FV4201 Chieftain Mk. 14 Main Battle Tank
The FV4201 Chieftain was the British Army’s primary main battle tank from its introduction in 1966 until the late 80s. A test bed for numerous capabilities (such as the 120mm gun and Chobham armor) which would become standard in western MBTs, the Chieftain served admirably in the British Army until it was retired in 1995. Despite being a very old design, the retired British tanks found a new lease on life when a number were donated to Kurdistan in 2008. Over the next ten years, the Kurds purchased or received another batch of Khalid-variant Chieftains from the Jordanians. Still a small and relatively isolated, the Peshmerga preferred to place most of these vehicles in storage, cannibalizing many in order to maintain a smaller fleet of better-maintained units.
Despite the Chieftain’s age, the Mk. 11’s 1990-vintage internals were upgraded significantly with the assistance of British and German engineers. Improvements included a new digital fire control system to replace the Marconi IFCS, upgrades to both the Thermal Observation Gunnery Sight (TOGS) and laser rangefinder, and (perhaps most importantly) air conditioning for the crew. This “new” tank became colloquially known in British military circles as the Mk. 14, although the Kurds preferred the name Şêr (“Lion”), the designation also used by the Jordanians for their version.
FV4201 Chieftain Mk. 14 Main Battle Tank
The FV4201 Chieftain was the British Army’s primary main battle tank from its introduction in 1966 until the late 80s. A test bed for numerous capabilities (such as the 120mm gun and Chobham armor) which would become standard in western MBTs, the Chieftain served admirably in the British Army until it was retired in 1995. Despite being a very old design, the retired British tanks found a new lease on life when a number were donated to Kurdistan in 2008. Over the next ten years, the Kurds purchased or received another batch of Khalid-variant Chieftains from the Jordanians. Still a small and relatively isolated, the Peshmerga preferred to place most of these vehicles in storage, cannibalizing many in order to maintain a smaller fleet of better-maintained units.
Despite the Chieftain’s age, the Mk. 11’s 1990-vintage internals were upgraded significantly with the assistance of British and German engineers. Improvements included a new digital fire control system to replace the Marconi IFCS, upgrades to both the Thermal Observation Gunnery Sight (TOGS) and laser rangefinder, and (perhaps most importantly) air conditioning for the crew. This “new” tank became colloquially known in British military circles as the Mk. 14, although the Kurds preferred the name Şêr (“Lion”), the designation also used by the Jordanians for their version.