Page 22 - History of War - Issue 25-16

Frontline

MAINBATTLETANKSOFTHEWORLD

The proliferation of the main battle tank has placed the armoured
vehicle in service with armies across the globe

1 BATTLEOFTHEIMJINRIVER BRITISH MAIN TANKS
KOREAN PENINSULA 22-25 APRIL 1951 CENTURION
During the initial action of the Chinese spring offensive during the Korean
In service: 1946-present
War, Centurion main battle tanks of the British Eighth Hussars contribute
to the efforts of a multinational force in stemming the Chinese advance. CHIEFTAIN
In service: 1966-present
CHALLENGER 2
In service: 1998-present

Above: Men of the 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment
crowd onto a Centurion tank to cross the Imjin River
US MAIN TANKS

M48
In service: 1953-present
Above: A French AMX-
M1 ABRAMS 30 main battle tank in Origin: France
In service: 1980-present desert camoulage In service: 1966-present

2 BATTLEOFCHAWINDA “MAINBATTLETANKSAREOFTENLIMITED
CHAWINDA, PAKISTAN
14 AND 18-19 SEPTEMBER 1965 OPERATIONALLYDUETOJUNGLEANDADVERSETERRAIN”
In the largest armoured battle since Kursk, the
Pakistani army halts the Indian army’s invasion.
British-made Centurion and American-built M47 and
M48 Patton Tanks are deployed by the belligerents.
4 VIETNAMCONFLICT
VIETNAM, SOUTHEAST ASIA 1945-75
After WWII, communist North Vietnam eventually exerts control over
all territory of the former French colony of Indochina. Main battle tanks
are often limited operationally due to jungle and adverse terrain.

A convoy of American M48 Patton
tanks and M113 personnel carriers
halts along a road in South Vietnam

Destroyed Patton and Sherman
tanks of the Pakistani Army in
September 1965

3 BATTLEOFABU-AGEILA
SINAI DESERT, EGYPT 5-6 JUNE 1967
During the Six-Day War, Israel Defense Forces deploy 150
tanks, many of them Centurions, to decisively defeat an
Egyptian force, knocking out at least 40 older Soviet-made
T-34/85 tanks of World War II vintage.

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