Chieftain Mk 5

This page is about the British medium tank Chieftain Mk 5. For other versions, see Chieftain (Family).

Chieftain Mk 5

Chieftain Mk 3

Chieftain Mk 10

Chieftain Mk 5

Chieftain Mk 3

Chieftain Mk 10

Britain

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.7	8.7	8.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:81 000

Purchase:450 000

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Description

The Chieftain Mk 5 is a rank VI British medium tank with a battle rating of 8.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica". The Chieftain Mk 5 carries over the Mk 3 variant's strengths but is equipped with a more powerful engine for improved mobility.

Few vehicles are able to resist the Chieftain's firepower, except perhaps T95 or Maus. The L15A3 shell has excellent penetration. However, users must know where to shoot to hit enemy tanks' critical modules and crew members.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull86 / 38 / 25

Turret280 / 86 / 45

Crew4 people

Visibility89 %

Armour type:

• Cast homogeneous armour (hull front, turret front half, cupola)
• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull sides, hull rear, hull roof, turret rear half, turret roof, cupola roof)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	70-127 mm (43-79°) Front glacis 76.2 mm (43-44°) Lower glacis	88-220 (8-30°) + 13 mm Front Top 50 mm (1-31°) Center Top 37 mm (30°) + 13 mm Rear Top 37 (10°) + 13 mm Bottom	37 mm (1-7°)	13-28 mm
Turret	125-250 mm (2-81°) Turret front 100-220 mm (1-53°) Gun mantlet	45-196 mm (1-65°)	45 mm (1°)	50.8 mm Front 25 mm Rear
Cupola	150 mm			25 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick while bogies are 19 mm thick.
• Armour thickness throughout the vehicle is very complex and the tank relies more on sloping thickness to enhance its effective armour.
• The metal boxes on the sides of the turret and hull are 13 mm of structural steel.
• The belly of the Chieftain Mk 5 is 15 mm thick (6°).

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB54 / 13 km/h

RB and SB49 / 12 km/h

Number of gears6 forward

2 back

Weight55.0 t

Engine power

AB1 450 hp

RB and SB760 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB26.4 hp/t

RB and SB13.8 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	54	13	55	1,178	1,450	21.42	26.36
Realistic	49	12		672	760	12.22	13.82

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB4 420 → 6 099

RB4 581 → 6 321

SB5 671 → 7 825

Total cost of modifications129 200

228 000

Talisman cost2 400

Crew training130 000

Experts450 000

Aces2 000

Research Aces890 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

140 / 200 / 230 %

214 / 214 / 214 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 9 400 Cost: 15 000 390 Suspension Research: 8 000 Cost: 13 000 330 Brake System Research: 8 000 Cost: 13 000 330 Filters Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 370 Transmission Research: 9 200 Cost: 15 000 380 Engine Research: 9 200 Cost: 15 000 380	Improved Parts Research: 2 800 Cost: 15 000 390 Improved FPE Research: 2 400 Cost: 13 000 330 Crew Replenishment Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 370	Horizontal Drive Research: 9 400 Cost: 15 000 390 Adjustment of Fire Research: 8 000 Cost: 13 000 330 Elevation Mechanism Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 370 Smoke grenade Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 370 120mm_britain_Smoke_ammo_pack Research: 9 200 Cost: 15 000 380 Rangefinder Research: 9 200 Cost: 15 000 380 Artillery Support Research: 9 200 Cost: 15 000 380

The first upgrades to head for are Parts and FPE for increased survivability. Then prioritize mobility upgrades (the Chieftain Mk 5 needs all the mobility it can get) and gun accuracy upgrades (to further enhance its accurate fire).

Modules to get in order, maximizing recovery and speed first

• Parts
• FPE
• Tracks (critical for hull rotation speed)
• Adjustment of Fire
• Elevation Mechanism
• Horizontal Drive
• Other mobility upgrades as needed

Armaments

Rangefinder

Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Main armament

120 mm Ordnance BL Tk. L11A5 cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Ammunition54 rounds

First-order17 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

9.7 → 7.5 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 20°

120 mm Ordnance BL Tk. L11					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	54	-10°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane	21.4	29.6	36.0	39.8	42.4	9.75	8.63	7.95	7.50
Realistic					13.4	15.8	19.1	21.1	22.5

The cannon's reload rate is much faster than average for its calibre at its BR (7.5 seconds with an ace crew).

