Tanks of Britain World Of Tanks. Modern tanks of Western Europe: Britain Light tanks of Great Britain

Hello fellow tankers! Today we will look at British branch tank development(in the World of Tanks game), or rather, I will describe to you all its pros and cons in as much detail as possible from my point of view and, perhaps, help you decide on the choice of a nation.

The popularity of British tanks in World of Tanks

Advantages and disadvantages of British tanks

A bit of history

And now back to the advantages and disadvantages, based on historical significance.

• A definite plus you can call it that in the "cruising" meaning, the British achieved their goal: Covenanter, Crusader, Cromwell, Comet are ideal for entering the rear at speed and carving out enemy artillery. The advantages include frontal armor some vehicles (such as Black Prince, Matilda, Valentine and almost all British anti-tank self-propelled guns). Medium tanks have worse armor, but a certain slope gives a chance of non-penetration, and the turret can traditionally take a good hit. The British also have good guns: they have good armor penetration, fast aiming and not too long reload. Some machines have mobility, speed and maneuverability. British tanks have good visibility.
• By cons applies one-time damage per shot, because it is very small (except for high-explosives and the FV215b (183) top tank destroyer). Some vehicles have poor hull armor. The huge disadvantages of heavily armored tanks in Britain are speed, maneuverability and extensive “soft” points that are easily accessible for penetration.

General

fri-sau

"Cruising" light tanks

Light tanks (up to heavy tanks)

medium tanks

Outcome

British Tanks Challenger 1 Challenger belongs to the third post-war generation. It represents a further development and has been developed since the mid-1970s. Technical management military vehicles and equipment and firms oh Vickers. The prototype for it was the export Shir2, the design of which was finalized, thereby creating the Challenger I. From 1983 to 1989, 420 of these machines were manufactured for british army. They were removed from service at the end of 2000, but since 1999 these tanks have been supplied to Jordan under the name ALHussein. A total of 303 units were sent.

UK Challenger tanks

"Challenger 1" - a tank of the classic layout. Combat weight 62 tons. The hull and turret are welded, made of Chobhem combined armor. The bottom of the hull has a V-shape to reduce the impact of anti-tank mines. In front of the machine is the control compartment. The fighting compartment and the tower occupy the middle part. Engine compartment in the aft. The turret has a 120mm L11A5 rifled gun. Pointing angles of the gun in the vertical plane from -10 to +20 degrees.

L11A5 120mm rifled gun, other tanks in the world use smoothbore guns

The ammunition load of 64 rounds of separate loading is located in the control compartment and in the fighting compartment. To the right of the gun is a 7.62 mm machine gun coaxial with a cannon. Anti-aircraft machine gun located above the hatch of the commander's cupola. The machine used an automated fire control system, consisting of a laser rangefinder sight and an electronic ballistic computer. If necessary, it is possible to fire from the commander's seat. There is also a laser irradiation indicator with a signal to the crew.
The motor-transmission unit weighing 5.49 tons is located in the stern. Typically field replacement only takes 45 minutes. The main engine is a 12-cylinder V-shaped Condor turbocharged diesel engine with a power of 1200 hp. There is also an auxiliary diesel engine with a capacity of 37 hp, which serves to drive the electric generator, start the main engine and recharge the batteries.

Tank Challenger 1 performed in leading role from Britain in the war Persian Gulf for Operation Granby

On "Challenger 1" for the first time, an automatic hydromechanical transmission with hydrostatic transmission was used in the drive of the turning mechanism. It allows you to smoothly turn the machine, which improves handling.

• Speed ​​- 56 km / h.
• Power reserve - 400 km.
• Tank suspension - unregulated hydropneumatic piston.

On each side, six double supporting and four double supporting rubberized rollers are installed. Caterpillar with metal and hinges and removable rubber pads.
The Challenger 1 has three modifications: Mk 1, Mk 2 and Mk 3. The Mk l tanks were equipped with a 120 mm L30 cannon, which included depleted uranium shells. On Mk 2 in the aft part there are two additional 200-liter external fuel tanks, on MkZ - an additional active and passive protection front and sides.

