List of Cold War weapons and land equipment of the United Kingdom

This list deals with all land-based equipment used by the British Armed Forces during the Cold War period. This includes small arms, artillery, AFVs, SAMs and lorries.

Small arms

Rifles

• Lee–Enfield – Main service rifle till the 1950s and afterwards adapted for a variety of specialist roles.
• EM-2 rifle – Experimental rifle adopted very briefly in 1951.
• L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle – Main Cold War service rifle from 1954 to 1994.
• SA80 L85 rifle – Adopted right at the end of the Cold War in 1987.

Sniper rifles

• Lee–Enfield – sniper variant from Word War II. It was the primary sniper of British forces until replaced by L42A1.
• L42A1 – in service from 1970 to 1990.
• Accuracy International Arctic Warfare – Designated L96A1 replaced L42A1a Lee Enfield variant in 1985.

Sidearms

• Enfield No. 2 – In service early on in the Cold War.
• Webley Revolver – Substitute for Enfield No 2.
• Browning Hi-Power – Main sidearm during the Cold War.

Machine guns

• Vickers machine gun – Not declared obsolete till 1968.
• Bren light machine gun – L4 variant in service throughout the Cold War.
• FN MAG – Main British machine gun of Cold War and present day as L7.

Submachine guns

• Sten – Used very early on, replaced in 1960
• Sterling submachine gun – Main submachine gun

Grenades

• Mills bomb – In use until the 1970s
• M26 grenade – L2 variant replaced the Mills bomb.

Infantry anti-tank weapons

• PIAT – still in use in 1950s
• M20 Super Bazooka – Replaced PIAT used early on.
• Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle
• MILAN – standard from the 1970s for the rest of the Cold War.
• M72 LAW

Mortars

• Two-inch mortar – Still in use till 1965
• L9A1 51 mm light mortar – Main Cold War light mortar
• ML 3-inch mortar – in service through to the 1960s
• L16 81mm mortar – Main Cold War and present day mortar.
• ML 4.2-inch mortar – saw service in 1960s

Artillery

Field artillery

• M116 howitzer – Saw use into 1950s in its mountain and airborne artillery role
• Ordnance QF 25-pounder – Still saw active use till 1960s when they were relegated to non-combat roles.
• OTO Melara Mod 56 – Saw short service as L5 pack howitzer from 1960s to mid-1970s.
• L118 light gun – entered service in mid 1970s and today is main field artillery piece.

Self-propelled artillery

• Sexton (artillery) – Saw service till 1956
• FV433 Abbot SPG – Main light SPG
• M109 howitzer – Main heavy SPG
• M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System – acquired late in the Cold War

Heavy anti-tank weapons

• 120 mm BAT recoilless rifle – Replaced in 1970s

Anti-aircraft weapons

Anti-aircraft guns

• Bofors 40 mm gun – L/70 variant used till 1977 in low altitude air defence

Surface-to-air missiles

• Thunderbird (missile) – In use till 1977 for mobile high-altitude air defence.
• Bloodhound (missile) – Fixed air defence in UK from 1958 till 1991.
• Blowpipe (missile) – Man portable surface-to-air missile from 1975 til 1985
• Rapier (missile) – Came into service at start of 1970s and at the end replaced Bofors and thunderbird. Used until 2022.
• Javelin (surface-to-air missile) – Man portable surface-to-air missile replacing Blowpipe in use from 1984 to 1993.

Armoured fighting vehicles(AFVs)

Tanks

• Centurion – main British early Cold War tank.
• Conqueror – used from mid 50s to mid 60s to give long range anti-tank support to Centurions. Built to counter IS-3.
• Chieftain – main British tank of Cold War and mid Cold War.
• Challenger 1 – Main British tank late Cold War or 1980s.

Light tanks

• FV107 Scimitar – Entered service 1971
• FV101 Scorpion – Entered service 1973

Armoured cars

• Daimler Armoured Car
• Coventry armoured car
• Ferret armoured car
• Alvis Saladin

Armoured personnel carriers

• Alvis Saracen – Introduced 1952
• FV432 – Introduced in 1960s
• FV103 Spartan – Introduced in 1978
• Saxon (vehicle) – Introduced in 1983

Infantry fighting vehicles

• Warrior tracked armoured vehicle

Non-combat vehicles

Lorries

• Bedford RL
• Bedford TM
• Bedford TK (MK)

References

1. List of military weapons of the United Kingdom
2. List of World War II weapons of the United Kingdom
3. List of equipment of the British Army
4. List of military equipment of NATO
5. List of equipment of the United States Army
6. History of nuclear weapons
7. List of states with nuclear weapons
8. List of equipment of the Republic of China Army
9. Cold War
10. Nuclear weapons of the United States
11. List of equipment of the Hellenic Army
12. List of nuclear weapons tests
13. List of equipment of the New Zealand Army
14. List of equipment of the South African Army
15. List of equipment of the Myanmar Army
16. Cyberwarfare
17. United States Army
18. Cold-weather warfare
19. List of equipment of the Norwegian Army
20. Culture during the Cold War