Challenger 1
FV 4030 Challenger | |
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Challenger 1 at the Bovington Tank Museum |
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General properties | |
crew | 4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver) |
length | 11.56 m (with gun in 12 o'clock position) 8.32 m (without gun) |
width | 3.51 m |
height | 2.95 m |
Dimensions | 62 t |
Armor and armament | |
Armor | Chobham - composite armor |
Main armament | 1 × 120mm L11A5 cannon |
Secondary armament | 1 × 7.62 mm L8A2 and 1 × 7.62 mm L37A2 machine guns |
agility | |
drive |
Rolls-Royce CV12 with 26 l displacement 885 kW (1200 PS) |
suspension | hydropneumatic |
Top speed | 56 km / h |
Power / weight | 14.3 kW / t (19.4 PS / t) |
Range | 450 km (road) |
The Challenger 1 was a British main battle tank developed in the 1970s and 1980s as the successor to the Chieftain . The Challenger was not a completely new development, but was developed from the Shir 2, an Iranian variant of the Chieftain, because the British Army had a great need for a new battle tank and a completely new development would have taken too long and would have been too costly. The first Challenger was delivered to The Royal Hussars Regiment on April 12, 1983 . A total of 420 units were produced. Until the Chieftain was decommissioned, about a third of the British Army's tank inventory consisted of Challengers. The tank was first used in the Second Gulf War in 1991. During the fighting, the Challenger destroyed several Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles. The Challenger 1 was replaced by the Challenger 2 in the British Army from 1998 .
Development history
The origins of the Challenger's development go back to the early 1970s. During this period, the Chieftain was the main weapon system of the British Army's armored forces and had also proven to be an export hit. The Chieftain was exceptionally well armored for its time, but the Six Day War of 1967 had shown the vulnerability of heavily armored tanks to shaped charge projectiles ( HEAT projectiles). The most powerful Soviet weapons of this type were able to penetrate up to 600 mm of armor steel . A tank with conventional steel armor would have had to weigh around 200 tons to withstand these weapons. At the same time, Soviet engineers had improved the performance of armor-piercing ballistic projectiles (KE projectiles), which could be fired from the smooth - barreled cannons of the T-62 and T-64 tanks and which could pose a threat to NATO tanks even at long range .
The western engineers who were confronted with these problems were now faced with the task of developing armor that would simultaneously offer effective protection against HEAT and KE projectiles while remaining within acceptable weight limits. Experiments during the 1950s and 1960s showed that a combination of ceramics and steel alloys offered good protection against shaped charges, but the manufacture of these materials was extremely complex and expensive. The solution to this was found by chance when the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) was researching ways to protect the fuel tanks of armored personnel carriers . For this purpose, thin (and therefore cheaper) ceramic plates in honeycomb shape were combined with steel and various other, mostly secret, materials. This composite matrix had very favorable ballistic properties compared to HEAT and KE projectiles, was relatively inexpensive and weighed much less than pure steel armor. After further testing of the new armor, which was called Chobham armor , in 1971 a prototype named FV4211 based on the Chieftain received such armor. The construction of the FV4211 coincided with the development of the XM1, from which the M1 Abrams would later emerge. Due to an agreement between the USA and Great Britain, according to which research results in the armaments sector should be exchanged, the construction details of the Chobham armor were handed over to the USA. The Chobham armor was integrated into the first prototypes of the XM1, where it proved its excellent protective effect in bullet tests. Since the further development of the FV4211 was discontinued in 1972, the M1 was the first tank equipped with Chobham armor. Great Britain started a joint project with the Federal Republic of Germany to replace the Chieftain or Leopard 1 as a battle tank. The name of the program was Future Main Battle Tank (FMBT).
In 1974, Iran ordered 1,200 Chieftains, but they should be equipped with a more powerful and reliable engine. The FV4211 was used as the basis for the increase in combat value, the hull of which was extended to accommodate the new drive unit. In addition, the Horstmann drive was exchanged for a new hydropneumatic drive. This tank, known as Shir Iran , was introduced to Iran in 1977. A further improved version called Shir 2 was to be delivered from 1979, but this no longer happened due to the revolution in Iran. In 1977 the FMBT program failed, so Great Britain was again looking for a main battle tank to replace the aging Chieftain fleet. The British were faced with the choice between buying the Leopard 2 or XM1, which were in the final phase of development, which would have meant a significant step towards standardization within NATO, or starting their own development. A further development of the already existing Shir 2 was rejected because it did not represent the state of the art due to its Chieftain roots. Since the military was of the opinion that the Chieftain would not need to be replaced before the end of the 1980s, it was foreseeable that the two foreign models would no longer be state-of-the-art by that time. Because of this, the Main Battle Tank 80 (MBT-80) project was started.