The Challenger 2 is the last of Britain's main battle tanks. Weighs 63 tons

Tank UK Challenger 2 developed by Vickers in 1988. It is a modernized Challenger 1, which has changed the design of the turret, gun and weapon control system. Serial production began in 1994. Now 386 tanks are in service with the British army, 38 are in service with the army of Oman.

Challenger 2 will remain in the British Army until 2035

Royal Scottish Dragoons guards regiment. Germany. 1998 color of the combat vehicle

The hull and turret of the Challenger 2 are made of second-generation Chobham combined armor. The turret was designed based on experience in the creation of the Mk7 and . Combat weight 62.5 tons.
The ammunition load of the L30A1 rifled gun includes armor-piercing sub-caliber shells with a depleted uranium core. Ammunition - 52 shells of separate loading.

Photo shot from CHALLENGER 2

Fire control system - upgraded computer american tankМ1А1 Abrams ("Abrams"), the commander's stabilized day sight is similar to that installed on the French Leclerk tank, the gunner's main sight is also French with a laser rangefinder and a thermal imaging unit.

A thermal imager is located above the Challenger 2 barrel, it can be clearly seen in the photo. This allows the crew to see thermal images of any hotspots, vehicles, soldiers, etc.

Transmission is new, hydropneumatic suspension and chassis modernized. There are two external fuel tanks on the body. The engine is the same - Condor.

The 1200 horsepower Condor engine gives the tank a top speed of 37 miles.

A filter-ventilation unit and automatic fire fighting equipment have been installed. There are variants of command tanks.
Challenger 2, modified for hot climates, were delivered to Oman.

Challenger 2 on the background of burning oil wells Persian Gulf

The developer has created an export modification of the Challenger 2E, which is considered as an option for upgrading tanks in service with the British army.

Defeats in Europe and the disaster at Dunkirk

See also:

English tanks in Africa

Tank production in England during the war

On July 28, 1914, a cannonade thundered over Europe new war. At that time, no one imagined that this conflict would become a global struggle for attrition. All participants planned to defeat their opponents in a few months of a decisive offensive. But more and more states got involved in the fight, the armies suffered huge losses, and in the end Europe was crossed out by lines of trenches from the northern to the southern seas. The offensives brought less and less results: tens, or even hundreds of thousands of dead, were paid literally for a few kilometers recaptured. In an attempt to somehow reverse the stalemate, the participants in the war invented more and more new means of destruction. It was during these years that poison gases, flamethrowers appeared, and a fighter aircraft was first used. And it was then that the tank was invented in Britain.

For the first time, tanks participated in the battle on September 15, 1916 on the Somme River. Armored monsters broke through the German defenses, but the result was achieved only on a tactical, not operational level. In general, tanks did not play a decisive role in the First World War. More than two decades had to pass for the new military equipment to fully reveal its potential. Over the years, it was necessary not only to improve the design of tanks, but also to learn how to use them correctly. Surprisingly, the British - the pioneers of tank building - had problems with both the first and second aspects.

As usual, main reason of these problems was the human factor. Let's start with the fact that in the British War Office there were many outspoken opponents of the development of armored forces. Historian D. Brown wrote that the attitude of military officials towards the tank corps was marked by a spirit of displeasure and envy. The extreme degree of hostility was statements that tanks were a waste of the military budget.

In the camp of supporters, too, not everything was smooth. Here they could not reach a consensus on what role the tank should play on the battlefield in the future. Two points of view stood out clearly. According to the first, the tank was supposed to advance along with the infantry, cover it with armor and help fight enemy infantry. Artillery was supposed to fight the fortified points, tanks and cannons of the enemy. Supporters of the second point of view were inclined to believe that tanks should be used in the same way as cavalry. In their opinion, the tanks had to quickly break through behind enemy lines, strike at communications, warehouses, attack units that were on the march and were not ready for an effective rebuff.

