Vickers MBT Mark 7

The Vickers Main Battle Tank Mark 7 was a prototype main battle tank developed by Vickers Defence Systems in the United Kingdom together with Krauss-Maffei of Germany. It combined the chassis of the German Leopard 2, with its MTU V12 diesel engine, with the Universal Turret first developed for the Vickers Valiant, which carried a 120 mm rifled gun. Work began in 1984 and the first prototype was completed in June 1985, followed by extensive hot-weather trials in Egypt between August and October 1985, including a one day run from Cairo to Suez and back of 274 km. A second version, the Mk 7/2, had a new turret better suited to the smaller turret ring of the Leopard 2 hull. No sales were made, and Vickers turned its attention to developing the Challenger 1. Several features of the Mark 7, such as the gun mantlet and the commander independent stabilised panoramic sight, were reused in the turret of the Challenger 2.