Ground Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>Centurion>HG3512
British Centurion Mk.5 "Nasser's Nightmare!" 6th Royal Tank Rgt.,Port Said, December 1956
General Background
The Centurion Mk. I, the first of 13 variations was delivered to the British Army in 1949 with a 17-pound gun. The Mk. 3 went to war in Korea with a 20-pound main gun. After Korea came a NATO standardization program for ammunition so the 7.92mm coaxial machine gun was changed to 7.62mm and a bore evacuator installed on the main gun and it was re-designated Mk. 5. The next improvement was replacing the main gun with an L7 105mm and an additional 2-inch armored plate on the front and this became the Mk. 6.
Specifications :
| Type: | 4 / Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver |
| In service: | mainly from 1945 to 1990’s with some still in service |
| Dimensions: | |
| Length: | 7.60 m (25 ft) |
| Width: | 3.39 m (11 ft 1 in) |
| Height: | 3.01 m (9 ft 10.5 in) |
| Weight: | 51 long tons (52 metric tonnes) |
| Suspension: | Horstmann |
| Armour: | 152 mm (6 in) |
| Armament: | Primary – 105 mm L7 rifled gun |
| Secondary – co-axial .30 cal Browning machine gun | |
| Performance: | |
| Engine: | Rolls-Royce Meteor / 650 hp (485 kW) |
| Power/Weight: | 13 hp/tonne |
| Range: | 450 km (280 miles) |
| Speed: | 34 km/h (21 mph) |