Ammunition

The Chieftain's 120 mm gun has access to APDS and HESH when stock, with a smoke shell as only unlockable ammunition. The L15A3 APDS shell has a very good slope modifier compared to other APDS and will penetrate essentially any vehicle at its battle rating, but has relatively weak post-penetration effects. The L31A7 HESH shell is slow and behaves similarly to other HESH shells in the game. It is a more situational round.

The available ammunition allows for engaging all types of targets:

• L15A3: APDS; an armour-piercing round with a discarding sabot that has a good penetration power and no explosive filler. As it lacks post-penetration damage, the tactic with an APDS shot is to either knock out the majority of the tank's crew or to provoke ammo or fuel detonation by targeting their respective locations. This requires good knowledge of the layouts of potential opposing vehicles. Use the Protection analysis feature in the hangar menu to analyse potential foes for their weak spots! Also, keep in mind that with increased armour thickness the number of shrapnel shrinks.

• L31A7: HESH; a high-explosive squash head projectile works very differently from other shell types. It ignores any angle, except for ricochet, and deals damage by metal-flakes which are blown off inside the armour by the exterior explosion. To create this deadly shrapnel inside the tank, make sure to only hit armour plates which are a direct part of the interior crew compartment of the tank. Hitting exterior parts of a tank like spaced armour, the suspension, tracks etc. will not harm crew members/modules at all. Currently, only true armour thickness (as opposed to the line of sight thickness) will provide sufficient means of protection, benefiting the USSR turret designs and in general German tanks. Like all high-explosive shells, the fuse is very sensitive and can be set-off by most objects e.g. fences, trees, posts. The slow muzzle velocity of this shell can make it quite hard to hit targets at longer distances, but at the same time it can be handy because its arc trajectory allows it to land hits on enemies hiding behind shallow hills.

• L34: Smoke; useful to blind enemy vehicles that are too remote for you to disable so that you can progress towards objectives.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Shot L15A3	APDS	298	296	288	277	268	258
Shell L31A7	HESH	152	152	152	152	152	152

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Shot L15A3	APDS	1,372	7.48	-	-	-	75°	78°	80°
Shell L31A7	HESH	670	17.34	0.1	4	6.53	73°	77°	80°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
L34	670	17.1	20	5	25	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Chieftain Mk 5

Full ammo	Ammo part	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty
54	Projectiles Propellants	48 (+6) 52 (+2)	45 (+9) 43 (+11)	43 (+11) 31 (+23)	37 (+17) 18 (+36)	35 (+19) 14 (+40)	33 (+21) 5 (+49)
7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	10th rack empty	11th rack empty	12th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
28 (+26) 1 (+53)	23 (+31) N/A	18 (+36) N/A	11 (+43) N/A	5 (+49) N/A	1 (+53) N/A	No

Notes:

• The Chieftain Mk 5 uses two-piece ammunition, composed of projectiles (yellow) and propellants (orange). Both have separate racks. Projectile racks can be seen on the upper part of the image while the propellant racks can be seen on the lower part.
• Every propellant rack is encased by 5 mm of RHA. In case of a successful penetration, the 5 mm of RHA provide protection against shrapnel. It however may not be enough to stop a direct hit to the propellant rack.
• Projectile racks 10 to 13 and propellant racks 5 to 7 are the first stage ammo racks. They total 18 shots and get filled first when loading up the tank.
• As to go into battle without any ammunition stored in the front hull, it is advised to bring 18 (+36) shells (projectile racks 1 to 9 emptied and propellant racks 1 to 4 emptied).

Additional armament

12.7 mm L21A1 machine gun

Ammunition588 rounds

Belt capacity3 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

0.6 → 0.5 s

Fire rate300 shots/min

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).

12.7 mm L21A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	588 (3)	300	N/A	N/A

Machine guns

7.62 mm L8A1 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition6 000 rounds

Belt capacity200 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate1 001 shots/min

7.62 mm L37A1 machine gun

Ammunition2 000 rounds

Belt capacity100 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate650 shots/min

The small calibre of the 7.62 mm machine gun makes them largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment.

7.62 mm L37A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	2,000 (100)	650	-10°/+50°	±180°

7.62 mm L8A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	6,000 (200)	600	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

In long-range fight:
The gun is very precise and the ammunition performs well at longer ranges. Do not forget to keep the hull protected as it is fragile; however, the turret armour protects the tank reasonably well. Invest in camouflage plants, one or two seconds lost by the aiming enemy is time gained to eliminate the threat.

