reload time for a 120 mm
* Access to 400mm penetrating APDS shells and HESH shells immediately
* 10 degrees of gun depression
* Has access to a dual plane stabiliser
* Unlike other British tanks, it has a respectable reverse speed

'''Cons:'''

* Weak hull armour overall
* Lower frontal plate is very poorly armoured, and has an ammo rack behind it
* Very weak side and rear armour
* Ammo rack everywhere
* Small ammo variety (APDS or HESH only)
* APDS deals minimal damage
* Slowest of all MBTs

== History ==

===Concept===
The idea of a "universal tank" began in Britain in 1944 when Montgomery and other influential people began advocating for more standardized tank to replace the cruiser and infantry tank classes used on the field. Efforts did not start until after World War II under the General Staff designation A45, with development starting just as the new cruiser tank [[Centurion Mk 3|Centurion]] started to enter military service. The A45 was cancelled in 1948 after development troubles and its inability to be used as a "universal" platform. Ironically, the Centurion proved to be a better "universal tank" platform than the A45.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Development===
The [[Centurion Mk 10|Centurion]] tank series was very successful in British and its allies' service, but development of new Soviet armour such as the [[IS-3]] and [[T-54 (1951)|T-54/55]] caused the British tank arms race to take another leap forward. Development on the Centurion's successor began in 1951 under the name ''Medium Gun Tank No. 2''. The project's priority was gun and armour, but with mobility to be equal to the Centurion's and a weight of less than 45 tons. The weight limit caused a program known as the Concept Study Programme to commence in order to find ways to keep the tank under that weight limit yet meet all the armour and firepower specifications. One of the concept that came out was the usage of bagged charges, which was already in use on naval ships, but was a new concept for tank ammunition. Thus, a gun using the bagged charge propellant system began development in 1954, along with a new specification by General Staff that the Medium Gun Tank No.2, now known as ''FV4201'', uses a conventional four crew tank with a turret and a better gun and armour than the Centurion. Though the [[Conqueror|Conqueror heavy tank]] was one such response to the firepower requirement, limited production cut that to only 200 units built.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

The biggest bump to the firepower of the FV4201 was the recommendation of a 120 mm caliber tank cannon. Though the Conqueror used a 120 mm, the new one would incorporate more innovative features such as the bagged charges. Other design features added was the usage of a Rolls-Royce V8 engine, an auxiliary engine, an automatic gearbox, and a reclining seat for the driver. The reclining seat was a very new feature in tank design as it reduced the vehicle's hull height and thus gave it a lower profile. Leyland Motors was assigned to be the main designer for the tank despite their commitment to the Centurion production lines. The manufacturing process of the tank was decided to be cast rather than welded. In 1957, several specifications added to the FV4201 impeded its attempt to fit in the specifications. A bigger turret was designed and it mounted IR equipment for night fighting. Troops requested more frontal and turret side armour, which along with the turret change caused an increase in the tank's overall weight. A controversial decision was also made in 1957 by NATO that tanks should have multi-fuel engines. The FV4201 installed a new engine conforming to these standards in 1958, a German engine derived from a Junkers Jumo aviation engine. This extended development time since the engine compartment had to be redesigned to fit the engine, raising the total tank weight to 50 tons. The engine, designated the L60, was received with mixed reception by the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) and other users due to its novel features. Britain stayed as the only user of a multi-fuel engine in the Cold War as many other nations found the concept impractical and abandoned it.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

