The birth of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance concept from the 1960s, one of its variants was the FV101 Scorpion.
Part of the CVR family of tracked combat vehicles, with more than 3,000 produced, the FV101 Scorpion entered service with the British Army for a long time from 1973 and was withdrawn in 1994. Used by more than 20 countries, and to date is still active in the service of 15 countries.
The birth of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance concept from the 1960s, one of its variants was the FV101 Scorpion. The British army requirement was a light tank intended for armed reconnaissance, fast speed and a minimum crew of 3, to replaced the Saladin armored car. It holds the Guinness world record for the fastest tank; with 82.23 km/h, on 26 January 2002.
Scorpion weighs about 8 tons, length is 5.3m, width is 2.13m, and height is 2.1m. The tracked system is five road wheels on each side of the hull. The drive sprocket is forward with the track idler at rear and no track return rollers are implemented. The vehicle was designed for air transport, such as a Lockheed C-130 Hercules, that’s why a number of light alloys were used building this tank.
The Scorpion has a welded hull ant turret, made of aluminum alloy armor. Only removeable armor sheets over the engine and transmission are made of steel armor. Vehicle has a front-mounted engine, which provides additional protection for the crew. Front arc provides protection against 14.5 mm rounds, fired from 200 meter range. All-round protection is against 7.62 mm rounds and artillery shell splinters. Speed is the tank’s advantage to avoid being hit.
The crew of three includes the driver, commander and gunner. The driver sits in the hull at front-left with the powerpack to his right. The remaining two crew reside in the 360-traversable turret found along the aft section of the hull superstructure. The vehicle is amphibious by design, requiring some preparation by the crew by way of raising a floatation screen prior to entry into a water source. An NBC kit is standard.
As a light reconnaissance vehicle, the Scorpion is armed with a 76 mm L23A1 rifle gun, compatible with HESH, HE, smoke and canister rounds. There is also a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun. There was a small batch of 32 vehicles fitted with a more powerful 90 mm main gun. Eight smoke grenade dischargers are located to either frontal side of the turret.