An aggressive way to play:
The best targets are the German Leopards and all the Soviet T-54/55/62 series. Shoot it on front hull, where the shells are, for an assured popcorn effect. Don't hesitate to try this on IS-3/4 or T26E1-1/T28/T29, only shell places change (front side or turret rear).

Other tanks could be easily knocked out with fuel tank or disabled in aiming crew member. Don't forget that reload time is the vehicle's best friend.

Be wary of the Chieftain's width, often its weak points are exposed when trying to turn.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Turret armour strong enough to bounce APDS, HEATFS and even some APFSDS shells
• Upper frontal plate is heavily sloped, providing adequate protection against same tier rounds
• Excellent reload time for a 120 mm (7.5s - 9.5s)
• Access to 320 mm penetrating APDS shells and HESH shells immediately
• 10 degrees of gun depression
• Has access to a dual plane stabilizer
• Includes an additional range finding .50 calibre machine gun that can be separately bound
• Unlike other British tanks, it has a respectable reverse speed
• Much faster and easier to handle than the Mk 3 model
• Very effective in a hull down position
• Excels in maps with a lot of open ground where it can go hull down effectively

Cons:

• Weak hull armour overall
• APFSDS can go through this tank easily
• The design of the tank only allows for a limited playstyle
• Does not like fighting in small maps
• Lower frontal plate is very poorly armored and has an ammo rack behind it
• Very weak side and rear armour
• Ammo rack everywhere but can be mitigated by carrying only 24 rounds
• Small ammo variety (APDS or HESH only)
• APDS deals minimal, punctual damage
• APDS cannot reliably penetrate modern composite armour on most tanks; must aim for weak spots
• Slowest of all MBTs
• In an uptier, the Chieftain Mk 5 is prone to fighting superior tanks such as the T-72AV, T-72B, AMX-40 and Leopard 2K

History

Concept

The idea of a "universal tank" began in Britain in 1944 when Montgomery and other influential people began advocating for a more standardized tank to replace the cruiser and infantry tank classes used on the field. Efforts did not start until after World War II under the General Staff designation A45, with development starting just as the new cruiser tank Centurion started to enter military service. The A45 was cancelled in 1948 after development troubles and its inability to be used as a "universal" platform. Ironically, the Centurion proved to be a better "universal tank" platform than the A45.

Development

The Centurion tank series was very successful in British and its allies' service, but the development of new Soviet armour such as the IS-3 and T-54/55 caused the British tank arms race to take another leap forward. Development on the Centurion's successor began in 1951 under the name Medium Gun Tank No. 2. The project's priority was gun and armour, but with mobility to be equal to the Centurion's and weight of fewer than 45 tons. The weight limit caused a program known as the Concept Study Programme to commence in order to find ways to keep the tank under that weight limit yet meet all the armour and firepower specifications. One of the concepts that came out was the usage of bagged charges, which was already in use on naval ships but was a new concept for tank ammunition. Thus, a gun using the bagged charge propellant system began development in 1954, along with a new specification by General Staff that the Medium Gun Tank No.2, now known as FV4201, uses a conventional four crew tank with a turret and a better gun and armour than the Centurion. Though the Conqueror heavy tank was one such response to the firepower requirement, limited production cut that to only 200 units built.

The biggest bump to the firepower of the FV4201 was the recommendation of a 120 mm calibre tank cannon. Though the Conqueror used a 120 mm, the new one would incorporate more innovative features such as the bagged charges. Other design features added was the usage of a Rolls-Royce V8 engine, an auxiliary engine, an automatic gearbox, and a reclining seat for the driver. The reclining seat was a very new feature in tank design as it reduced the vehicle's hull height and thus gave it a lower profile. Leyland Motors was assigned to be the main designer for the tank despite their commitment to the Centurion production lines. The manufacturing process of the tank was decided to be cast rather than welded. In 1957, several specifications added to the FV4201 impeded its attempt to fit in the specifications. A bigger turret was designed and it mounted IR equipment for night fighting. Troops requested more frontal and turret side armour, which along with the turret change caused an increase in the tank's overall weight. A controversial decision was also made in 1957 by NATO that tanks should have multi-fuel engines. The FV4201 installed a new engine conforming to these standards in 1958, a German engine derived from a Junkers Jumo aviation engine. This extended development time since the engine compartment had to be redesigned to fit the engine, raising the total tank weight to 50 tons. The engine, designated the L60, was received with a mixed reception by the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) and other users due to its novel features. Britain stayed as the only user of a multi-fuel engine in the Cold War as many other nations found the concept impractical and abandoned it.

