The FV101 Scorpion is a British armoured reconnaissance vehicle and light tank. It was the lead vehicle and the fire support type in the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), CVR(T), family of seven armoured vehicles. Manufactured by Alvis, it was introduced into service with the British Army in 1973 and was withdrawn in 1994.[4][5] More than 3,000 were produced and used as reconnaissance vehicles or light tanks.
It held the Guinness world record for the fastest production tank, recorded doing 82.23 km/h at the QinetiQ vehicle test track in Chertsey, Surrey, on 26 January 2002.[6]
History
The CVR(T) family of vehicles came from a British Army requirement for an armoured fighting vehicle that could be rapidly airlifted to trouble spots. The Armoured Vehicle Reconnaissance was supposed to carry both a gun and an anti-tank missile but it was not possible to design an air portable vehicle to the specification. The limits on both size and weight led to the use of aluminium alloy for the hull and an adapted car engine for propulsion. The anti-tank capability was given to a dedicated vehicle, Striker, while what became Scorpion would use a 76 mm gun in the fire support role.
In 1967, Alvis was awarded the contract to produce 30 CVR(T) prototypes. Vehicles P1–P17, the Scorpion prototypes, were delivered on time and within the budget. After extensive hot and cold weather trials in Norway, Australia, Abu Dhabi and Canada, the Scorpion was accepted by the British Army in May 1970, with a contract for 275, which later rose to 313 vehicles. The first production vehicles were completed in 1972 and the first British regiment to be equipped with the Scorpion were the Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry in 1973. Alvis built more than 3,000 Scorpion vehicles for the British Army, Royal Air Force Regiment and the export market. All of the CVR(T) vehicles were to be air-portable; and two Scorpions could be carried in a Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Another requirement of the CVR(T) project was the low ground pressure, similar to that of a soldier on foot; this would serve it well in the boggy conditions of the Falklands War.
Armament
The Scorpion was armed with the low velocity 76 mm L23A1 gun, which could fire high-explosive, HESH, smoke and canister rounds. Storage was provided for 40 or 42 rounds. A 7.62 mm coaxial L7 GPMG (3,000 rounds carried) was also fitted, as were two multi-barrelled smoke grenade dischargers, one on each side of the turret. The main armament has an elevation of 35 degrees and a depression of 10 degrees; the turret has a full 360-degree traverse.[7] The traverse was however hand-cranked, a cost-saving feature that made traversing the turret relatively slow and laborious relative to other vehicles of its type.[8] This gun was later deemed to be unsatisfactory, as RAF testing showed that the lack of a fume extraction system caused toxic fumes to enter the fighting compartment, endangering the crew's health.[8]
Some Scorpions used the Cockerill Mk3 90mm gun instead. This weapon could fire the following rounds:[9]
Service history
The Scorpion has been used by the armed forces of Belgium, Botswana, Brunei, Chile, Honduras, Iran, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Philippines, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. The Iranian army acquired 250 Scorpions in the late 1970s and a number of them are still in use after being refurbished locally as the Tosan tank. Scorpions were on occasion deployed to main UK airports as a show of force against possible terrorist threats, e.g., Operation Marmion at Heathrow Airport in 1974.[18] Similar operations in 2003 used the then-current Scimitar.
Combat use
B Squadron, Blues and Royals were airlifted and deployed into the Akrotiri and Dhekelia Sovereign Base areas, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus 1974.
Two troops from B Squadron, Blues and Royals served in the Falklands War. One troop was equipped with four Scorpions, the other with four FV107 Scimitars. These were the only armoured vehicles used in action by the British Army during the conflict.
Variants
Turret only
During the late 1960s, as a result of its experiences in the Vietnam War, the Australian Army perceived a need for a hybrid, tracked fire support and reconnaissance vehicle.
Experiments in which existing M113 APCs were fitted with Saladin (not Scorpion) turrets, wielding a 76 mm M1 gun, were successful. The vehicle entered service as the M113A1 FSV (Fire Support Vehicle).
A very similar, subsequent vehicle, attaching the turret from the Scorpion to the M113, was also known as the FSV. (This re-purposing of the turret was to be the only use of any part of the Scorpion by the ADF.) Entering service in 1976, it was later redesignated the M113A1 Medium Reconnaissance Vehicle (MRV). Its development also obviated interest in acquiring brand new, purpose-built vehicles (such as a variant of the UK CVR(T) or the M2/M3 Bradley). All of these vehicles were retired in 1996.[21]
In the 1970s the Canadian Armed Forces acquired a family of 6x6 armoured vehicles, based on the Swiss Mowag Piranha I, which were known as the AVGP (Armoured Vehicle General Purpose).
Operators
Current operators
- : 25 units.[24] Purchased second-hand from Belgium and retrofitted with diesel engines as requested by Botswana.
- : 20 units
- 🇨🇱: 27 units; currently 15 in service in the Chilean Marine Corps. Ex-British vehicles which have been re-engined with diesel motors.
- 🇭🇳: 19 units
- 🇮🇷: Iran contracted Alvis for the supply of 250 vehicles in 1978, expanded with an additional order for 110 Scorpions shortly thereafter. Participated in the Iran–Iraq War. By 1997, the Iranian army had approximately 80 vehicles in working order.
- 🇮🇩: 90 units
- 🇯🇴: 26 units. Likely sourced from Iraq.
- 🇳🇬 Nigeria: 150 units. In 1983, 33 vehicles were selected to be upgraded with an improved 90 mm Cockerill Mk III gun replacing the original 76 mm cannon. These vehicles were also equipped with a Belgian-sourced OIP-5 fire control system.
See also
- Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked)
- FV102 Striker anti-tank guided weapon carrier
- FV103 Spartan armoured personnel carrier
- FV104 Samaritan armoured ambulance
- FV105 Sultan command post vehicle
- FV106 Samson armoured recovery vehicle
- Alvis Stormer – a larger development of the CVR(T) used in the case of the British Army to carry the Starstreak High Velocity Missile system and Shielder minelaying system
References
- Joe Coughlan, Adam Fulton, Joe Coughlan (now), Adam Fulton (earlier). Thailand-Cambodia border dispute live: Thailand closes border with Cambodia as death toll from fighting rises The Guardian, 24 July 2025, retrieved 24 July 2025^
- Staff Writer. Alvis FV101 Scorpion: Light Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle (1973) Military Factory, retrieved 10 October 2021^