Challenger 1
Challenger 1 MBT
Main Battle Tank - United Kingdom
Description
The Challenger 1 is a British-made Main Battle Tank (MBT) whose development began in 1978. It entered into service with the British army in December 1982. A total of 420 Challenger 1 was ordered by the British army. The tank was finally phased out of service with the British Army late in 2000 following the introduction of the Vickers Defence Systems Challenger 2 MBT. The Challenger 1 was deployed by the British army for combat operations during the 1990-91 Gulf War. Jordan initially purchased 274 Challenger 1 tanks. Under an agreement signed in March 1999, another 288 batch Challenger 1s were supplied to Jordan over a three-year period, to replace the Tariq tanks, the Jordanian name of the British-made Centurion MBT. In late 1999, the first batch of Ex-British army Challenger 1 tanks was transferred to Jordan. The Jordanian defense company King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau upgraded Jordanian Challenger 1 tanks which were named Al-Hussein. Jordanian Challengers will be phased out of service and replaced by 141 ex-Italian Army B1 Centauro 8x8 Mobile Gun Systems as well as ex-German Marder 1A3 tracked armored IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles). The Challenger 1 is always in service with Oman and Jordan. According to the military balance 2021, Jordan has a total of 380 Challenger 1 including 300 in store.
Challenger 1 MBT tank variants:
- Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle (CRARRV): an armored recovery vehicle based on the Challenger 1 hull, is designed to repair and recover damaged tanks on the battlefield.
Technical Data
| Armament |
|
The Challenger 1 is armed with a 120 mm L11A5 rifled tank gun fitted with a thermal sleeve, a fume extractor, and a muzzle reference system. The gun is able to fire a wide range of ammunition including APDS-T Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot Tracer (L15A4), DS-T (L20A1), HESH (L31), HESH practice (L32A5), Smoke WP (L34) and APFSDS-T (L23A1). The tank carries a total of 64 120mm ammunition. The second armament includes one 7.62mm L8A2 machine gun mounted coaxially to the main armament and another 7.62 mm L37A2 machine gun is mounted on the commander's cupola. Five electrically operated 66mm smoke grenade dischargers are mounted on each side at the front of the turret. The turret is fully electrically operated with a traverse of 360° and the gun has an elevation from +20° to -10°.
|
| Design and protection |
|
The layout of the Challenger 1 is conventional for a Main Battle Tank (MBT). It has a crew of four with the driver's compartment at the front, turret and fighting compartment in the center, and engine and transmission at the rear. The commander is seated on the right of the turret with the gunner forward and below the commander and the loader on the left side of the turret. The turret and hull incorporate Chobham armor over the frontal arc offering a high level of protection against shaped charges such as high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds and they shatter kinetic energy penetrators. Although the construction details of the Chobham armor remain a secret, it continues to be considered as one of the best armor technology used to protect tanks and combat vehicles.
|
| Mobility |
| The Challenger 1 is motorized with a Perkins Engines Company Condor V-12 1200 12-cylinder diesel engine, water-based cooled, developing 1,200 hp at 2,300 rpm coupled to David Brown TN37 transmission with 4 forward and 3 reverse gears. It can run at a maximum road speed of 56 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 450 km. It can negotiate a gradient of 58%, cross a trench of 2.8 m and climb a vertical obstacle of 0.9 m. The tank is fitted with a hydro-pneumatic suspension consisting of six aluminum road wheels with the drive sprocket at the rear, idler at the front and two track-return rollers on either side. The upper part of the track is covered by conventional aluminum skirts. During the deployment of Challenger 1 tanks during the 1990-91 Gulf War, the upper part of the suspension was fitted with skirts incorporating Chobham armor. |
| Combat Equipment |
| The Challenger 1 is equipped with the GEC-Marconi Radar and Defence Systems, Defence Control Systems Division, and Improved Fire-Control System (IFCS). The gunner has a periscope with a Thales Optronics Tank Laser Sight No 10 Mark 1 with a magnification of ×1 and ×10 with an 8.5º field of view. The laser range-finder is an Nd:YAG unit with an operating range of 300 to 10,000 m and an accuracy of ±10 m for 90 per cent of shots. The gunner also has an emergency No 87 periscopic sight. The tank is also equipped with an NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) environmental control system which is mounted at the rear of the turret. |
Specifications
| Armament | Armor |
| One 120mm gun, one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, and one 7.62mm machine mounted on the turret roof | Chobham armor offering protection against high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds and they shatter kinetic energy penetrators |
| Country users | Weight |
| Jordan, Oman | 62,000 kg |
| Designer Country | Speed |
| United Kingdom | 56 km/h |
| Combat Equipment | Range |
| A fire control system, NBC protection system, night vision equipment, laser range finder | 450 km |
| Crew | Dimensions |
| 4 | Length: 8.33 m; Width: 3.49 m; Height: 2.95 m |
Details View
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Pictures - Video
