The Chieftain was the first MTB to be mass equipped with a laser range finder. the Barr & Stroud LF2 from ~1970 onwards.
It was installed in the Mk3 - 3 upgrade.
So while the Mk3 didn’t have one initially it was upgraded with one so whether or not it should be included in game is debatable.
Given that the Mk3 gets a 8.7 battle rating and is matched with significantly more modern tanks which all include laser range finders then for the sake of balance the Chieftain Mk3 should be upgraded to its 1970’s MK3 - 3 upgrade.
The MK5 should just 100% have a laser range finder.
Yeah. The biggest Power spikes as the BR increase’s are Laser range finders, APDSFS ammo and gun stabilizers. Chieftain gets 1 out of 3. Most comparable 8.7’s get 2 out of 3 or even 3 out of 3.
It has terrible mobility. And while it does have above average Armor for its BR that kind of means nothing. Having 50mm armor or 200mm armor is basically the same thing when everything is shooting 300mm+ pen APDSFS at you.
If you look at the other 8.7’s.
M60A1 Rise. Stab + APDSFS ammo, No LRF
T-62. Stab + APDSFS ammo, No LRF
Object 122MT. Stab + APDSFS ammo + LFR + Secondary ATGM weapons. (Damn China might be winning the best 8.7 in game with that one)
AMX-30B2. APDSFS ammo + LFR , No Stab
So Chieftain would still be right at home at 8.7 with a LFR + Gun Stab and no APDSFS ammo. That way it would get 2 of 3 of the main power increase’s like most of the other comparable tanks.
I would find it more interesting if the Chieftain Mk5 were given the L15A5, and that the performance difference between the L15A3 and A5 be investigated.
From memory, penetration is roughly the same. A5 is very slightly better. It would just do better against angles. Though I need to fact check this, it’s been awhile.
Yes, according to what I read in the forum, the difference between these two bullets is the different tungsten alloy, since the bullet design is exactly the same, so I assume that the L15A5 will be marginally better at 60°, because it uses an alloy that improves that penetration.
remember according to Gaijin our mk5 is just a mk5, when in reality there was no Chieftain which was just a chieftain mk5, they all had some form of desigation, being mk5/1 up to 4 was it not?
You have the basic specification (E.g. Mk.5) then the modification after the slash (e.g. /1)
We have the basic Mk.5 specification (A Mark 3/3 with a new engine and a new NBC system), which is how the earliest Mk.5s left the factory. However the Totempole programme started pretty much as the Mk.5 began to enter service, Which would bring the laser range finder, retrofits would get an L appended to the name, but was standard with the Mark 5/1 and later.
Mark 5 variants go like such:
Mark 5 - Service entry standard
Mark 5/L - Totempole begins, adds laser range finder, removes Ranging Machine Gun
Mark 5/1 - Adds Muzzle Reference Sensor in a basic state
Mark 5/2 - Full MRS functionality
Mark 5/3 - Marconi IFCS
Mark 5/4 - APFSDS stowage changes
Our Mk.5 doesn’t have a MRS and retains the RMG so isn’t a later model
They really did shaft the chieftains in this game man xD giving them fake rounds like L23, incorrect armour profiles ,which has bene proven with the 900 as it has the correct one.
Not giving us slightly better specificed chieftains, yet there are things at the same BR like the rise, hurling darts, with ERA, better mobility, better protection as well as better reloads.
i digress, I really want the chieftains to be better in game.
Also thank you for all of this! There’s always so many “marks” of chieftains it’s hard to keep it all together and organise.d
I think it’s just a remodelling thing, as all the later variants need changes to the models. I guess they think that people would prefer new tanks rather than re-modelling older ones.
Although I do quite like the unit they picked to be our Mk.5 (00FD90) it later got upgraded to a Mk.10 and was the last Chieftain to leave British service.
I keep meaning to make a flow chart like I did with the CVRTs
Later marks (Like Mk.10+) get really fuzzy in what they mean as I think they changed how they did designations?