Valiant tank

Tank, Infantry, Valiant (A38)
Tank, Infantry, Valiant (A38) at The Tank Museum, Bovington
TypeAssault tank[1]
Place of originUK
Production history
DesignerVickers
Designed1943
ManufacturerRuston & Hornsby
Produced1944
No. built1
Specifications
Mass27 t
Length17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
Width9 ft 3 in (2.8 m)
Height7 ft (2.1 m)
Crew4

Armour4.5 inch (114 mm) maximum
Main
armament
QF 6 pdr (57 mm) gun
Secondary
armament
2 x 7.92 mm Besa machine guns
EngineGMC 6004 (6-71M) diesel
210 hp (157 kW)
Transmission5 forward gears, 1 reverse
SuspensionIndividual sprung units
Operational
range
80 miles (130 km)
Maximum speed
  • 12 mph (19 km/h) road
  • 7 mph (11 km/h) off-road
References[2]

The Tank, Infantry, Valiant (A38) was a British tank design of the Second World War that only reached the prototype stage. It was intended to meet a specification for a well-armoured, light-medium tank, for use against Japanese forces in the South-East Asia theatre. The prototype demonstrated that the design was a failure and this sole example produced was retained by the School of Tank Technology as a lesson to its students.[3]

  1. ^ Fletcher, Universal Tank, p. 87.
  2. ^ Museum Accession Record
  3. ^ Fletcher, David (1989). Universal Tank: British Armour in the Second World War - Part 2. HMSO. p. 88. ISBN 0-11-290534-X.