As the FV4201 finalized its prototype stages, General Staff sent a revised specification for it. The tank was to have the firepower of the Conqueror with the mobility of the Centurion, an armour that maximizes the protection-weight ratio, a weight limit at 45 ton with a top speed of 26 mph and an operating range of 300 miles. The first wooden prototype was made in March 1959, with full prototypes ordered in June 1959 for troop trials. Vickers-Armstrong and Royal Ordnance Factory shared the manufacturing process and the first prototypes were built in January 1960. The first two prototype FV4201 was trialed in Germany alongside their new [[Leopard I|Leopard 1]]. The greatest issue with the FV4201 was the engine, which caused many failures due to vibration, a result of the flawed multi-fuel concept. Trials were delayed due to lack of parts to fix broken pieces and redesigns were requested to fix problems. After a lengthy trial period in 1962, the FV4201, now named the '''Chieftain''', was sent to the operational unit in Germany for service and combat trials. The Chieftain was finally accepted for service in 1st May 1963, despite the many faults in the design. The first deliveries of the improved and redesigned Chieftains began in mid-1965. These were the ''Chieftain Mk.1's'', which further revealed problems with the horsepower that the ''Mk.2'' was designed and sent in April 1966. The '''Chieftain Mk.3''' rolled out of the production lines in September 1969, it now weighed 53 tons and the L60 engine was producing 650 hp, still underpowered for the weight. Engine failures were still frequent and left the Chieftain with a sour note until the ''Mk.5'' variant fixed these pressing issues with a new engine and NBC protection. The Mk.5 would be the main variant of the Chieftain in British service. During its production life from 1965 to 1985, a total of 2,265 Chieftains would be built by Britain, with about 1,000 used by the British Army.<ref name="DunstanChieftain">Dunstan Simon. ''Chieftain Main Battle Tank 1965-2003'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2003</ref>

===Service===
The first British units to receive the Chieftains was the 1st and 5th Royal Tank Regiments back during the trials. The Chieftain, despite its initial engine flaws, proved to be combat-proof and could be upgraded to fit new requirements. Some of these upgrades were the addition of composite add-on armour to fight off new anti-tank technology such as the HEAT rounds. The Chieftain earned the title "most formidable tank in the world" during the 1960's Cold War period and also redefined the specifications of a "main battle tank". Its success is due to its novel main gun and heavily sloped armour, as well as a satisfactory mobility and speed able to compete with the Leopard 1. The Chieftain stayed in use by the British Army On the Rhine on the German border with the Warsaw Pact, which caused the Soviets to in turn station their best tanks such as their T-64's against the Chieftains. The British retained the Chieftains all the way until 1995, when it was replaced by the Challenger I.

The Chieftain was also successful on the export market, primarily in the Middle East to the hands of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman. Another user of the Chieftain was Israel, with Britain initially agreeing to help set up production for locally produced Chieftains. Two Chieftains were sent for trials among the Israeli Defense Force in 1967. After two years of trials and deliberation for the acquirement of the Chieftains, Britain ultimately refused to offer the Israelis the Chieftain for political reasons. The Israeli trials benefit Britain with data on desert combat with the Chieftain however, and the refusal did jump start Israel's tank program that would become the ''Merkava''.

Despite that, sales to the Middle East soared, with Iran being the major buyer of the Chieftains with at least 887 of mostly the MK3 and MK5 variants sent to them before their revolution in 1979. The Chieftain saw prolonged combat in the Middle East in the Iran-Iraq War, including Operation Nasr which was the largest tank vs. tank battle of the war where the Iranian Chieftains and [[M60A1 (AOS)|M60A1 Pattons]] fought against the Iraqi [[T-62]]s. After that war, the Chieftain in Kuwait then saw combat fighting the Iraqis during their invasion in 1990. Kuwait eventually replaced their Chieftains with the Yugoslavian M-84 tanks, which are a variant of the Soviet T-72s.

The Chieftain is still in service Iran, Jordan, and Oman in varying numbers, about 100 in Iran, 350 in Jordan, and 27 in Oman. The Chieftains underwent local upgrades to keep them up to date against modern threat, which resulted in the Iran ''Mobarez'' Chieftain upgrade.

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

===Videos===
{{Youtube-gallery|W4R1fPzk-tU|Review: Chieftain Mk. III War Thunder Video Tutorials |XlNDQ2PVPpI|The Chieftain at Bovington|D3OF9IvtHLk|Bovington Tank Museum Tank Chats: Chieftain}}

==References==
<references />

== Read also ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/885/ [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> The Chieftain tank: A very British warlord!] 

== Sources ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain medium tanks}}