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33-587: The L7 is a popular weapon and continued in use even after it was superseded by the L11 series 120 mm rifled tank gun, for some Centurion tanks operating as Artillery Forward Observation and Armoured Vehicle, Royal Engineers (AVRE) vehicles. The L7, and adaptations of it, can be found as standard or retrofitted equipment on a wide variety of tanks developed during the Cold War. Both the United Kingdom and

66-530: A British Army Challenger 1 scored the longest tank-to-tank "kill" in military history, when it destroyed an Iraqi T-55 at a range of 4.7 km (2.9 miles) with an L23 "Fin" round. Since its introduction, the L11 has evolved into eight production versions. In June 1976, development of new ammunition for the L11A5 was begun. The Royal Ordnance basic L11 design was developed into a series of improved production models;

99-524: A cylindrical charge. High explosive squash head (HESH), smoke and other rounds used a hemi-cylindrical (i.e. a cylinder sliced in two lengthways) charge (the L3). Two HE charges could therefore be stowed in the same space as one AP charge. In the Chieftain and Challenger tanks, the charges were stored in 36 recesses surrounded by water jackets, so that a hit which penetrated the fighting compartment would rupture

132-545: A new 120 mm rifled tank gun in 1957. The new gun was deemed to be necessary because the British Army specified engagement ranges greater than those of other armies, for example 2,000 m (2,200 yd), as specified by the US Army, despite studies at the time that suggested engagement ranges were below those of the US Army requirements in the great majority of cases. The L11 was specifically designed to fit into

165-503: Is a 120 mm L/ 55 rifled tank gun design. It was the second 120 mm calibre tank gun in service with British Army. It was the first of NATO 's 120 mm main battle tank guns which became the standard calibre for Western tanks in the later period of the Cold War . A total of 3,012 of the L11 guns were produced by 2005. The list price was US$ 227,000 in 1990. The L11 was developed by Britain's Royal Ordnance Factories to equip

198-612: Is not on display. There was formerly a Conqueror gate guardian at Base Vehicle Depot Ludgershall – informally known as "William". It is now part of the Isle of Wight Military Museum. A Conqueror ARV remained in service at the Amphibious Experimental Establishment AXE, at Instow in North Devon, UK. It was used for beach tank recovery practice. At least one Conqueror exists in poor condition on

231-614: The British to fire 120 mm APFSDS rounds, which were then in use by the Germans and Americans. The British Army argued the modifying the turret would be impractical and that a smoothbore gun could not fire HESH rounds. Polish-British tank historian Richard Ogorkiewicz argued that the later concern was unwarranted. In the mid 1980s the British Army adopted an "operational emergency" APFSDS round. During Operation Granby an L11 on

264-672: The Chieftain tank as the successor to the 105 mm L7 gun used in the Centurion tank and the heavy Conqueror tank . It was also used on the Challenger 1 , which replaced the Chieftain in British and Jordanian service. The weapon has been superseded by the L30 series 120 mm rifled tank gun. The Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment at Fort Halstead designed

297-753: The Conqueror , which mounted the L1 120 mm gun. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , a Soviet T-54A medium tank was driven onto the grounds of the British embassy in Budapest by the Hungarians in November. After a brief examination of this tank's armour and 100 mm gun, British officials decided that the 20-pounder was apparently incapable of defeating its frontal armour. This meant

330-795: The L7 105 mm gun the tactical relevance of the Conqueror, and dedicated heavy gun tanks in general, faded as the Main Battle Tank rose to prominence. The variants of the Conqueror tank and developments directly related to its development are: In the United Kingdom , Conqueror tanks are displayed at The Tank Museum , Bovington, at the Land Warfare Hall of the Imperial War Museum Duxford and at

363-608: The 120 mm gun. Unlike most Western tank weapons which fire a single fixed round, the projectile and propellant are loaded separately. And unlike the Soviet 125-mm 2A46 , the propellant is in the form of a combustible bagged charge (or later, a combustible charge case for armour-piercing rounds). This required the obturation to be provided by rings in the breech rather than the cartridge case, as in fixed rounds and 125 mm separate-loaded ones. When first introduced, APDS (armour-piercing discarding sabot) rounds were fired using