The MBT-80 was to be of conventional design and operated by a crew of four, three of whom were to be housed in the tower. Chobham armor was to be used as armor, a diesel engine with 1500 hp as drive and the Chieftain's 120 mm drawbar cannon as armament. However, as early as 1979, during the conception phase, it was clear that the new battle tank could not be introduced before the early 1990s. The escalating costs at this stage of development meant that the project was discontinued in the same year.
As the need for a new main battle tank became more urgent, especially since the Soviet Union was producing tanks like the T-64 and T-72 at a rate of around 2,000 units per year, the Ministry of Defense decided that 243 units of the Shir 2 should be made with Chobham armor should be equipped to meet immediate needs. Challenger was chosen as the name for the new tank. Seven prototypes were produced in 1980 and 1981. After intensive tests, after which modifications were made to the power transmission and the clutches, the first Challenger was delivered to the troops on April 12, 1983. This first batch cost £ 300 million, which is equivalent to a unit price of around £ 1.23 million.
technology
Armament and ammunition
The Challenger's armament consisted of the 120 mm L11A5 drawbar cannon, which was also used in the Chieftain. The weapon was equipped with a smoke extractor , which was supposed to prevent the penetration of powder vapors into the fighting compartment, and a heat protection sleeve, which was supposed to prevent uneven cooling by wind or rain when the pipe was shot hot. At the mouth of the barrel was a collimator mirror with which the gunner could adjust his optics. The weapon system was stabilized both horizontally and vertically, but fire fighting from movement was only possible to a limited extent. The directional range of the main weapon was 360 ° in the horizontal and -10 ° to + 20 ° in the vertical. Pivoting the tower 360 degrees took about 13 seconds. The aiming of the weapon system and the pivoting of the turret were carried out using an electric drive, but could also be carried out manually in an emergency.
The L11 was preferred to the more powerful 120 mm smoothbore cannon from Rheinmetall , which was already in use in the Leopard 2 at the time, because on the one hand it had already been tested and on the other it could fire a wider range of ammunition types. APDS , APFSDS , squeeze head and smoke ammunition could be used as ammunition . The special feature of the weapon was that projectiles and propellant charge were stored and loaded separately. The propellant charges were stored in locked, fireproof, double-walled containers under the tower ring. The containers were also filled with water between the walls to reduce the risk of fire in the event of a hit. A total of 42 propellant charge containers were available, with one container able to hold one charge for a bullet or two charges for squeeze-head or smoke bullets. There were 64 storage spaces for the ammunition.
The secondary armament consisted of a 7.62 mm L8A2 machine gun mounted coaxially with the main weapon and used to combat unarmored targets. Another 7.62 mm L37A2 machine gun, which was used for anti-aircraft and infantry defense, was mounted on the commander's hatch . The MG on the commander's hatch could be aimed, cocked and fired by the commander from inside the tank.
Armor
The Challenger was protected on the hull and turret front by the Chobham composite armor. The exact composition of the armor is confidential. The sides and stern were only protected by conventional armor steel for cost reasons. The exact RHA values are also kept secret. Estimates assume the following values:
Component | Protection level |
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Tub front below KE storeys: |
450 mm |
Tub front below HEAT grenades: |
800 mm |
Tub front above KE-storeys: |
550-600 mm |
Tub front above HEAT grenades: |
800 mm |
Tower front KE storeys: |
590-620 mm |
Tower front HEAT grenades: |
970-1120 mm |
Drive and drive
The Challenger was powered by a 12-cylinder, water- cooled, turbocharged diesel engine. The engine with a displacement of 26.1 l developed an output of 1200 hp at a speed of 2300 rpm. The engine, gearbox and radiator were combined in one block, which made it possible to replace the entire module in less than an hour. Despite the weight increased by seven tons compared to its predecessor, the maneuverability of the tank was significantly improved. The official maximum speed is given as 56 km / h, but under favorable conditions the vehicle could also reach speeds of over 70 km / h.
Optics and sensors
The commander had a total of nine corner mirrors at his disposal, which allowed him a 360 ° all-round view, as well as his primary optics with day and night vision channels for observing the battlefield. Furthermore, the gunner's main telescopic sight could be accessed via an optical connection. In an emergency, the commander could override the gunner and deploy the main gun himself.
