FV107 Scimitar | |
---|---|
Type | Reconnaissance vehicle |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
Wars | |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | Alvis / BAE Systems Land & Armaments |
No. built | over 600 (for UK) [1] |
Specifications | |
Mass | 7.8 tonnes |
Length | 4.9 m |
Width | 2.2 m |
Height | 2.1 m |
Crew | 3 |
Armour | aluminium armour |
Main armament | 30 mm L21 RARDEN cannon A.P.D.S. (Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot). H.E. (High Explosive). D.S.R.R. (Discarding Sabot Reduced Range) (training) Prac. (H.E. Practice) (training) |
Secondary armament | Coaxial 7.62 mm L37A1 MG |
Engine | Cummins BTA 5.9 diesel 190 hp (142 kW) |
Drive | tracked, with 14 lbf/in2 (0.98 kg/cm2) ground pressure |
Suspension | Torsion bar |
Operational range | 450 km |
Maximum speed | 50 mph (80.5 km/h) |
The FV107 Scimitar is an armoured tracked military reconnaissance vehicle (sometimes classed as a light tank) formerly used by the British Army, until it was retired from active service in April 2023. [2] It was manufactured by Alvis in Coventry. It is very similar to the FV101 Scorpion, but mounts a high-velocity 30 mm L21 RARDEN cannon instead of a low-velocity 76 mm gun. It was issued to Royal Armoured Corps armoured regiments in the reconnaissance role. Each regiment originally had a close reconnaissance squadron of five troops, each containing eight FV107 Scimitars. Each Main Battle Tank Regiment also employed eight Scimitars in the close reconnaissance role.
The FV107 Scimitar is one of the CVR(T) series of vehicles. The first prototype was completed in 1971. [3] After being accepted for service in 1973, deliveries to Belgium and the UK commenced in 1974. [3]
Initially, the engine was the Jaguar J60 4.2-litre 6-cylinder petrol engine, the same as used by several Jaguar cars. This was replaced by a Cummins BTA 5.9 diesel engine in British Army Scimitars under the CVR(T) Life Extension Program (LEP).
The UK initiated the Tactical Reconnaissance Armoured Combat Equipment Requirement (TRACER) to replace the Sabre and Scimitar. [4] In 1996 the U.S. joined in on the project. [5] In 2001, both the UK and U.S. dropped out of the joint programme. [6]
As of 2023, the Scimitar's intended replacement in British service is a variant of the Ajax fitted with a CT40 cannon. [7] The Scimitar was retired from British service in 2023. The Warrior is being used as a temporary stop-gap, until Ajax reaches initial operating capability. [2] [8]
Following a risk mitigation programme, in December 2010 a contract was awarded for the development, testing and management of an upgraded Scimitar. [9] This was undertaken by the Vehicles Military & Technical Services team, BAE Systems Telford, which co-ordinated the build of 50 vehicles at the nearby DSG (Defence Support Group), Donnington, to be completed in early 2012. The Scimitar Mark 2 combat vehicle is one of five enhanced CVR(T) types. [10] It was created in early 2010, and continues in service. [11]
The Scimitar Mk II was:
The resulting vehicles have since been re-engined with a Cummins BTA 5.9 litre diesel engine and David Brown TN15E+ automatic gearbox. [12] In addition to providing power for an air conditioning system, the new more fuel-efficient engine extends the vehicle's operational range, while the re-designed internal layout allows better-protected fuel tanks to be repositioned for reduced vulnerability to blast and ballistic threats.
The new engine and transmission package promised straightforward servicing and support for the Mk II during its in-service life, refurbished dampers simultaneously improving crew comfort - and hence reducing fatigue - while extending the life of vehicle components and maintaining the tactical mobility of the original vehicle despite an increase to an operation weight of c12,000 kg.
BAE Systems have proposed improved road wheels, new conventional metal tracks with guaranteed mileage (which could reduce the vehicle's running costs) and continuous 'rubber' band tracks, which significantly decrease both vibration and noise, allowing crew to operate more effectively and for longer, even in the harshest environments, while reducing the vehicle's acoustic signature.
Two troops from B Squadron, Blues and Royals served in the Falklands War. One troop was equipped with four Scorpions, the other with four Scimitars. These CVR(T)s were the only armoured vehicles used in action by the British Army during the conflict. At least one Scimitar was seriously damaged by an Argentinian landmine, but the crew were unscathed, and the vehicle was salvaged by a Chinook HC.1 helicopter [13] and soon brought back into service by the attached REME section. Scorpions and Scimitars also provided air defence support; one Scimitar claimed to have shot down an Argentinian Skyhawk fighter-bomber with its 30 mm cannon. [14]
The 1st (British) Armoured Division, the British component of the coalition's ground forces in the First Gulf War, included a medium reconnaissance regiment that used Scimitars and other CVR(T) vehicles. This regiment initially was composed of the three constituent squadrons of 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers (16/5L), reinforced by a fourth squadron from 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG). On 26 February 1991, the regiment fought direct-fire engagements with Iraqi units while calling in air and artillery strikes to support an attack by the division's 7th Armoured Brigade. [14] A troop of Scimitars engaged and knocked out Iraqi T-62s, penetrating their frontal armour with sabot rounds. One Scimitar was engaged and hit by an Iraqi T-55 and the penetrating round passed through the thin aluminium armour without injuring the crew. [15]
Scimitars of C Squadron, 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, were used in the Battle of Al Faw in the opening days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Plans for an amphibious landing by Scimitars were abandoned due to extensive mining of the beaches; instead, they crossed into Iraq by land.
