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.

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 World 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 L42A1 a 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

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 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.

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

Lorries

 * Bedford RL
 * Bedford TM
 * Bedford TK (MK)