With the main riflescope (Thermal Observation Gunnery Sight - TOGS), the gunner had a day vision channel and the thermal image channel of a thermal imaging device, both of which were located in two separate, one on top of the other observation heads on the right side of the tower. The day vision channel had a single and ten times magnification, the night vision channel a four times magnification.
The driver had a single wide-angle lens that could be exchanged for a residual light amplifier at night.
crew
As with most Western main battle tanks, the crew of the Challenger consisted of four soldiers: the commander, the driver, the gunner and the loader. The commander was sitting in the rear right of the turret, seen in the direction of travel, the gunner in front of him. The loader was on the left side of the turret. The driver sat in the front of the tank in a semi-recumbent position. The soldiers who were housed in the tower could get on and off through two hatches in the tower; the driver had his own hatch in the tub.
Calls
Canadian Army Trophy 1987
At the Canadian Army Trophy 1987 (CAT 87) on the Grafenwoehr Training Area , the Challenger was used for the first time in order to achieve better results after the disappointing results of the previous event. A total of 22 tanks were specially modified for the competition to enable faster reloading and more accurate aiming. For this purpose, the laser rangefinder were recalibrated, the shutter no longer had to be closed manually after reloading and the commander's optics had a 15x magnification. Despite these measures and intensive previous training of the crews, the challengers achieved the lowest number of points. This was due, on the one hand, to the outdated fire control equipment, which essentially corresponded to the technology from the 1960s, and, on the other hand, to the two-part ammunition, which was difficult to handle. During a run, a loader loaded a projectile but was unable to continue loading because the coaxial machine gun had a malfunction that needed to be fixed. After he did this, the propellant lighter magazine fell out of the breech. After he had used this again, however, he loaded another projectile into the weapon, which blocked it completely.
Overall, the Challenger scored only 75% hits on the exercise targets, while the M1 Abrams and Leopard 2 scored 94% and 92% hits, respectively. The average fighting time per target was also at the lower end of the scale at 12.61 seconds.
Operation Desert Storm
After the invasion of Iraq to Kuwait and the subsequent UN resolution which was 7th Armored Brigade to Saudi Arabia moved where she joined the 1st Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps was assumed. In the beginning, the Americans still had reservations about the Challenger's performance, especially due to the poor performance of the CAT 87, which however proved unfounded during the battles.
As the brigade was expected to encounter heavily fortified Iraqi positions in support of the Marines, where they would be exposed to close range fire from anti-tank weapons, the side and front armor was reinforced to better protect the driver and ammunition . Furthermore, due to the great distances that had to be covered in the desert, two fuel barrels with a capacity of around 205 l each were attached to the stern. Finally, a system was installed with which diesel could be injected into the exhaust system in order to fog the tank.
To combat the Iraqis' T-72Ms, which were seen as the only real threat to the tanks, the Challengers were each given twelve bullets made of depleted uranium that were to be used exclusively against the T-72s. However, during the skirmishes, the two models did not collide.
After the offensive of the coalition forces began, the superiority of the British tanks over the Iraqi models quickly became apparent. With the help of their thermal imaging devices, the Challenger were able to identify and fight enemy vehicles even in poor visibility at distances of up to 3000 m, while the enemy tanks were almost blind. In total, the Challengers destroyed over 300 Iraqi vehicles and tanks. A Challenger scored a hit from a distance of 4100 m with the first shot at an Iraqi tank.
literature
- Simon Dunstan: Challenger Main Battle Tank 1982-97. Osprey Publishing , Oxford 1998, ISBN 1-85532-485-7 .
- Christopher Foss: Jane's Armor & Artillery 2009–2010. Jane's Information Group , 2009, ISBN 978-0-7106-2882-4 .
Web links
- Description on www.globalsecurity.org (English)
- Detailed description on www.historyofwar.org (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Simon Dunstan: Challenger Main Battle Tank 1982-97. Pp. 3-9.
- ↑ Christopher Foss: Jane's Armor & Artillery 2009-2010. P. 153.
- ↑ a b Christopher Foss: Jane's Armor & Artillery 2009-2010. P. 154.
- ↑ Simon Dunstan: Challenger Main Battle Tank 1982-97. P. 12.
- ↑ Tank Protection Levels ( Memento from December 2, 2001 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on July 20, 2010)
- ↑ Simon Dunstan: Challenger Main Battle Tank 1982-97. P. 14.
- ↑ Simon Dunstan: Challenger Main Battle Tank 1982-97. P. 13.
- ↑ Simon Dunstan: Challenger Main Battle Tank 1982-97. Pp. 16-22.
- ↑ Simon Dunstan: Challenger Main Battle Tank 1982-97. Pp. 36-40.