The Challenger 2 tanks, which Britain decided to supply to Ukraine, have a number of significant shortcomings and are inferior to modern analogues produced in other countries.
One of the leading Russian military experts, editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine Viktor Murakhovsky, who assessed the British tank, said this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“This British tank in its current form has a number of critical shortcomings that cannot be quickly overcome within the current platform. In particular, its outdated gun is ineffective against other modern tanks.
But there is nothing to replace the Challenger, so the British are planning “palliative” or, in other words, formal methods of modernization,” Murakhovsky told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
He added that the British vehicle is equipped with an outdated 120 mm rifled gun, which does not allow the use of powerful ammunition when firing at heavily protected targets.
“In fact, it is ineffective against most modern tanks. "Challenger 2" loses not only to our smooth-bore 125 mm caliber guns, capable of using guided projectiles, but also to most foreign analogues.
In addition, this old British vehicle does not have an automatic loader, like our tanks, and this leads to a low combat rate of fire, especially when moving over rough terrain,” the analyst noted.
According to him, another serious problem with the Challenger is the outdated fire control system, which, for example, lacks the automatic target tracking, which is already common for modern tanks and is present on new Russian vehicles.
“But that’s not all. The hydropneumatic suspension of the British tank also requires replacement, since its capabilities are at the limit of the tank's weight. When equipped with additional armor and equipment in combat conditions, it demonstrated poor reliability and did not provide acceptable smoothness.
Previously, a LEP (Life Extension Project) modernization plan was developed for these British tanks, with the help of which the British hoped to solve the listed problems. The program involves the installation of a new smoothbore gun, a new fire control system and a more powerful engine of 1,5 thousand horsepower. However, the project has not yet been implemented. But, apparently, in London they decided that it would do for Ukraine,” Murakhovsky concluded.