Sabre (tank)

Sabre
Sabre at Bovington Tank Museum
Type	Reconnaissance vehicle
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Specifications
Weight	8.1 tonnes
Length	4.8 m (15 ft 9 in)}
Width	2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)
Height	2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)
Crew	3
Main armament	30 mm L21 RARDEN cannon
Secondary armament	Co-axial 7.62 mm chain gun
Engine	Cummins BTA 5.9 diesel 190 hp (142 kW)
Suspension	torsion bar
Speed	80 km/h (50 mph)

Sabre is a variation of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), featuring the turret from a Fox reconnaissance vehicle mounted on the hull of a Scorpion.

This hybrid vehicle was introduced as a less expensive way of producing a similar vehicle to the FV107 Scimitar, but with a slightly lower profile turret. It was brought into service in 1995. During initial combat exercises, several flaws were identified. In particular, the vehicle lacked defensive capabilities. As such, modifications were made to the turret of the Sabre to include redesigned smoke grenade launchers and the L94A1 7.62 mm chain gun replacing the standard 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, for anti-personnel use. An ammunition hopper sits on the side of the machine gun allowing the weapon to be quickly reloaded compared to belt-fed machine guns.

The marriage of the Fox turret and Scorpion chassis was not successful and Sabre was withdrawn from British Army service in 2004.

Additional specification

• Smoke grenade dischargers
• Ammunition:
  • 30 mm: 160 rounds Armour-piercing Enhanced Penetration (APEP) and High Explosive (HE)
  • 7.62 mm: 3,000 rounds