Matilda stretch potential procurement lesson

The Matilda's two-pounder was considered the best anti-tank gun in the world when the tank was designed, but wartime expectations soon moved from roughly 40 mm toward 57 mm and 75 mm weapons. A more powerful engine, greater internal volume, and a larger gun could have given the design more stretch potential. Those changes would also have pushed it toward a Valentine-like vehicle. The technological gap may have been bridgeable, although the work would have taken time. Procurement therefore had to weigh a useful tank entering service before war against delay for greater capability growth, with a new replacement design as the other route to later technology.