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Originally posted by Hood
A quick overview of the War Office plans and equipment now under development or nearing date of service entry.
Tanks
Cruiser Tank Mk VII Centaur (A19): Improved Crusader with bigger turret ring (for guns up to 75mm) and new turret and thicker armour with a Thornycroft RY14 500hp engine. Fitted with 6pdr Mk II with a muzzle brake and 95mm howitzer (mod 3.7in) in the CS variant; designed 1940 by Leyland and this is essentially a British-built TC-2 Ram. Armour is 76-20mm; dimensions 20ft 10ins long, 10ft wide, 8ft 2ins high; battle weight 63,300lbs; maximum speed 30mph and 18mph cross-country and a road radius 165 miles. Fording depth is 3ft; vertical obstacle 3ft and trench crossing 7ft 6ins.
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Tank Guns
Ordnance 3.7in Mortar QF Mk II (95mm Howitzer) 1940: Calibre 95mm, weight of shot 25lbs, muzzle velocity 1,075fps, armour penetration 110mm at 500 yards (HEAT only), fires smoke, HEAT and HE rounds. Mounted in CS tanks with the 6pdr mounting using a counterweight.
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Field Artillery
Ordnance QF 3.7in Howitzer Mk II; developed alongside the Ordnance 3.7in Mortar QF Mk II tank-mounted howitzer from 1940. Fires same ammunition as this type (25lb smoke, HE, HEAT). The carriage is a simple split-trail type, the barrel is unchanged from the 3.7in Mortar Mk II but the breech is from the 25pdr field gun and a new recoil system is fitted. Calibre 95mm, weight of shot 25lbs, muzzle velocity 1,075fps, armour penetration 110mm at 500 yards (HEAT only), maximum range 6,600 yards, 8 degrees traverse and -5 to 45 degrees elevation.
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Rifles
.280 Rifle No.5 Mk III; after the new calibre trials during 1938-39 the Army has chosen the Enfield Lock .280 7mm cartridge and the Vickers Rifle No.5 Mk I. The rifle will be refined and will use the .280 cartridge and will enter production during 1941 as the Rifle No.5 Mk III.
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Machine Guns
.280 Enfield Lock Light Machine Gun Mk I, Enfield Lock has begun development of a new light machine gun based around their new .280 7mm cartridge which has been accepted as the new standard rifle round of the British Army. Details have not yet been released.
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So why use a bigger bore than the 25 pounder QF, if you're not going to fire a heavier shell?
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With all the super-tanks about I think the Centaur is about right.
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