Challenger 3: The New Generation of Main Battle Tanks | British Army

It's really important for us as an Army to see the second prototype of Challenger 3 rolling off the production line. It allows us to get on and trial all the subsystems that together make up the capability that is the main battle tank that you see behind me. We're going to have eight prototypes. The first one's already been delivered and is undergoing trials right now in Germany. And it's great to be here in Telford today, meet the apprentices and meet the people from the Army, DNS and industry who are delivering this capability into the Army. It's very different, especially the firing compartment 100% compared to Challenger 2. I just hope it's still got the BB inside of it. We're going to have nearly 150 tanks in the fleet for the British Army going forward. And that will allow us to deploy two armoured regiments in our armoured brigade combat teams going forward. A real offer to NATO as we step forward. In terms of lethality, we're pairing the latest 120mm smoothbore gun, high-pressure gun, and we're pairing that with the most lethal ammunition available. So this will be one of the most lethal tanks in Europe. In terms of survivability, we have a completely new armour suite developed by the scientists at Defence Science and Technology Laboratories. And that is genuinely world-beating technology. Second edition in terms of survivability is an active protection system that allows us to map the guided and unguided anti-tank threats as well. All of this is capped off with a new set of sighting systems that allows us to direct that lethality with much greater precision, 24 hours a day. And overall the whole capability is a total step change to what we currently have with Challenger 2. I think it's definitely never going to be that clean ever again. It's certainly factory fresh. It's going to be amazing to get to grips with all the new systems and just way more tech. But it'll be, I think, just everything will be that much newer. The enhanced power pack will give you more speed and agility when driving around. And then in terms of the commander and the gunner being able to look independently in different directions, along with normal data as well, that big game-changer. So I think just the level of information and the level of target acquisition you're able to get with all the new systems will just be completely different. Challenger 3, alongside Boxer and alongside Ajax, is a critical component of the future Armoured Brigade Combat 2. And that in itself is a key element of the UK's warfighting capability and our contribution to NATO and the overall NATO deterrent effect.