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Chieftain

A chieftain is the leader or head of a group, especially of a clan or tribe. See e.g. Germanic chieftain.

Etymology: Middle English cheftain, from Old French chevetain, from Late Latin capitaneus, from Latin caput, head.


The Chieftain is also a British tank, developed in the early 1970s by the UK and Israel, and one of the most advanced tanks of its time.



the chieftain MBT was the mainstay of british armoured divisions in the late 1960s and 1970s , it was a development of the successful centurion line of tanks that had emerged after the second world war. the british had learnt during the war that their tanks often lacked sufficient protection and firepower compared to those fielded by the enemy ,and that this had lead to high casuality levels when faced by the superior german tanks of the time. The chieftain was designed to be as well protected as possible and be equipped with a powerfull 120mm rifled cannon. The heavy armour came at the price of reduced mobility which was perhaps the chieftain's main drawback. Chieftains have seen service in other countries including Iran (where it is named the "khalid"),Jordan ("Shir-1") and Iraq. The chieftains were continuously upgraded until the 1980s when they were replaced by the challenger series of tanks whose design was largely inspired by this impressive machine.

Last updated: 11-07-2004 00:48:48