The
Centurion, introduced in 1945, was the primary British
main battle tank of the post-
Second World War period. It is widely considered to be one of the most successful post-war tank designs,
[4][5][6][7][8][9] remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing combat in the front lines into the 1980s. The
chassis was also adapted for several other roles, and these have remained in service to this day.
Development of the tank began in 1943 and manufacture of the Centurion began in January 1945, six
prototypes arriving in Belgium less than a month after the war in Europe ended in May 1945.
[10] It first entered combat with the
British Army in the
Korean War in 1950, in support of the UN forces. The Centurion later served in the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, where it fought against US-supplied
M47 and
M48 Patton tanks and it served with the
Royal Australian Armoured Corps in
Vietnam.
Israel used Centurions in the 1967
Six Day War, 1973
Yom Kippur War, and during
the 1978 and
1982 invasions of Lebanon. Centurions modified as armoured personnel carriers were used in
Gaza, the
West Bank and on the Lebanese border. The
Royal Jordanian Land Force used Centurions, first in 1970 to fend off a Syrian incursion within its borders during the
Black September events and later in the
Golan Heights in 1973.
South Africa deployed its Centurions in
Angola during the
South African Border War.
[11]
It became one of the most widely used tank designs, equipping armies around the world, with some still in service until the 1990s.
[12] As recently as the
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict the
Israel Defense Forces employed heavily modified Centurions as
armoured personnel carriers and
combat engineering vehicles. The
South African National Defence Force still employs over 200 Centurions, which were modernised in the 1980s and 2000s as the
Olifant.
Between 1946 and 1962, 4,423 Centurions were produced,
[13] consisting of 13 basic marks and numerous variants. In British Army use it was replaced by the
Chieftain.