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396-967: The Centurion. From 1959 onwards newly built Centurions incorporated the L7 at production. The gun was subsequently adopted for use on the German Leopard 1 (for which the L7A3 variant was developed). In addition, several countries have used the gun to improve the firepower of existing main battle tanks. Derivatives have even been mounted in Warsaw Pact-built T-54 and T-55 tanks in Israel, India, Egypt and Iraq, and Type 79 tanks in China. Royal Ordnance L11 The Royal Ordnance L11A5 , officially designated Gun, 120 mm, Tank L11 ,

429-1153: The Defence Capability Centre in Shrivenham. Other tanks are in the collections of the Musée des Blindés in France, the Gunfire Museum in Brasschaat , Belgium (a Mark 2), the Kubinka Tank Museum , Russia, and the Royal Tank Museum, Amman, Jordan. One is privately owned in the United States as part of the Littlefield Collection and another is in use as a gate guardian outside the Royal Tank Regiment Officers' Mess, which

462-569: The L11A5 was the major production version. The breech mechanism is a downward sliding semi-automatic breechblock . The gun was equipped with a hydro-pneumatic recoil system using two buffers. The gun recoils 37 cm (15 in) in most applications. This breechblock design was based on the breechblock on the Krupp/Skoda sFH 18/43 model 18 that the British studied extensively after the Second World War and perfected for use in

495-612: The Soviet IS-3 and 4 with its M47 Patton. This led to the introduction of the M103 , a heavy tank designed to counter Soviet heavy tanks. It mounted an extremely powerful 120 mm cannon but the ammunition was so large that it required two loaders, one for the shell and another for the separate propellant charge. Of the 300 M103s built, most went to the Marines. The UK came to the same conclusions and developed their own heavy tank,

528-453: The TPKU-2 and TKN-3, on all of their post–World War II tanks, though theirs did not include a rangefinder. It was the largest and heaviest tank used by the British Army at the time the first Conqueror was completed in 1955. In all, before production ceased in 1959, 20 Mark 1 and 165 Mark 2 Conquerors were built, including those converted from Caernarvons. Once the Centurion was upgraded to use

561-652: The United States had been developing projects for high calibre guns during WWII in order to compete with increasingly heavily armoured German tanks, and later for Cold War Soviet tanks. The US developed several heavy tank designs during this period, notable were the US 105 mm gun motor carriage T95 (also known as "super-heavy tank T28") as well as the QF 32-pounder mounted on the British A39 Tortoise heavy assault tank . The US foresaw difficulties in engagements against

594-467: The adoption of the Marconi "Improved Fire Control System" (IFCS) fitted to the Chieftain in 1979. Works cited Conqueror (tank) The FV 214 Conqueror , also known as tank, heavy No. 1, 120 mm gun, Conqueror was a British heavy tank of the post-World War II era. It was developed as a response to the Soviet IS-3 heavy tank. The Conqueror's main armament, an L1 120 mm gun,

627-434: The cupola on a target independently of the turret, measure the range with a coincidence rangefinder , and then direct the gunner on to the new lay mechanically indicated to him by the cupola. In theory, when the gunner traversed to the new lay, he would find the target already under his sights, ready to be engaged. Meanwhile, the commander was free to search for the next target. The Soviet bloc also used similar devices, such as

660-454: The initiation of the A ;45 program in 1944, for a heavy infantry tank to complement the A 41. This new design was to be based on that of the A 41, sharing as many components as possible but on a larger and more heavily armoured vehicle. As WWII came to a close, the project was redesignated FV 200 and reworked to fulfill the role of a "Universal Tank" capable of serving as the as

693-440: The jacket and drench the propellant, preventing a catastrophic ammunition fire (known colloquially as a "brew-up"). The barrel of the L11A5 is fitted with a bore evacuator approximately two-thirds of the way to the muzzle and a thermal sleeve . When first introduced, a 12.7 mm (.50 in) calibre ranging gun was fitted over the barrel of the L11. The projectiles for this ballistically matched those for HESH rounds fired from

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726-412: The main armament out to 2,600 m (2,800 yd), at which point the tracer element burned out. Starting in 1971 a Barr & Stroud LF2 "Tank Laser Sight" (TLS) laser rangefinder replaced the ranging MG in British service, and in conjunction with the "Muzzle Reference System" (MRF) added in 1975, allowed engagements at ranges out to 5,000 meters. Further improvement in gunnery performance came with

