Vickers Mk.1

Description

The Vickers Battle Tank Mk.1 was a British main battle tank developed as a private project by Vickers-Armstrongs intended for export. The development began in the 1960s, using existing components or components currently under development such as the Royal Ordnance L7 105 mm gun, Leyland L60 multi-fuel engine, and FCS and transmission from the Chieftain main battle tank. In 1961, an agreement was made with India to help the country develop and produce a tank, as well as help with setting up the factory to assemble it. The Vickers Mk.1 was made to be a cheap yet effective tank appealing to the less developed countries of Africa or the Middle East. The first prototype was completed in 1963 and in 1964, one of the prototypes was sent to India, where a licensed copy of the Mk.1 called Vijayanta was produced, being the first indigenous Indian tank. 70 tanks were also sold to Kuwait, although these were modified for the desert environment including installation of tropical filters and one of the rear wheels being moved further back to decrease ground pressure for easier traversing over desert terrain.

Introduced in Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica", the Vickers Mk.1 can be utilized as a sniper vehicle due to its good gun depression and infamously fast reload of 5.0 sec on aced crew. However, the sight offers only 4.9-6.0x zoom, which hinders its long range performance. The mobility of the Vickers is average, and the turret armour is quite weak due to the flat gun mantlet and turret front. The hull however is angled at 60° offering moderate protection. The Vickers is best utilized as a second line vehicle, supporting more armoured allies in their effort to turn the tide of the battle to your side.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.

Mobility

The tank has a mediocre off-road top speed of 32 km/h (20 mph) stock, yet can do -11 km/h (-7 mph) in reverse, so don't be afraid to duck back into cover. Suspension is quite strong on this tank, in AB a spaded Vickers Mk.1 can climb hills better than other vehicles. It can even tow other tanks up there if their suspension allows it.

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Vickers Mk.1

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Rack 6 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 11 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
• This rack is also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 6 - 1 - 2 - etc. until 5.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1-5 into rack 6. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

Additional armament

The 12.7 mm L21A1 machine gun is specifically used to determine ranging for the main gun. While the game indicates a very short clip of 3 rounds, it is in fact more accurate to say that the MG only fires small bursts of 3 rounds. It is not fired alongside the other machine guns but through the "Fire from secondary guns" option (Controls > Ground Vehicles > Weaponry).

Machine guns

Usage in battles

Although it can be done with its excellent reload speed of 5-7 seconds (crew skill depending), mixing ranks with the enemy is ill advised: instead take upon a sniping role. Your gun has only two types of ammo, both stock so research is not required for enhanced destruction. That being said, the APDS is a potent weapon that has 302 mm of pen at 100 m, falling to 252 mm at 2,500 m: all ranges can be targeted, with enemies moving towards more manoeuvrability over armour in the high ranks. However, the rounds lack spalling potential, so the damage inflicted on a tank interior must be in the APDS direct path past the penetration. If you aim for the turret weak spots, the barrel or breech will be your most common hits, incurring 20-30 precious seconds of repair time. If for any reason you're forced to engage while exposed, attempt to disable the enemy's gun or gunner first, before utilizing the excellent reload time to finish the target off.

The HESH shell is a very different story. While this odd round has its uses, it's somewhat limited in effectiveness against many targets. HESH, which stands for High Explosive Squash Head, relies on this so called 'squash head' spreading as much as possible, creating a spalling effect within the targeted vehicle. This means that it's not particularly effective against thick armour; and it should rather be used against lightly-armoured targets or targets which rely on highly angled armour for survivability. Generally, Vickers tankers will learn to prefer their APDS round for most engagements, only resorting to HESH against select targets.

Some enemies that can be rough to deal with:

• The Lorraine 40t will bounce more shots than you care to admit, or your hits will do minor damage. Just out the nature of the reserved play style this tank likes, any fast tanks will be a problem due to their ability to close the gap as you attempt to reach your favourite position. Engine and transmission upgrades will lessen this, in time.
• All Soviet tanks are difficult to deal with, yet learning their weak spots will lead you to victory.
• German tanks are a problem due to their accuracy and fast reload times, however the cheeks of their turrets, especially the Tiger II, are prime targets for eagle-eyed gunners.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Stock APDS shell has very high penetration values
• APDS shell has a high muzzle velocity, offering a flat trajectory
• HESH ammunition is effective against lightly armoured vehicles
• Has a 12.7 mm L21A1 machine gun designed for range finding (same trajectory as HESH)
• Fast reload speed
• Above average reverse speed compared to some British tanks
• Excellent manoeuvrability, even over rough terrain

Cons:

• Poor armour, even lower ranked guns are quite a threat
• Depression of only -7° which is below average for British tanks
• Lack of ammunition choices, with access to APDS and HESH only
• APDS causes minimal post-penetration damage, meaning that destroying some vehicles can be a challenge
• Many SPAA vehicles can penetrate your sides or back
• The L21A1 machine gun has a very low fire rate (5 rounds/second) and only shoots low-penetration incendiary rounds

History

The Vickers-Armstrongs Company designed the Vickers Mk.1 in the sixties as a cheap and efficient variant of the Chieftain, ready to be exported. In 1961, India purchased the license for development, and Vickers-Armstrongs helped to set up the factory. Over the course of its life, many variants were developed, including the Mk.2 and Mk.3. Later, Vickers Valiant(Mk.4) in 1977 and finally Mk.7 MBT. Currently, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania are the foremost operators.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Vickers Mk.1 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

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

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.