World Affairs Board - View Single Post - Patton vs Centurion 1965 Indo-Pakistan war

lemontree · 09-03-2007, 10:54 AM

The biggest screw up with the M47 Patton was its petrol engine - one hit and went up in flames. This was improved in the M48 with a diesel engine.

The absence of fire-on-the-move stabilizers - attackers suffered against dug in defenders.

One needs a war to judge a weapon system, the Patton failed and Centurian won in 1965. All the pre-war hyperbole of the Patton was blown apart at Assal Uttar.

Now the Centurian is said to be the better tank, something like our north western adversaries now claim that the F-86 was equal to the hunter or the F104 was not up to the mark against the Mig-21, so and so.

However, all this came after they got clobbered - prior to that those machines were considered invincible.

09-03-2007, 10:54 AM	#79 (permalink)
lemontree Bandaid *Military Professional* Join Date: 10-04-04 Location: India Posts: 5,928	The biggest screw up with the M47 Patton was its petrol engine - one hit and went up in flames. This was improved in the M48 with a diesel engine. The absence of fire-on-the-move stabilizers - attackers suffered against dug in defenders. One needs a war to judge a weapon system, the Patton failed and Centurian won in 1965. All the pre-war hyperbole of the Patton was blown apart at Assal Uttar. Now the Centurian is said to be the better tank, something like our north western adversaries now claim that the F-86 was equal to the hunter or the F104 was not up to the mark against the Mig-21, so and so. However, all this came after they got clobbered - prior to that those machines were considered invincible. __________________ Cheers!...on the rocks!!