Article Summary: The British Challenger 3 tank offers cutting-edge technology, but limited production raises critical concerns about Britain’s military readiness and armored capabilities in future conflicts.
Why Britain Needs More Than 148 Challenger 3 Tanks to Stay Relevant
Recent assessments of the British Army’s Challenger 3 tank call it a “transformative leap” over its predecessor model, the Challenger 2.
That older model’s performance in combat in Ukraine “demonstrated the need for modernization in contemporary armored warfare” some time ago.
A profile of the tank points out that one of the most significant improvements on the Challenger 3 is incorporating the Rheinmetall L55A1 120-mm smoothbore gun in place of the Challenger 2’s L30A1 rifled barrel.
The smoothbore gun brings the new Challenger in line with NATO standards.
With the new gun, the Challenger 3 will be capable of firing munitions that are impractical or impossible to fire through a rifled gun barrel. The list includes kinetic energy penetrators like the SABOT round and programmable High-Explosive Airburst round.
These munitions are capable of penetrating the reactive armor and the more advanced and layered composite armor that protects the latest Russian tank designs. In particular, they can menace Russia’s T-90M and T-80BVM models.
Challenger 3 Tank: Not Enough For a Real Conflict
While the Challenger 3 is rated as being a generational improvement over the Challenger 2 series, and will certainly have a positive impact on the combat effectiveness of the British Army, it also has problems that go beyond its design.
The biggest of these is the question of whether the number to be procured, which today stands at 148, will be sufficient.
An assessment of the design published last summer points out that “despite its technological advancements, [the Challenger 3] could face issues due to its mobility and low numbers.
Despite its new gun and the addition of the APS [Active Protection System], the tanks could be wiped out if Britain chooses to engage in a solo war.
“The biggest takeaway is in fact not the tank at all. It is that Britain needs its allies now more than ever before. Though, one thing is certain: if deployed along with the rest of NATO’s firepower, the Challenger 3 could be a deadly machine capable of inflicting heavy damage on its enemies. To put it succinctly, the Challenger 3 is equipped to win battles, but Britain will need more if it is to win a war.”
Only selecting 148 Challenger 2 hulls to be upgraded to the Challenger 3 variant also seems inadequate when considering that Russia has lost more than 3,000 tanks in Ukraine. The low number is also not in line with the history of armored-vehicle force levels in the British Army.
During the Cold War, the Royal Armored Corps had some 900 tanks in its fleet.
Timelines, Replacement and Upgrade
This sadly is the situation with too many of the weapon systems that are produced by Washington’s NATO allies: They deliver impressive performance that arrives too little, too late.
Ironically, the main battle tank is originally a British innovation, but in more modern times, British production tempo is far too slow.
As capable as the Challenger 3 is likely to be, it is not planned to reach full operational capability until 2030. It will then be in British Army service until 2040 or beyond.
But by then, the UK and its other NATO allies could be in the middle of a major conflict with Russia, to say nothing of the potential flash points in other regions of the world.
The 148 units being procured now could be destroyed within two weeks during any large-scale conflict.
Challenger 3 Tank.
If that turns out to be the case, there appears to be no plan or prospects to develop any substantial production capacity to replace battlefield losses.
What is also almost certain is that the capability of inexpensive drones to take out high-priced tanks is only going to grow.
This has sparked concerns that not only would many of these tanks be taken out early on, but that the UK as a whole will not be able to field an effective combined-arms force.
No wonder, said an article about the tank published in the UK Defence Journal, that “some senior U.S. officers have said that Britain is no longer a Tier 1 military power.”
Challenger 3 Image Credit: BAE Systems.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is now an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
