Vickers MBT Mark 3

The Vickers Main Battle Tank Mark 3 was a British main battle tank built by Vickers for the export market and introduced in 1975 as a development of the original Vickers MBT. It differed from the first version mainly in its turret, which had a cast front welded to a fabricated armour plate body, and in a better shaped cast gun mantlet. The main gun could be depressed to 10 degrees instead of 7 and the ammunition load rose from 44 to 50 rounds. The first production order came from Kenya in 1977, and Nigeria later bought the Mk 3N known as the Eagle, with the tanks built at the Vickers Scotswood factory in Newcastle. The tank was powered by a General Motors Detroit Diesel two-stroke diesel engine, with a Rolls-Royce diesel offered as an option. Improved Mk 3(I) and modernised Mk 3(M) versions followed, along with bridgelaying and recovery variants. A Malaysian bid for the Mk 3(M) never reached production.