- Yes, as a tech tree vehicle
- Yes, as an event vehicle
- Yes, as a premium vehicle
- Yes, as a squadron vehicle
- No, I would not like to see the Mk.4 Valiant (late) in game.
History
(For a better account of the history leading up to this point in the tank’s life, feel free to refer to my suggestion for the early variation of the tank here.)
The Vickers Mk.4, for all its strengths, sat in a similar position to many other MBT upgrade programs of the later Cold War - too expensive to be marketable as a cheap option, but not potent enough to warrant a premium price. This stands in contrast to the Vickers MBT Mk.3, which while definitely being inferior to the Mk.4, actually saw export success. Interest in the Vickers MBT Mk.4 as it was originally built was minimal, but the hull itself was still useful, and Vickers would now use it to market a bold export strategy.
Rather than export a whole tank, Vickers began offering the Universal Turret. As the name implies, the Universal Turret could be made compatible with a variety of hulls and mount a variety of weapons. While its state of the art fire control would make it expensive, the benefits were hard to ignore - excellent electronic fire control with high resolution thermal imaging and hunter-killer technology, coupled with advanced composite armor and a powerful cannon of the user’s choice, made the Universal Turret an attractive offer, at least more so than the earlier Vickers MBT Mk.4 had been.
Vickers would use the Valiant to market and test the Universal Turret for a few years on the Mk.4 chassis, during which time it would compete against the AMX-40 and Challenger in trials in Saudi Arabia (who later opted for the Leclerc instead) and performed very well. Unfortunately, tragedy would strike for the Valiant when it had an accident during loading/unloading and managed to land on its head. The weight of the steel/composite turret was enough to irreparably damage the Vickers MBT Mk.4’s aluminum hull, killing the Valiant project for good. The turret concept would go on to be used in the Vickers MBT Mk.7, and the Universal Concept turret reached its peak with the Brazilian EE-T1 Osório in the early 90’s.
In War Thunder, this would be an interesting vehicle as it is a stepping stone between the original Mk.4 concept and the Universal Turret concept employed in the Vickers MBT Mk.7. Like the earlier Mk.4 iteration, players could potentially choose whether to take the side Chobham packs on the hull and turret for more protection or go without for more speed. While at first glance this turret looks exactly like the one on the Vickers Mk.7, this is an earlier version with slightly worse optical systems, though the same thermal viewer as the Mk.7. Overall, fire control does not create as vast of a difference in game as in real life, so the most revolutionary feature of this tank would be a little understated.
Specifications
Vickers MBT Mk.4 Valiant (Late)
Crew: 4
Weight: 46.3 t (full combat load)
Engine: Rolls-Royce CV12 TCA (1,000 hp)
Transmission: TN 12-1000 automatic transmission
Power/Weight: 21.60 hp/t (full combat load)
Max Speed: 51 km/h fully laden (70 km/h maximum, if less Chobham is taken)
Armament:
- Royal Ordnance L11A5 120mm cannon (w/muzzle reference system), 56 rounds. - 10 / + 20 gun elevation
- 7.62mm Hughes chain gun
Armor:
- Hull layout is assumed to be similar to the Vickers Mk.3 (though made of aluminum alloy), but with large additions of Chobham armor on the lower front plate and optionally on the hull sides. The upper front plate also had some Chobham, though not as much as it was less likely to be hit and much more angled.
- Turret internal layout and external protection for the Mk.4 Late is assumed to be very similar to the Vickers Mk.7 in game.
Unfortunately I don’t have any specifics to provide in this area.
Additional Equipment:
- Laser rangefinder for Commander and Gunner’s sights
- 2-plane gun stabilizer
- 10x zoom telescopic gunner sight
- Vickers GS10 periscopic gunner sight
- SFIM VA 580-10 stabilized commander’s sight
- Philips UA 9090 stabilized thermal imaging sight (Gen 2)
- 2 x 5 smoke grenade dischargers, one on each side of the turret face
Sources