defense

At What Stage is the UK's New Challenger Tank Development Process?

Prioritising firepower and armour protection over mobility, the UK builds its tanks as large and heavy vehicles accordingly. For this reason, it preferred to produce its own tanks rather than buying tanks from abroad.

In the conflicts in Ukraine, it has been revealed that the British Challenger 2 tank is lagging behind its rivals, the American and German tanks. As a matter of fact, these tanks are still experiencing many problems on the battlefield. Seeing this situation, the British realised that it was time to equip their army with a new tank.

Thereupon, the purchase of German Leopard 2 tanks came to the agenda. Because after the 1998 model Challenger 2 tanks, the British had stopped tank production some time ago. However, the British decided to produce a new tank called Challenger 2 instead of purchasing Leopard 3 tanks. Thus, in 2021, the UK's new tank production process started.

The new tank will be an improved version of the Challenger 2. Equipped with the latest digital enhancements and weapons, the new tank will be at the forefront of the deterrence of land forces. Challenger 3 will modernise UK ground forces and the new technologies to be incorporated into the tank will offer some new combat capabilities on battlefields fraught with a variety of threats.

There are many reasons that have led the UK towards this more costly option. The most important of these is the loss of prestige that would be caused by the fact that the British, who built the first tank in the world, would have to buy a tank from another country. The other important reason is that the British do not want to be dependent on the Germans, with whom they have fought many times in history.

The alternative of buying US tanks was rejected for a similar reason. In addition, US tanks received many of their systems from the British and had similar problems with British tanks. For this reason, the Americans started working on their own tank prototypes called Abrams X.

Another reason why the British did not attempt to develop a joint tank with the USA is that they do not want to be dependent on the USA, although it is their most important ally in the world. In the past, the UK had been buying 7.62 mm small arms ammunition from Belgium, which it regarded as a very close ally, and surprisingly faced an embargo by the Belgian government during the Falklands War.

Moreover, domestic production will also increase employment in the UK. The production of the tank will provide 200 skilled jobs, including 130 engineers and 70 technicians. It will also create 450 jobs in the wider supply chain in the West Midlands, Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne and the Isle of Wight. The indigenous tank will provide export opportunities and support UK participation in future international tank programmes.

Another important aspect is that British tank doctrine and concepts are slightly different from those of other countries. Prioritising firepower and armour protection over mobility, the UK builds its tanks as large and heavy vehicles accordingly. For this reason, it preferred to produce its own tanks rather than buying tanks from abroad.

When it was decided to produce the new tank in the UK, in May 2021, Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL), a joint venture between UK-based BAE Systems and Germany-based Rheinmetall, and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract worth £800 million to produce 148 Challenger 3 (CR3) main battle tanks for the British Army.

Subcontracts were subsequently awarded to a number of subcontractors for different parts of the tank. Rafael Advanced Defence Systems has been selected to supply the Trophy active protection system for integration with the Challenger 3 in June 2021. G&H, a UK-based industrial machinery manufacturing company, will supply the embedded image periscope for the Challenger 3 MBT under a £4.1 million ($4.8 million) contract signed in October 2022.

MilDef, a provider of ruggedised electronics, received a contract worth £2.5 million from RBSL in March 2023 to provide processors and Ethernet switches compatible with the overall vehicle architecture. Olsen Actuators, a UK-based actuator and motion control specialist, was contracted in February 2023 to provide customised actuator assemblies for tank integration. Rheinmetall Electronics UK is the supplier of the driver vision system.

RBSL has been awarded a £90 million contract by Thales Group, a France-based aerospace and defence company, for panoramic and fixed azimuth sighting systems for the tank's commander and gunner. Thales will also supply a signal processing system to provide the tank with state-of-the-art video surveillance and WASAD capabilities.

Challenger 3, which began development with these contracts, has achieved all milestones to date, including the successful Critical Design Review (CDR) in early 2023. New prototypes will now be produced and undergo trials to refine the design before serial production begins.

Trials with prototypes are a critical part of developing a new armoured vehicle. The purpose of trials is to rigorously test the design and push the limits of the new tank. Finding bugs, improving the design and encountering setbacks are the signs of successful and robust trials. Following these trials, the design will be refined.

This process will culminate in a System Qualification Review (SQR). The SQR will determine the final production standard to be used in the production of the remaining tanks. It is currently estimated that trials will be completed and SQR will be achieved by 2026. The First Operational Capability is expected to be finalised in 2027. All 148 Challenger 3s to be produced after this are planned to enter service by the end of 2030.

The Challenger 3 is intended to remain in service until at least 2040 and to be compatible with NATO ammunition, including advanced armour and sensors. However, the signing of a contract for the replacement of only 148 of the 227 vehicles in the current inventory means that there will be a decline in tank numbers in the medium term.