Tank "Challenger-2": description of the design, technical characteristics, armor protection, armament

Challenger 2 is the first British army tank since the Second World War, which was designed, designed and manufactured by the sole contractor of Vickers Defense Systems. The model was created and manufactured at both the company's factories, Barnbow (Leeds) and Scottswood (Newcastle).

Main characteristics

The hull and auto parts of the model are based on its predecessor Challenger 1, which has undergone more than 150 improvements aimed at improving reliability and maintainability (tank photos are given in the article). Towers "Challenger 2" have a completely new design. This is the most protected armored car in NATO, equipped with an improved version of the forced multi-layer Chobem armor. The NBC nuclear, biological and chemical protection system can protect against all known threats, and this is the first British tank, in which the crew compartment can be heated and cooled.

The main armament includes a 120 mm rifled L30 gun, an automatic cannon of the caliber of 7.62 mm McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems, which was already in service in the British Army and mounted on a mechanized combat vehicle GKN Defense Warrior, and 7.62 mm anti-aircraft machine gun. The fire control system is a digital computer of the Canadian company CDC and is an improved version of the model installed on the American M1A1 Abrams. It has the potential for future extensions, such as connecting to a combat information management system and navigation aids. The crew of Challenger 2 is 4 people, and its combat weight is 62.5 tons. The tank is capable of developing a maximum road speed of 56 km / h and has a 250 km off-road reserve and 450 km highway.

History of the model

The Challenger 2 project included the development and production of 386 main battle tanks (MBT), 22 driver training vehicles, CHARM 3 projectiles and a full logistics package, including training equipment and spare parts.

The main contractor was the company Vickers. The company began working on the tank in November 1986 as a private enterprise, and shortly thereafter, in March 1987, submitted the first sample to the British Ministry of Defense. In February 1988 the contractor submitted an official proposal. In December 1988, it was announced that VDS won a 90 million contract for a demonstration phase that lasted until September 1990. On September 30, 2002, Alvis completed the acquisition of Vickers. VDS operations were combined with Alvis Vehicles Ltd. To benefit from the heritage and reputation of the two companies, it was decided to name the new venture Alvis Vickers Ltd. Subsequently, it was acquired by BAE Systems with the formation of a new division of Land Systems, which combined Alvis and RO Defense.

In June 1991, the Government of the United Kingdom decided to acquire Challenger 2 and placed an order worth 520 million pounds sterling for 127 OBT units and 13 training tanks. Production began in 1993, and the first copies were delivered in July 1994. New British tanks were produced at the VDS plants in Leeds and Newcastle. In the process of production, more than 250 subcontractors (including foreign ones) also took part. Among them, the most significant are the Royal Ordnance (main and secondary weapons), Blair Catton (traks) and GEC-Marconi (guidance system).

The armored vehicles of Great Britain required further modernization. In July 1994, VDS received another order for the supply of 259 combat and 9 training vehicles, as well as training and logistical support. The contract cost was 800 million pounds.

Demonstration of ISRD reliability was carried out in January 1999. It took place from September to December 1998 and included testing of 12 OBRs at the Bovington and Lulworth Bindon ranges. The tests were completed successfully, because the tanks not only met the customer's necessary requirements, but also surpassed them in all parameters.

In January 1998, the Royal Scottish Dragoon Guards Regiment in Germany was the first of six armored regiments to adopt the CR2 and received the 38th in June 1998. Supplies continued to the end of 2000. Each of the six armored regiments was fully equipped with OBT and The corresponding package of material and technical support. The last 386 tank "Challenger 2" was solemnly delivered at the ceremony in Salsibury Plain on September 17, 2002.

The transition to the second model was facilitated by a set of training tools - from simple wall charts to computer simulators of gunners. It also provided training and material support to the royal engineering repair and reconstruction troops who assisted in the diagnosis of malfunctions, testing, repair, calibration and monitoring of system performance.

Deployed in 6 regiments of the Royal Armored Corps in the United Kingdom and Germany, OBL Challenger 2 traveled to Bosnia and Kosovo, to the exercises in Canada, Oman and Poland. In the course of tests and exercises, they surpassed the target reliability indicators. The British tanks took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In July 2004, the UK Ministry of Defense announced plans to reduce 7 armored squadrons (about 100 units) in March 2007 and convert one into an armored reconnaissance regiment. The Challenger 2E was designed for export and was designed to perform tasks in harsh climatic conditions. The tank was widely tested in Greece, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

New armament

In early 2004, BAE Systems received a contract to develop a smooth-bore 120mm gun. According to the terms of the contract, the Challenger 2 tank must be equipped with the L55 Rheinmetall gun used at the Leopard 2A6 ATM, and in January 2006 its tests began.