759-539: The most common British tanks were no longer able to effectively deal with Soviet medium tank designs, let alone their heavy tanks. These events spurred the United Kingdom to employ a new high-velocity tank gun in 1958, the Royal Ordnance L7 to keep existing Centurion tanks viable against this new Soviet tank design. While the United States began design development of the XM60 tank in 1957 and began user trials of

792-517: The new turret would not be ready until at least 1954. In order to familiarise crews with the new tanks a production order was placed for the hulls, which in 1952 were combined with 20 pounder -armed Centurion Mk 3 turrets to produce the FV ;221 Caernarvon Mark I . The Caernarvon was only used for chassis development work serving in troop trials. In 1955, the first Conqueror was produced. The new, larger-calibre gun design chosen for Conqueror

825-461: The platform for a variety of specialist vehicle types ( self-propelled artillery , armoured personnel carrier , various armoured recovery vehicles , gun tractor etc.). The main gun tank of the series, the FV 201, was to be armed with the 20 pounder . By 1949 however, with several of the specialist variants being cancelled due to escalating costs, the Centurion now also receiving the 20 pounder and

858-519: The turret mountings of the Chieftain tank (FV4201). After firing trials in 1961, the L11 was accepted for service on the Chieftain in 1965 and entered service with the British Army in 1966. The adoption of a rifled tank gun on the Challenger led to some controversy, and some experts later urged the British Army to retrofit the turret to fit the smoothbore Rheinmetall Rh-120 adopted by the German Leopard 2 and American M1A1 Abrams . This would allow

891-524: The vehicle very heavy, giving it a relatively low top speed and making it unreliable. Also, few bridges could support its weight. However, rather like the Second World War Churchill tank , the Conqueror had exceptional terrain handling characteristics. One feature of particular note was the rotating commander's cupola, which was at the heart of the Conqueror's fire control system and was advanced for its time. The commander could align

924-512: The vehicle was no longer being considered a match for newer Soviet types, the decision was made to shelve the program. Despite the cancellation of the FV201 there was still a pressing need for a new heavy gun tank, now requiring a 120 mm armament. Due to the urgency of the situation with the Soviets the existing hull design was repurposed for the new specification, however it was estimated that

957-429: The weapon in 1958. The L7 was specifically designed to fit into the turret mountings of the 20 pounder. This would enable the Centurion tanks to be up-gunned with minimum modifications; hence, the fleet could be upgraded in a shorter time and at a lower cost. The first production tank to integrate the L7 was a single up-armoured Centurion Mark 7 in 1958 which was to prove the future viability of up-armouring and up-gunning

990-457: Was larger than the 20-pounder (83.4 mm) gun carried by its peer, the Centurion . The Conqueror's role was to provide long range anti-tank support for the Centurion. Nine Conquerors were issued for each regiment in Germany, usually grouped in three tank troops. In the British Army both the Conqueror and the Centurion were replaced by the Chieftain . The Conqueror's origins trace back to

1023-414: Was mounted coaxially with the main gun while the other was fitted to the commander's cupola. The armour was very heavy for the time, especially in the front, where it could be up to either 18.8 or 26.7 inches (480 – 680 mm) thick in the horizontal plane, depending on the source. Unfortunately, this, along with the weight of the huge turret required to house the large gun and the very large hull volume, made

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1056-614: Was restored by 2nd Royal Tank Regiment Light Aid Detachment (REME) in 2009, having previously been in a deteriorating state at Castlemartin Ranges (where it had previously been the guardian "Romulus" before being replaced by a German Leopard MBT). There are also two MkII ARVs at the Military History Museum on the Isle of Wight in an unrestored condition. A MkII ARV is held by the REME Museum of Technology , although it

1089-659: Was the Royal Ordnance OQF 120mm Tank L1 , a British adaptation of the American M58 gun used on the US M103 heavy tank ; using two-piece ammunition. The charge was not bagged but supplied in a brass cartridge, which offered some safety advantages, but reduced shell capacity to 35. Secondary armament was provided in a pair of L3A1 machine guns , the British designation for the Browning M1919A4. One

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