According to information published on the Twitter account of the Polish Minister of Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, on July 6, 2022, the United Kingdom is busy deploying a tank company in Poland equipped with Challenger 2 MBTs (Main Battle Tanks).
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British Army Challenger 2 main battle tanks are ready to be deployed in Poland. (Picture source Twitter account 18 Dywizja Zmechanizowana)
The deployment of the British Challenger 2 tank company will take place in south-eastern Poland and will be completed at the end of this week. British troops will conduct training exercises with the 'Iron Brigade".
In April 2022, the Army Recognition editorial team reported that the United Kingdom and Poland are in negotiations to deploy British Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to reinforce positions on the eastern borders following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops.
In fact, Poland has donated 240 Soviet-made T-72M1 and T-72M1R that will be replaced by American-made M1A2 Sep V3. In April 2022, Poland signed a deal with the United States for the acquisition of 250 M1A2 Abrams SEP V3 MBTs.
Polish soldiers have already undergone training in the United States to operate the Abrams M1A2 SEP V3 tanks, but tanks are expected to be only delivered to Poland by 2026 to be deployed in eastern Poland. To fill the lack of tanks, Poland asked the United Kingdom for heavy armor reinforcements.
The Challenger 2 tanks are the backbone of the British army, they entered into service with the British Army in June 1998 and the last of the 386 tanks were delivered in April 2002. According to the Military Balance 2021, currently, the British army has a total of 227 Challenger 2 MBTs.
The main armament of the Challenger 2 tank consists of one 120 mm rifled tank gun designated the L30A1. The tank can carry up to 50 rounds of 120 mm. The second armament includes one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun mounted to the left of the main armament and one more 7.62mm machine gun mounted on the turret roof.
The Challenger 2 tank has a crew of four including a driver, commander, gunner, and loader. it is one of the most protected tanks in the world using the latest generation of Chobham armor which provides increased resistance to penetration by anti-tank weapons.
