Originally Posted by Archer

In the case of the Patton vs Cent, I think the general thinking at the time (and pardon me if I miss any point or am incorrect, I am going purely from memory here)- was that the Pattons Fire control system was state of the art (for the time). Similarly, the US had repeatedly stated that its armor was the best they had made, ditto for its ammo etc. All this combined to create a general "image" of the tank, which it didnt live upto- partly due to the inefficacy of its crew.

Ah, the power of advertising!

Incidentally post '71, the British stopped spares support for the Cents, as a result of which India took all of its Cents and sold them off for a pittance abroad- I believe several landed in South Africa and some even made their way to Singapore, where all these were upgraded and served for a long time.

I didn't realise the Brits stopped spares support for them. I had heard the RSA bought them and read the newspaper speculation that India supplied them.


Yes indeed- a delightful aircraft, even if it was quite tricky in the initial years. The Ajeet was a variant intended for ground attack and had wet wings. I had occasion to closely see a rather decripit survivor, and I cannot begin to describe how small the thing is. Its literally as if the aircraft is "made" around the pilot, as in the old days, tailors used to literally stitch a suit onto a man.
The whole thing looks so small and dainty, its hard to imagine its a combat aircraft till one looks at the rather wicked gun emplacements built into it.