In Afghanistan, during Operation Herrick, Scimitars were deployed either in standard troop organisations or as part of Jackal composite troops, in which role they provided additional firepower to complement the Jackal's high mobility.[ citation needed ]
The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Army's armoured regiments, both the Royal Tank Regiment and those converted from old horse cavalry regiments. In September 2024, it comprised fourteen regiments: ten Regular Regiments; four Army Reserve. Although the Household Cavalry Regiment provide an armoured regiment, they are not part of the RAC.
The Royal Yeomanry (RY) is the senior reserve cavalry regiment of the British Army. Equipped with Supacat Jackal variants, their role is to conduct mounted and dismounted formation reconnaissance. The Regimental Headquarters is located in Leicester, with squadrons in Fulham, Nottingham, Dudley, Croydon, Telford, and Leicester. The regiment is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is only reserve cavalry regiment to resubordinate into regular brigade as part of the Future Soldier Programme, which in turn arose from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021.
The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) is a family of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) developed in the 1960s and is in service with the British Army and others throughout the world. They are small, highly mobile, air-transportable armoured vehicles, originally designed to replace the Alvis Saladin armoured car.
The FV101 Scorpion is a British armoured reconnaissance vehicle and light tank. It was the lead vehicle and the fire support type in the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), CVR(T), family of seven armoured vehicles. Manufactured by Alvis, it was introduced into service with the British Army in 1973 and was withdrawn in 1994. More than 3,000 were produced and used as a reconnaissance vehicle or a light tank.
The FV102 Striker was the anti-tank guided missile carrier in the CVR(T) family and served in the British Army.
FV103 Spartan is a tracked armoured personnel carrier. It was developed for the British Army as the APC variant of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) family. The vehicle can carry up to seven personnel, including three crew members. Armed with a single machine gun, it is almost indistinguishable from the FV102 Striker in external appearance.
Sabre is a variation of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), featuring the turret from a wheeled Fox Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle mounted on the hull of a tracked FV101 Scorpion.
The FV4030/4 Challenger 1 is a British main battle tank (MBT) used by the British Army from 1983 to 2001, when it was superseded by the Challenger 2. The majority of the Challenger 1 fleet was subsequently sold to Jordan where it remained in service with the Royal Jordanian Army until withdrawals were announced in 2018. Known locally as Al-Hussein, these vehicles received various Jordanian modifications before being replaced by French-made Leclerc tanks from the UAE and ex-Italian B1 Centauro 8x8 wheeled tank destroyers. The Jordanian Challenger 1 fleet had been retired by January 2023.
1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG) is a regiment in the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) of the British Army. Nicknamed The Welsh Cavalry, the regiment recruits from Wales and the bordering English counties of Cheshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire. It is the senior RAC cavalry regiment and therefore senior regiment of the line of the British Army.
The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. Based in Battlesbury Barracks, Wiltshire, the regiment currently serves as the armoured cavalry reconnaissance unit of 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team. Previously equipped with the Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle, it started converting to the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle in 2022.
The Humber armoured car was one of the most widely produced British armoured cars of the Second World War. It supplemented the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car and remained in service until the end of the war.
The Ferret armoured car, also commonly called the Ferret scout car, is a British armoured fighting vehicle designed and built for reconnaissance purposes. The Ferret was produced between 1952 and 1971 by the UK company Daimler. It was widely used by regiments in the British Army, as well as the RAF Regiment and Commonwealth countries throughout the period.
The Alvis Stormer is a military armoured vehicle manufactured by the British company Alvis Vickers, now BAE Systems Land & Armaments.
The Formation Reconnaissance Regiment is a fighting unit provided by the Royal Armoured Corps or Household Cavalry.
The FV721 Fox Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Wheeled) (CVR(W)) was a 4 × 4 armoured car manufactured by ROF Leeds, deployed by the British Army as a replacement for the Ferret scout car and the Saladin armoured car. The Fox was introduced into service with B Squadron, 1st Royal Tank Regiment (Aliwal Barracks, Tidworth) in 1975 and withdrawn from service 1993–94.
The L21A1 RARDEN is a British 30 mm autocannon used as a combat vehicle weapon. The Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) and the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF), were part of the Ministry of Defence, at the time.
The II Squadron RAF Regiment is a squadron of the RAF Regiment based at RAF Brize Norton. The squadron is parachute trained.
The Jackal or MWMIK is a family of vehicles designed and developed by Supacat Ltd at their factory in Honiton, Devon, UK, for use by the British Army and Royal Air Force Regiment.
Armoured regiments are units provided by the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army.
The Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (Wheeled), abbreviated to CVR(W), was a line of vehicles to replace the Ferret Armoured Car in British Army service.
In the Reaction Force, Challenger 2 will deliver the armoured capability, with Armoured Cavalry Regiments continuing with Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) until the delivery of Scout Specialist Vehicle (SV).[a]