For the first time, Russian troops destroyed a Challenger tank in the zone of a special military operation (SVO) 2 of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), which London delivered to Kiev. This car was the first Challenger 2, which was destroyed by enemy fire.
On Tuesday, a video appeared on the network that showed the destroyed armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the village of Rabodino in the Zaporozhye direction. The T-64BV tank, armored cars and the burning Challenger 2 got into the frame. Later, pictures appeared with the burnt-out skeleton of the tank, The Guardian wrote about its destruction.
The telegram channel "Frontline Bird" wrote that the British-made car was destroyed by fire from the anti-tank missile system (ATGM) "Kornet". Challenger 2 was in service with the 82nd Separate Airborne Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Later, the head of the British Ministry of Defense, Grant Shapps, confirmed the destruction of the Challenger 2 tank in the special military operation zone.
How much Challenger 2 was transferred to Kiev?
The fact that the UK will transfer Challenger 2 to Kiev became known in January of this year. In a communique published on the website of the British government, it was reported that Kiev will receive 14 cars. This followed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's promise to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to provide additional support.
In March, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, Vadim Prystaiko, said that London had decided to supply Kiev with 28 Challenger 2 tanks. In the same month, the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom reported that the tankers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had completed a training course on the management of British tanks. The training lasted several weeks.
28 Challenger 2 was received by Ukraine from the UK
In May, the former head of the British Defense Ministry, Ben Wallace, confirmed that all the promised Challenger 2 arrived in Ukraine. In the summer, photos and videos began to appear on the network showing these tanks in the area of the SVO. The pictures showed that the vehicles were equipped with lattice screens and structures protecting the tower from kamikaze drones.
What is Challenger 2 capable of?
Production of the Challenger 2 started in 1993, five years later the tank was put into service. Unlike most modern tanks with a smoothbore gun, the Challenger 2 is equipped with a 120 mm rifled gun. It is believed that his gun is highly accurate, but its shells are incompatible with the ammunition of other NATO tanks with guns of a similar caliber.
In addition, the car uses separate cartridge loading, which reduces the rate of fire. Ammunition is stored in armored containers surrounded by a "shirt" with a special liquid designed to reduce the likelihood of ignition and detonation of ammunition. According to the head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Reserve Colonel Andrey Koshkin, Challenger 2 is not an easy tank.
Challenger 2 is a heavy tank and an outdated model. It is not easy even according to British experts
Andrey Koshkin, Head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Colonel of the Reserve
The Challenger 2, which remains the heaviest NATO tank, is protected by the Dorchester multilayer combined armor. Additionally, the tank can carry dynamic protection units and lattice screens.
The first Challenger 2 was lost in Iraq in 2003. The crew of one of the British tanks noticed a bunker that was hit by a second shot, but later it turned out that the projectile did not hit the enemy's fortification, but the hatch of another Challenger 2. At the same time, in several episodes, the tank withstood attacks from hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers.
What weaknesses does Challenger 2 have?
Director of the Museum of the Air Defense Forces, retired Colonel Yuri Knutov suggested that the Challenger 2 is particularly vulnerable to Russian minefields, which are capable of completely destroying the car by impact on its bottom. They can also be hit by Russian ATGMs and FPV drones.
FPV drones are successfully working on Western tanks, given that none of the Western tanks from above has any dynamic protection, much less from FPV drones. The vulnerability of this technique is very great
Yuri Knutov, Director of the Museum of Air Defense Forces, retired Colonel
It is believed that a tank without an automatic loader lags behind the Russian ones in terms of rate of fire. Candidate of Military Sciences, Reserve Colonel Sergey Suvorov ru/news/2023/01/19/ nc8c/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">noted that the loader makes the first shots at a high rate, but later the rate of fire decreases.
Military expert Alexey Sukonkin, in turn, noted that the difference between the Challenger 2 shells from the shells of other NATO tanks and Soviet-made vehicles will be a headache for the supply of the Armed Forces.
