Commanders!
Today we’d like to tell you about the next vehicle that’s coming to Armored Warfare. It is the Centurion Mk.11 Progression Main Battle Tank filling the gap between two early Chieftains.
It will be set based on the earlier announced new balancing principles, so you may take it as a sign of things to come. But first, a bit of history as usual.
The Centurion has its roots in the end of the Second World War and the search for a multi-purpose tank. Today we’d call the concept “Main Battle Tank” but back then the British called it “Universal Tank”. It was a classic early Cold War design with steel-only armor and a rifled gun, on par with the American M48/M60 series and the Soviet T-54/55. It started with the QF 20-pounder gun and later got the famous 105mm Royal Ordnance L7.
The British used it successfully in Korea, during the Suez Crisis and on the Rhine but the fame came from its Israeli service during the 1967 Six Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War (ironically, both sides used the Centurion with the other operator being Jordan) before being phased out and partially converted to heavy APCs. One of the most famous tank commanders ever born, Zvika Greengold, commanded a Centurion.
The Centurion was used by more than a dozen other countries and saw numerous conflicts, including the Vietnam War and the Indo-Pakistani wars. The major users were also:
- Sweden (Stridsvagn 81 and 100 series)
- Switzerland (Panzer 55 and Panzer 57, both countries replacing it with Leopard 2 in the 1980s)
- Canada (in service until 1978)
- Australia (used it in the Vietnam War)
- South Africa (the Olifant series, in service to this day)
And many others, twenty in total. The British began phasing the Centurion out of the MBT role in 1966 and finished the job in 1977, replacing it with the Chieftain MBT completely.
The Mk.11 version was one of the latest Centurions to see service. None of these late Centurions were newly-built – they were usually upgraded versions of other upgrades, in this case the Mk.6. Very roughly said, the 1956 Mk.5 Centurion (221 built) featured a new turret design (but was still armed with the 20pdr gun). Afterwards:
- Mk.6 variant was Mk.5 with upgraded armor and the 105mm L7 gun
- Mk.11 was an upgraded Mk.6 with an IR projector for night fighting and a 12.7mm ranging machinegun
The Mk.11 variant appeared in 1966 and was phased out in 1977.
As was mentioned above, in Armored Warfare the Centurion Mk.11 will be a Tier 4 Progression Main Battle Tank, bridging the gap between the two Chieftains that stood empty for now. No further conditions will apply when it comes to unlocking it, except for the usual Credit and XP cost.
Performance-wise, it’ll be similar to the Israeli Sho’t – after all, it’s a very similar vehicle. The differences will include:
- Thicker steel armor (more on that below) but no ERA
- The gun will fire a bit faster
- The Centurion will not have HEAT rounds available – instead it’ll have improved APFSDS rounds
- The Centurion will, however, be a bit slower and a bit less agile than Sho’t
However, that’s not all. In line with the upcoming Main Battle Tank rebalance, the Sho’t will offer much thicker frontal armor in order to make it a very reliable tank in PvE. Most shots will just bounce off its thick hide and autocannons will only be able to penetrate it when firing at its sides while flanking it.
Additionally, to enhance its durability and break the “module destruction” meta-game:
- Bottom of the vehicle will also be quite thick (making it resistant to firing HE shells under the tank)
- Internal modules will take significantly reduced damage and will repair faster
- Crew will also take significantly less damage
In short, the tank will be able to take quite a bit of punishment as well as deal damage. On the downside, it will not be fast or agile.
And that’s about it, commanders. We hope that you’ll enjoy this new progression tank and, as always:
See you on the battlefield!
