Editing Rolls-Royce Meteor (section)

==Performance==

Previously British tanks had been regarded as underpowered and unreliable and the Meteor is considered to be the engine that, for the first time, gave British tanks ample, reliable power. Replacing the earlier [[Liberty L-12]] licence-built by [[Nuffield Organization|Nuffield]] and used in the Crusader, the Meteor engine in the Cromwell tank  provided almost twice the performance in virtually the same {{convert|1,650|in3|L|adj=on}} displacement.  Reliability was significantly improved against previous tank engines. With a Rolls-Royce Merlin origin, the Meteor was very lightly stressed and reliable. [[W. A. Robotham]] was surprised and pleased when in 1963 [[Duncan Sandys]] said  ''"''I regard the adoption of the Meteor tank engine as the absolute turning-point in the history of British tank development''"'', at the opening of the  Rolls-Royce aero engine factory at East Kilbride. Sandys had been wartime Parliamentary Secretary to the [[Ministry of Supply]] and Robotham who resigned from the Ministry in 1943 wrote that Sandys was knowledgeable on army matters. {{sfn| Robotham |1970|p=246}}

With the introduction of the Meteor engine in the Cromwell, originally intended for the {{convert|340|hp}} Liberty, the boost to {{convert|550|hp}} gave the vehicle exceptional mobility and speed. This increase in power made it possible to integrate greater armour on following tanks.  Designers and military planners started to consider the possibility of a [[Universal tank]], able to undertake both high-armour ([[Infantry tank]]) and high-mobility (Cruiser tank) roles.  Ultimately, this resulted in the [[Centurion tank]] and evolved into the [[main battle tank]] concept.