steveo578

Yes it is part of the Chieftain family but the advanced turret cannot be ignored- thats like saying a Cromwell and a Charioteer are the same. chieftain 2000 1.jpg (38.8 KB) From Bob Griffins Chieftain book the explaination in his book is that the turret from 56MS78 (a Chieftain 800) was fitted to a standard Mk10 hull and was used for some purpose by BAE until disposed of. Steve

These two are somewhere in the Catterick area the second tank with "windsor turret" is a Khaled suspension test vehicle 99SP29 I think and the Chieftain possibly 02EB49 (although it too had a SP number) could be the former resident of Feldom 3d where both tanks were targets. There were also a number of trial FV432 (with W_ leter) and FV438 on Feldom until about 2000.

I couldn't see the bolts of the thread photo but now suspect Poptopshed is correct in that it is the BAE trial vehicle Chieftain 2000 the former Chieftain 800 turret mounted on a standard (Mk10?) hull of the Chieftain 800 hull was used as a target at Lulworth. Steve

It might have a Chieftain hull but the turret is a one off -not a Challenger 1 or 2. It looks similar to an Italian Ariete turret without the bolt on super hard armour on the front faces- possibly it is an Ariete turret transfered to a Chieftain hull -the original Ariete hull was similar to that of a Vickers BAE MK7 (leopard 2). Alternatively it might be a test for a less radical replacement turret for the Challenger 1 in jordanian service as an alternative the Falcon 2 turret which is overly complex. Possibly a trial BAE systems vehicle as AlienFTM says better photos may help Steve

try /www.simetric.co.uk/si_liquids.htm Gives all sort of liquid weights at nominal 25degree C from acetone to Xylene, vehicle gas weighs 0.737 kilos per litre therefore 90 x 4.546 x 0.737 = 301.5 kg Steve

maybe, but considering they have a vehicles and parts (for sale) section with prices tend to make me think it is a convenience museum, rightly or wrongly there are a number of organisations that have been constitued as museums to make obtaining ex military stuff easier. Steve

MCSPOOL Hi Hanno, Are you sure? I was under the impression that the 1969 RNLA conversion was an adaptation of an M60 power plant but because the drives were the wrong ratio too much power was transferred to the suspension. The project was abandoned after 6 months mainly due to a unit cost which was 3/4 quarters that of a new Leopard 1. About 1982 pending the arrival of the Leopard 2, a plan was put forward to upgrade the RNLA remaining Centurions with a Teledyne AVDS 1790 2 motor and Allison CD850 6A automatic transmission the same system as had been developed in Israel (with Teledyne assistance) from 1967 and had been taken into service as the SH'OT in May 1970. The decision to develop the Teledyne power train for the Centurion was taken in 1967 mainly for commonality as it was comparitively easy to fit to ex Bundeswehr M48A2G being the same power train as the M8A3 & M60. For the most part both systems were almost exactly the same because most components were the same more a case of convergent design with a large dose of supplier (Teledyne) know how than anything else. regards Steve:) .

Sometime ago I found this photo of a M4 hybrid with small hatches and similar turret form as a Berg and Blankenship device (T6) a number of this device were used on Okinawa in 1945. The rarity of a M4 Hybrid with small hatches makes me wonder if there are any signs of a BB device being fitted to this tank especially as it was on the U.S. west coast. BBs were attached with large sheet steel horns fore and aft. The photo comes from a sight marked Warrior Saga Steve

There is a SPZ 22 at http://www.military-zone.pl

Hi Adrian Do you know if the MkVII turret on Warcop was scrapped? Steve

They might have been mentioned elsewhere but these photos might be of passing interest with regard to recovery in Russia First is a KV1 pulled out of a river around 2000 (unfortunately I can't find the web site for this) 2nd is a photo of the ammo removal. There was also a photo of a BT recovered from the Neva at about the same time. The next three are from a site called the Serpents wall which is about relics around Kiev in the Ukrine. A Sherman M4A2 75 turret The hull still stuck in the Korsun peat bog Marked in red is a hit on the turret. Serpents wall is worth a visit. Steve

rnixartillery What was reason for the excavation? I wondered about the Sherman what type of final drive armour fitted (3 piece or single) and how much suspension remained. As regard the other old targets they were badly knocked around by the 2002 parts stripping, the FIBUA churchill which I think was a MkIV was stripped of its tracks at that time -possibly just before it was cut up, there was also a Morris RUC APC in the FIBUA. Retreiving the whole turret from the late production Churchill might have been a better idea than this- - complete MkVII turrets however many LAW hits would probably have a market in Australia. Steve

Plainmilitary Nice photos, very knocked about crocodile and possibly petard AVRE. Steve

Hi Hanno & Adrian Still around but I don't currently do active AFV stuff, hope all is well with you both

Nice photos, i assume this is the early model churchill 7 on feldom 3D that was buried around 2000 along with the Sherman I remanufactured that stood next to it. two photos of the Churchill when it was still encased in concrete and a photo of the Feldom Sherman T270129 The Churchill was not half as bad as I expected it would be and tends to confirm my view that the Churchill IV 75 uparmoured that stood to the rear of the range could have been salvaged. Was there any T number visible on the exhumed vehicle? There is or was a Churchill in the FIBUA training area of Catterick does anyone have any photos of this and other targets on the FIBUA range. Steve

Addition: A15 went to the desert with 6th bt RTR in June 1941- the naming of A15 as Crusader was in keeping with the romance of the desert- its use by 22nd AB in the planned Operation Crusader in November 1941 was probably too fortuitous. Steve

In June 1941 Mr Churchill noted that tanks were given almost algerbraic names unlike aircraft and naval ships this made snappy journalistic copy difficult:???. by Sept. 1941 his views had solidified into policy:idea: and although it is still not apparent who decided on the names, whoever did so decided that names beginning with "C" would be the ideal as it allowed the PM name to be apended to a suitable tank. A brave decision possibly by some-one very high up -possibly Sir Allan-Brooke, General Sir John Dill or even HRM King George who had vistied Vauxhall in March 1941 -along with Churchill and had played with the early A22s- obviously whoever was responsible thought the PM and the A22 had much in common, tough, squat, bulldog like:). At the same time tanks in production or in design stage got names- A13 mkV was called Covenantor and in keeping with the British Civil War theme the newly designed A24, A27L and A27M were called Cromwell 1 2 and 3 (later in mid 1942 a more rational Cavalier, Centaur and Cromwell was adopted). The A30 was designated Challenger- it was almost called Centurion:???. A few months earlier the first M3 mediums were being delivered and a decision was made to use the names of generals from the American Civil War for U.S made tanks, giving the names Lee Grant Sherman and retrospectively the M3 Honey was the Stuart. Most tanks with names prior to September 1941 were Vickers commercial tanks either with or without a GS spec number. A11 was the Matilda alegedly named by Gen. Elles for a duck like toy and cartoon character. Why A12 was also named Matilda beats me:shake:, it was not a Vickers design and had nothing to do with the A11. The Valentine is alegedly named as it appeared as a concept around Valentine day 1938, but could also be named for Sir John Carden as it was his second name. the final Vickers type was the Tetrarch which some how Vickers managed to wrangle a Gs number as A17 and later became the A25 Alecto a few were manufactured as SPGs possibly from the 99 Harry Hopkins tanks manufactured and placed in storage. With regard to the Centurion being a Cruiser it was- the comparative Infantry tank would have been the A45- which looked similar to the Canaervon the precursor to the FV215 Conqueror. Yep it is a bit long for a first post :confused: thats just the way I am regards Steve