Scorpion Light tank going 60+ mph on roads: wheeled trucks unneeded

[piano40s]

I can still see the amazed/shocked look on the face of a car driver as I overtook them at 70+mph somewhere in the south of England back in the 80s, in one ot these, turned one over in Denmark one time, and when right way up started first time.

[lima33ful]

Ha! We used to do that in the M114.

[LegoEuler]

I am Irish and we have quite a small army,numbering only around 8500.We d'ont have or need MBTs so the Scorpion fits the roles of the army well.I was walking down by the side of a road when I saw one these things overtake a car and shoot past me lol.I would say there is a place for wheeled veichles in APC/low intensity combat roles but attempts at making wheeled fully-fledged combat veichles has come with mixed results... Stryker...

[colddrake80]

Now, I like tracks for armored vehicles of all weight categories. With that said what about the maintenance tracks require. A buddy who was in artillery did emphasis that as a major chore (these were self propelled guns of course).

[night6sceptre101]

@UKkid19 yes, last time i read about it it said that malaysia and some other countries bought some. i think UKF never really needed the requirement for one.

[FletchRDG]

I hope this is getting what the warriors gettin. Its a very good platform and I think its necessity to keep it. Its fast and nimble and with an upgrade turret and 30-40mm cannon it can prove to be a worthy adversary. Id buy one if I had the money, awesome bit of kit indeedy :)

[VaciliNikoMavich]

yeah, if i needed a tank, Scorpion would be the one; just because it looks cool, its fast and when combined with good fire power can be a real thorn in your side.

[1exrockape]

got stopped myself on A1 by copper when in RAF Regiment for doing 70 in a Scorp got told to slow down

[IIMoses740II]

Why is the rating for this so low? It's summing up the flawed defenses for spending millions of tax payer money on vehicles like the Stryker . . . in 13 seconds . . .

What does that tell you - that's sad

[dynmicpara]

When you see a low rating it means a bunch of weak egos are threatened by the TRUTH; go watch such videos

[EnigmaNZ1]

There was a story here in NZ in a car magazine about a guy and his family doing the speed limit on the open road in the central north island, when a Scorpian hurtled past him. Gave him hellova fright. Overtaken by a tank lol.

[Kiwigrunt]

@EnigmaNZ1

Saw that many timess while in service, our tankies took the govenors off the v12 jag motors as soon as they got them, 120kmh easy.

[YF681]

I'm gonna see if I can buy 1 or 2 scorpions in the future.

[horizonflyer9]

did someone say ROAD TRIP??! lol

[dempsey088]

Awesomepeice of kit these scorpions, shame they went out in 1994 due to the fume extractor which could choke the crew in NBC warfare. I hear they packed a punch.

A friend tells me how he has had a scimitar to 63mph on the road, and 50 in reverse.

[mountainboy2465]

Scorpion was cool. The 76mm gun was a little lame though. It was easy to correct fire though, I was serving on Scorpion when they were withdrawn and still hold the 'Hall Shield' for 76mm gunnery in my regiment.

For info though, it actually didn't have a fume extractor. We relied on the NBC fans blowing on full & hatches open - not very good really!

[dempsey088]

Thanks for that, not much on scoprions on youtube. I love them, great peice of kit, shame they went out of service in 1994 due to the extractor for the gun in NBC warfare, i hear that gun had a mighty punch.

A friend tells me of how he has had a scimitar to 63mph on roads near stonehendge ha ha, and 50mph in reverse.

[UBIQUEROL]

we had challenger 2's in the desert that could top 90mph , even the V8 land rovers couldnt catch up

[remorrahz277]

Tracks take more power cause of the greater friction but they can go better than 60mph, even if its hard on tracks. The limitation is in the governors on most of them. I've personally had an M1A1 to 73mph off road on hard sand. You just have to pull the red handle by the hydraulic system controls to disengage the governor

[dynmicpara]

EXCELLENT feedback! To reduce rolling resistance use band tracks if you want stealth and higher speeds, the IDF has tried band tracks on Merkava heavy tanks so its feasible. There is no excuse for the U.S. Army to be in ANY motorized wheeled trucks and should be ALL-TRACKED.

[remorrahz277]

Yes but how do band tracks do in heavy rubble or metal debris? I mean they are essentially built like a belted tire. They'd burn like tires unlike steel tracks. Probably be better if they made band tracks for training so you could get more mileage out of them but switch to steel for combat ops.

[dynmicpara]

If you want to sneak up on folks and insist you must have 60+ speeds use band tracks. Once we start using band tracks we can field some made out of kevlar that will be nearly indestructible. Progress has to start with what we have got, then work from there.

[BlacktailFA]

Damn, the Army and GDLS' "high-speed wheeled APC Paradigm" got PWNed by an antique!

[msatabony]

who needs a car. I want one of them!!!

[zombat]

Tanks are road legal in the UK, you just need a standard driver's license.

[drendedrater]

awsome, that would be so cool. You are like sorry I accidentally went out of control and ran over your car.

[UBIQUEROL]

you need a H license for tracked vehicles, and in order to legally drive an armoured vehicle you have to be over 21 years of age

[mountainboy2465]

You do need a H but you do not have to be 21 to get a H in the forces. I took my H on Chieftain in 86 when I was 18.

[UBIQUEROL]

no i meant for civilians

[kcimb]

Scorpions are awesome, hands down.