The ballistic gun corresponds to the German 120mm L55, but outwardly it can fit into the space formerly occupied by the L30. The current armament retains the rifled gun cradle, the trunk clip, the thermal housing, the gas removal system and the alignment of the gun axis with the axis of the sight. After testing in Germany, the gun was also tested in a static mount mounted on the chassis of the OBT Centurion in mid-2005, and later that same year it was finally integrated into Challenger 2. This upgrade allowed the British tank to use 120-mm NATO standard ammunition. Static fire tests were conducted over a wide range of targets with Rheinmetall 120mm armor-piercing projectiles DM53 APFSDS with a conventional core. They showed that the ammunition DM53 has better characteristics than the previous 120 mm of depleted uranium.

War in the Persian Gulf

"Challenger" was purchased for the British army after the Shah of Iran was overthrown and the order was blocked. It was created on the basis of the tank "Chiften", but was much faster, better armed and protected, although it suffered from a weak fire control system. "Challenger" allowed to modernize the British army for 10 years ahead of schedule. The machine was created for the desert, but had no chance to prove itself before the war in the Persian Gulf.

The company "Vickers" did not produce all the tanks, but only the last regiment. "Challenger" was released at the state plant ROF in Leeds, which before privatization was renamed Royal Ordnance. Vickers acquired it just before the order for the production of the 7th regiment was placed.

Equipped with a 120-mm gun L11 A5, the only weakness of the Challenger was its fire control system, which was modernized before the war in the Persian Gulf. The gun could pierce 400 mm of armor and destroy any Russian tank from the first hit. Almost all of the armored vehicles in Iraq were of Russian manufacture, and the Challenger could easily cope with it. With the massive support of aviation, together with Arab, French and American tanks, the Allies without special problems broke through the defense of the Republican Guard. "Challengers" during Operation Desert Storm used mainly high-explosive armor-piercing projectiles, since the armored protection of Iraqi vehicles did not meet Russian standards, and the expenditure of more powerful but less long-range ammunition would have been In vain.

Tower and hull

The tank's dimensions are 8,3х3,52х2,49 m. The length with the gun is 11,57 m. The tank is operated by a crew of 4 people: the commander, the gunner, the driver and the driver. It provides high, effective, round-the-clock fighting efficiency. The commander's seat is on the right and is equipped with 8 periscopes with an increase of 1x and 360 ° of the review. Pressing the red button under one of them puts the turret in motion and sets it in the appropriate position. The gunner sits ahead and below the commander, and the charger is located on the left. The place of the charger is equipped with a periscope. The driver's cab is in front of the tank.

Armament

The main weaponry of Challenger 2 is the 120 mm L30 tank gun, produced by Royal Ordinance of British Aerospace Ltd in Nottingham. The design of the L30 includes a chrome finish, which creates a harder and smoother inner surface. It provides increased speed and, therefore, penetrating ability of the projectile, greater accuracy and reduces wear of the barrel. The tank gun is made of high-grade steel electroslag melting and is insulated with a thermal jacket. It is equipped with a system of aligning the axis with the optical axis of the sight and the removal of gases from the barrel. The tower can rotate 360 °, and the range of vertical shelling ranges from -10 ° to + 20 °.

The sequence of detection and defeat targets is designed for ease of operation in combat. It does not differ for static and moving targets in the daytime or at night. The gunner or commander aligns the sighting with the target, presses the laser rangefinder button, and then the fire button.

The L30 fires 120-mm ammunition. The ammunition is 50 units and can include armor-piercing projectiles with stabilizer and separating tray (APFSDS), armor-piercing (HESH) or smoke. The gun is also capable of firing projectiles with a depleted uranium (DU) core with a sixth subversive charge. The density of depleted uranium is about 2.5 times higher than that of steel, which provides a high penetrating power. L30 and DU are part of the CHARM 1. The CHARM 3 system is also developed, in which the depleted uranium core has a larger length-to-diameter ratio to increase penetration. Ammunition with separate loading is stored under the tower's shoulder strap in armored tanks.

The gun is controlled entirely by the electric guidance and stabilization system of GEC Marconi Radar and Defense Systems (Leicester). The "Challenger 2" tank is equipped with an automatic 7.62-mm McDonnell Douglas cannon, which is to the left of the main gun. The loader on the left is armed with a 7.62 mm anti-aircraft machine gun of the type L37A2 mounted on the dome.

