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NATO tanks... roughly from 1953-1973
In terms of firepower and reliability consensus would probably have us
believe the Americans were always out in front when it came to building
postwar tanks. However, this may not always have been the case. From
roughly 1953 to 1973 there were a number of contenders for the honor of best
tank. Wondered if anyone would care to offer up their opinions.
Certainly the German's Leopard 2 and later the 2AV was one to be reckoned
with as proven in the annual tank games in Canada. I've heard the French AMX
types were good, but overly complicated. Leopards regularly beat all comers
for a short time. However, on the whole I tend to think the British were the
better tank builders. Focusing on just one example for this argument the
M-46 & the improved M-47 Patton (pretty much the standard NATO tank of the
time) verses the British Chieftain.
In particular I like the Mk 5's, which were very competitive with the
advanced M-60's and certainly a leg up on the M-47/48s.
Both were good MBT's, comparable in performance and armour, however the power
plant in the Chieftain was historically proven to be more reliable? The
range was considerable better too. M-47's had a terrible range from unknown
reasons. The Centurion faired better even against the accurate Leopard which
wore out the crews going cross country. In recognition of the cold war
mission the Chieftain was designed for, it's range over M-47's was no small
advantage. The agility was also given to the Chieftain, except the crewed
had trouble standing up to the same stresses the tank could handle. The 720
bhp was a handful and almost more power than the rest of the drive train
could handle.
Under normal conditions the Chieftain simple Hortsmann type suspension was
considered to provide a ride better than either the M-47/48's, the Leopards
and even the M-60's.
I would really like to hear from anyone who crewed in either. I'm going with
the Chieftain as the better all round tank. Better optics, better engine,
better suspension and longer range, than the M47s-48's.
Jack
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Apr 04 2000 - 21:57:27 PDT