Specification Crew : 3 Engine power : 165 hp Combat weight :7,620 kg (16,802 lb) Max speed : road 64 km/h (39.74 mph) Length : 4.30 m (14.12 ft) Range : 225 km (139.73 miles) Width : 2.31 M (7.58 ft) Main gun : 2-pounder(40 mm) Height : 2.12 m (6.96 ft) Armour : 4 mm (0.16 in) to 14 mm (0.55 in)

The Tetrarch was the United Kingdom's first and only airborne tank.Originally known as the Light Tank Mark VII it was to have been a follow-on to the Mark VI.By the time the weaknesses of British Light Tanks had been exposed the Mark VII was already well advanced.Started as a private venture by Vickers in 1938 it was taken over by the War Office and limited production began in July 1940.At first there seemed to be little prospect of a service career if it did have a better all-round layout then the earlier Light Tanks as well as a 2-pounder(40 mm)main gun.A few saw service during the take-over of Madagascar in May 1942 and during the same year a batch was sent to the Soviet Union. That would have been the end of the Mark VII but a new role then beckoned.The British Army was forming airborne forces and a Light Tank able to support the paratroops and glider-borne soldiers seemed to be a good idea.Renamed Tetrarch the design needed few modifications,although on some vehicles the 2-pounder(40 mm)gun was replaced by a close support 3-inch(76.2 mm)howitzer.The Hamilcar glider the intended airborne transporter was virtually designed around the dimensions of the Tetrarch.The Tetrarch was borne into action on 6 June 1944 and again during the Rhine crossings in March 1945.