On both sides of the front of the tower are 5 smoke grenade launchers of the company Helio Mirror (Kent, UK). "Challenger 2" is also capable of installing a smoke screen by injecting diesel fuel into the engine exhaust system.

The tank is equipped with a standard military data bus Military Standard 1553. The fire control computer is a digital computing device Computing Devices Company (Ontario, Canada). It can be expanded, for example, by the information system of combat, navigational and training systems.

In 2004, BAE Systems received a contract for the development of a 120-mm smoothbore gun. To this end, the German company Rheinmetall provided samples of the L55 gun, installed on Leopard 2A. A single sample was manufactured that was tested in January 2006. The tungsten DM53 showed more efficiency than CHARM 3, however, it would require a modification of the "gun-shell-charge" system.

Sensors

The commander's sight is gyrostabilized and is a model of VS 580-10 from SFIM Industries (France). The upper block of the VS 580, containing a gyrostabilized panoramic sight and electronics, is mounted on the roof of the tower. The Nd: YAG laser range finder is built into the intermediate assembly that connects the upper part to the lower telescopic assembly, which contains an optical surveillance system, manual control, electronics and a stabilization system. The sight provides a circular view without the need to rotate the head. The viewing range for the height is ± 35 °. The field of view with 3.2x optics is 16.5 °, and with 10.5x magnification - 5 °.

The TOGS II Thermal Imager from Pilkington Optronics (Glasgow, UK) provides night vision. It uses a British TICM 2 sensor. The thermal imager is installed inside the armored barbet over the gun. The on-board compressor and gas cylinder provide cooling of the sensor. The thermal image is superimposed with symbols of the sight mark and information about the state of the system. The thermal image with magnification 4х and 11,5х is displayed in the gunner's and commander's devices, as well as on their monitors without magnification.

The gunner has the main aim of production of the company Pilkington Optronics. It consists of a housing with a viewing channel, a head unit with a stabilized sighting mirror, a 4-Hz laser rangefinder and a monitor with a monocular. The range finder with a wavelength of 1.064 μm operates in the range from 200 m to 10 km. The accuracy is equal to ± 5 m with a difference of 30 m. The shooter is also equipped with a reversible telescopic telescopic sight L30 from Nanoquest, installed coaxially with the gun.

The driver's seat is equipped with the Pilkington Optronics passive periscope. It uses a night vision device. Thanks to this night the tank is able to achieve speeds comparable to daytime, without the use of artificial lighting.

The sight of the gunner and the thermal imager are connected to the fire control computer via the Military Standard 1553 data bus.

"Challenger 2": the tank in battle

The photos of the tank inside are given above. The crew commander directs the panoramic sight mounted on the roof to the target and presses the button, as a result of which the tower rotates until the barrel is automatically pointed at the target. The gunner takes the lead on the target, turns on the laser rangefinder and the fire button to fire the shot. At this time, the tank commander has the ability to locate and target the next target. Both targets are stored in a digital fire control computer. After the shot and defeat of the first goal, the commander presses the button, the tower is aimed at the second target and the shot is automatically fired. Thanks to this procedure, the tank in combat has increased firepower, effectively and quickly hitting targets.

Testing

Challenger 2 was successfully tested in the British Army and the Royal Army of Oman. All operational parameters were reached, including the weapons, reliability and survivability systems. The characteristics of the Chobean armor were confirmed during its verification by modern anti-tank weapons. The result of the tests was the complete safety of the tower and the ability of the aiming system to guide the gun and fire shots.

Drive unit

The tank "Challenger 2" is equipped with a 12-cylinder diesel engine with a capacity of 1200 liters. from. The company Perkins Engines (Shropshire, UK). Transmission - David Brown model TN54 with 6 front and 2 rear gears. The speed of the tank reaches 59 km / h, and the average off-road - 40 km / h. The running reserve is 450 km along the road and 250 km along the rough terrain.

Security

The design of the Challenger 2 tank pays particular attention to the safety of the crew and the survivability of the machine. The tower is equipped with a second generation Chebem armor, which provides increased resistance to the penetration of anti-tank shells. The tank is protected from the action of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons using the NBC protection system located in the stern of the tower, creating an excess pressure of the filtered air. Electronics has protection against a nuclear electromagnetic pulse.

The movement of the turret and the cannon are produced by an electric, and not a hydraulic drive. This eliminates the risks associated with the rupture of high-pressure hoses in the crew compartment. The ammunition store is located under the tower, which provides less vulnerability than in its aft part.

The tank is created by stealth technology, which minimizes its radar visibility.