Thank You To:

Kenneth - who did the RTX
Just a Fox - Who helped mount a stabilizer

I'm hoping to make it to 75 upvotes this time. There are a few mistakes in the pictures but by the time they were taken, I couldn't correct it. However, the downloadable copy in this post has those mistakes corrected.

Development

The AGSRV or Assault, General Service and Reconnaissance Vehicle was a very innovative light tank, but it was always a little bit of an oddity. Initially, a query was put out for companies who were willing to develop a light tank that could be airdropped from a C-130 Hercules tactical transport. It would have to be able to knock the latest soviet heavy tanks like the IS-3. The role of the tank was to be a quickly deliverable weapon to the front lines to hold the enemy before heavier machinery arrived by land as well as to act as a General Service Vehicle for tasks such as armed convoy escort. When no one wanted to take up the challenge, the army administration tagged three companies, one of them English Electric. The army codenamed this unique venture Project Oddball.
At first, English Electric wanted a light tank with a front mounted engine and a rear mounted turret with a 105mm gun. However, there were protests in its development headquarters that claimed a 105 would never fit or else be extremely cramped and some engineers suggested instead to mount a recoilless rifle (though others claimed the low velocity of such a weapon was not ideal) or a 90mm gun instead. Small-minded engineers suggested a 17pdr or 75mm gun and a very innovative designer proposed rockets. These suggestions were thought over and the tank was then redesigned with an oscillating turret that could much more easily mount any of these options. The new turret was fitted with a 105 and it was found to be useable but not ideal. It was replaced with a 90 which was a bit more economical. In the end, four turrets and gun prototypes were produced: one for a 105, one for a 90, one for a 105 recoilless, and one for a 75. Four prototype hulls were then attached to these turrets and tested: P105, P90, P105R, and P75.
After testing, it was found that the 75 was too small for use against tanks though it had an excellent rate of fire. The recoilless had too low a muzzle velocity. In the end, the P105 and P90 went on for airdrop testing. The lightness of the tank aided it here. Two modes of dropping were proposed: role the tank out of a plane flying at around 170 kilometers per hour and let its suspension cope, or use a special pallet that had air cushions, and braces. Both methods were tested and option two was preferable, though option one was deemed viable – though risky – if not enough time was available to rig the tanks for drop a during wartime. Eventually, a small amount of P105 tanks were ordered for production while the majority were P90 models.

Further Developments

The scrapped hulls of the P75 and P105R were converted into testbeds for other projects. The P105R was slightly torn down and the rear end cleared to mount an airdropped 155mm field howitzer. The P75 was turned into a rocket launching platform.
Due to the variations, the names of the tanks were as follows:
M = Mark/ A = Airborne/ SP = Self Propelled/ R = Rocket/ E = Escort
AGSRV MA-105
AGSRV MA-90
AGSRV MSP
AGSRV ME
AGSRV MR

General Description

The tank was small, with a highly slopped front at a 55-degree angle. Its turret was rear mounted and offset to right; the gun was offset to the left of the turret. The turret could depress to -8 degrees and +13 degrees. It had four roadwheels on torsion bars and a front mounted drive. It could carry 20 rounds of 105 ammunition or 30 rounds of 90 ammunition. It had a crew of three: the driver sat on the left of the tank just behind the engine, the commander was located on the right side of the turret (he had access to the tanks only MG and was responsible for loading it and as well as commanding the tank he also had to aim and fire the main gun), and the loader sat more or less in the center of the turret just behind the commander and just beside the gun he was tasked with loading and also operated the radio.

Combat Experience

The tank eventually entered service in time for a simulated wargame run by West Germany, Britain, and USA. Germany lined up its Leopard 1 and charged into Western Germany to simulate a cross border attack by the Eastern Bloc. The US rushed its Patton tanks to the front, but Britain surprised everyone when its airdropped AGSRV MA tanks held the line for a critical nine hours before eventually giving way after suffering so called losses. They proceeded to conducting slowing maneuvers, allowing Centurion and Patton tanks to stop the advance.

General Statistics

Speed: 82/-36
Hull armor: 40/15/15
Turret armor: 40/15/15
Gun elevation: 13/-8
Crew: 3
Weaponry: 1 coaxial MG

Controls

WASD - Movement
VTOL - Gun up/down
Yaw - Turret left/right

Shooting Gallery

Thanks