As the FV4201 finalized its prototype stages, General Staff sent a revised specification for it. The tank was to have the firepower of the Conqueror with the mobility of the Centurion, an armour that maximizes the protection-weight ratio, a weight limit at 45 ton with a top speed of 26 mph and an operating range of 300 miles. The first wooden prototype was made in March 1959, with full prototypes ordered in June 1959 for troop trials. Vickers-Armstrong and Royal Ordnance Factory shared the manufacturing process and the first prototypes were built in January 1960. The first two prototype FV4201 was trialled in Germany alongside their new Leopard 1. The greatest issue with the FV4201 was the engine, which caused many failures due to vibration, a result of the flawed multi-fuel concept. Trials were delayed due to lack of parts to fix broken pieces and redesigns were requested to fix problems. After a lengthy trial period in 1962, the FV4201, now named the Chieftain, was sent to the operational unit in Germany for service and combat trials. The Chieftain was finally accepted for service in 1st May 1963, despite the many faults in the design. The first deliveries of the improved and redesigned Chieftains began in mid-1965. These were the Chieftain Mk.1's, which further revealed problems with the horsepower that the Mk.2 was designed and sent in April 1966. The Chieftain Mk 3 rolled out of the production lines in September 1969, it now weighed 53 tons and the L60 engine was producing 650 hp, still underpowered for the weight. Engine failures were still frequent and left the Chieftain with a sour note until the Mk 5 variant fixed these pressing issues with a new engine and NBC protection. The Mk 5 would be the main variant of the Chieftain in British service. During its production life from 1965 to 1985, a total of 2,265 Chieftains would be built by Britain, with about 1,000 used by the British Army.

Service

The first British units to receive the Chieftains was the 1st and 5th Royal Tank Regiments back during the trials. The Chieftain, despite its initial engine flaws, proved to be combat-proof and could be upgraded to fit new requirements. Some of these upgrades were the addition of composite add-on armour to fight off new anti-tank technology such as the HEAT rounds. The Chieftain earned the title "most formidable tank in the world" during the 1960's Cold War period and also redefined the specifications of a "main battle tank". Its success is due to its novel main gun and heavily sloped armour, as well as satisfactory mobility and speeds able to compete with the Leopard 1. The Chieftain stayed in use by the British Army On the Rhine on the German border with the Warsaw Pact, which caused the Soviets to in turn station their best tanks such as their T-64's against the Chieftains. The British retained the Chieftains all the way until 1995 when it was replaced by the Challenger I.

The Chieftain was also successful in the export market, primarily in the Middle East to the hands of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman. Another user of the Chieftain was Israel, with Britain initially agreeing to help set up production for locally produced Chieftains. Two Chieftains were sent for trials among the Israeli Defense Force in 1967. After two years of trials and deliberation for the acquirement of the Chieftains, Britain ultimately refused to offer the Israelis the Chieftain for political reasons. The Israeli trials benefit Britain with data on desert combat with the Chieftain, however, and the refusal did jump start Israel's tank program that would become the Merkava.

Despite that, sales to the Middle East soared, with Iran being the major buyer of the Chieftains with at least 887 of mostly the MK3 and MK5 variants sent to them before their revolution in 1979. The Chieftain saw prolonged combat in the Middle East in the Iran-Iraq War, including Operation Nasr which was the largest tank vs. tank battle of the war where the Iranian Chieftains and M60A1 Pattons fought against the Iraqi T-62s. After that war, the Chieftain in Kuwait then saw combat fighting the Iraqis during their invasion in 1990. Kuwait eventually replaced their Chieftains with the Yugoslavian M-84 tanks, which are a variant of the Soviet T-72s.

The Chieftain is still in service Iran, Jordan, and Oman in varying numbers, about 100 in Iran, 350 in Jordan, and 27 in Oman. The Chieftains underwent local upgrades to keep them up to date against a modern threat, which resulted in the Iran Mobarez Chieftain upgrade.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Chieftain Mk 5 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Chieftain Mk 5 Tank Review - Napalmratte

Tank Chats #34: Chieftain - The Tank Museum

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

• Chieftain (Family)

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• T-62

External links

• [Wikipedia] Chieftain (tank)
• [Tanks Encyclopedia] FV4201 Chieftain
• [Military Factory] Chieftain MBT

References

Leyland Motors Limited
Cruiser Tanks
Tank, Cruiser, Comet I (A34)	Comet I · Comet I "Iron Duke IV"
MBTs
Centurion	FV4202
Cheiftain	Chieftain Mk 3 · Chieftain Mk 5 · Chieftain Mk 10