Recently, a video appeared demonstrating the training of the crews of the British FV107 combat vehicle. Attention was drawn to the “main caliber” FV107 Scimitar, which should be equipped with a 30-mm L21A1 RARDEN automatic cannon as standard.
However, an FV107 with a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun “lit up” in the video. And here the question immediately arises: why would such a “downgrade” seem to be? But here everything turned out to be simple.
The FV107 is equipped with the L21A1 RARDEN cannon, which has a very low rate of fire of 90 rounds per minute. For comparison, the BMP-2 has 550 rounds per minute. And the reason for such a low rate of fire is that the L21A1 gun has a magazine type of loading, instead of a belt loading, as, for example, in the BMP-2.
This means that the FV107 cannot fire continuously, it constantly needs to change magazines, which greatly reduces the rate of fire and ease of use for the crew. And given the fact that one magazine for the L21A1 RARDEN gun contains only 3 shells, then during a combat collision, the magazines must be changed continuously.
Therefore, instead of this gun, a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun was installed. Because it compensates for its smaller caliber with a much higher rate of fire and convenience during active combat. After all, it has a rate of fire of 550 rounds per minute, and much more ammunition. In addition to the machine gun, the FV107 was equipped with an electronic warfare system to protect against FPV drones.
Another reason for replacing the gun is the option that this combat vehicle arrived without weapons, that is, either a demilitarized version was purchased by volunteers or was transferred by Western partners without weapons, which is unlikely.
FV107 combat vehicles were transferred to Ukraine by Lithuania. In addition, they were transferred by Great Britain, in the amount of 24 units. It can also be mentioned that the British are writing off the FV107 Scimitar light tanks, then the question arose – whether they should be used to strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Overall, the FV107 is a fast and maneuverable combat vehicle. In addition to the L21A1 RARDEN automatic cannon (or KPVT in the FV107 version, which “lit up” in the Armed Forces of Ukraine), the crew has at their disposal an L37A1 MG machine gun of 7.62 mm caliber.
The weight of this combat vehicle is only 7.8 tons. It has excellent maneuverability, which is provided in the old version by a gasoline Jaguar J60 with a capacity of 252 hp, and in cars that have been upgraded to the Mk II version – by a 190-horsepower diesel. The crew consists of three people. The frontal armor can withstand hitting a 14.5 mm bullet at a distance of 200 meters.