Ultimately, the British decided, figuratively speaking, to sit on two chairs at once. A division into infantry and cruiser tanks was created. The former were slow and well armored, while the latter were distinguished by high speed, but thin armor. At the same time, their weapons were approximately the same. Although at first it was planned to equip infantry tanks only with machine guns. Then, nevertheless, they came to equipping combat vehicles with guns. But for both infantry and cruiser tanks, the caliber of guns was limited for a long time, and high-explosive fragmentation shells were not included in the ammunition load.

Let's take a closer look at both "families" of British tanks in the initial period of World War II.

Infantry tanks, as already mentioned, at first did not have cannon weapons. A typical example of such a machine was the Matilda I, which began production in 1937. It was a clumsy but well armored tank. When the British first fought the Germans in 1940, it turned out that German anti-tank weapons were often unable to penetrate this tank. Unfortunately, the advantage in defense was completely erased by the very low firepower of the vehicle.

In 1939, the production of the infantry tank Matilda II began, which became the most heavily armored English tank start of the war. Its 60 mm armor was guaranteed to penetrate only 88 mm anti-aircraft guns and 76 mm German guns anti-tank installations Marder II. Unlike its namesake of the previous modification, the Matilda II was armed with a 2-pounder gun. In principle, this was enough for the very beginning of the war. But by the middle of 1942, Matilda II had ceased to be any significant in the role of a gun tank. And it was not possible to install a more powerful gun on it due to the small size of the turret and the diameter of the shoulder strap.

the most successful infantry tank beginning of the war recognized as Valentine. This machine received a baptism of fire in 1941 in North Africa. The release of "Valentines" was carried out until 1944, although already in 1942 the tank was considered hopelessly outdated. Its unambiguous shortcomings were low speed and a weak gun. Unlike the Matilda II, it was possible to strengthen the armament of the Valentine: in 1942, a turret was developed for a 57-mm (6-pound) gun. The tower was cramped and could accommodate only two people, which had a negative effect on the efficiency of the crew. Speaking of Valentine tank, it should be noted that about half of the cars built were sent under Lend-Lease to the USSR.

As for the cruiser tanks of Great Britain, by the beginning of the Second World War they were still far from perfect and were extremely unreliable. And it was typical for all equipment of this class. The ancestors of cruiser tanks were the machines of the American engineer Walter Christie.

The Vickers Mk I, produced in small series since 1934, became the first cruiser tank. He practically did not participate in the war, although a small number of these vehicles remained in the army until 1941. The rest were withdrawn to the rear and used as training.

An attempt to correct this deplorable situation was the Vickers Mk IV tank. The thickness of his armor was able to bring up to 30 mm. This was done by welding additional sheets on the tower and other weak spots. This additional armor gave the Mk IV's turret an unusual hexagonal shape, later adopted by the Covenanter cruiser tank. In addition, minor work was carried out to improve the chassis. The Mk IV became more combat-ready than its predecessors, but still broke down unacceptably often.

In 1940-1941, the British suffered serious defeats on almost all fronts. France, North Africa, Greece - everywhere British tanks lost to their opponents. Sometimes this was due to technical imperfection, sometimes due to incompetent commanders. I had to draw conclusions and take action.

In the second part of the article, we will tell you how the armored weapons of Britain developed further.

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A hundred years ago, the British army was the first to use tanks in warfare, but the power of its current armored forces has greatly weakened and changed. What is their state of the art and plans for the future? Since the end cold war The British Ministry of Defense was one of many who took the liberty of declaring that there would be little need for main battle tanks (MBTs) in a modern operating space.

This position of the state served as an impetus for a dramatic reduction in the number of tanks in the British army and the crews on which they could serve, from 14 regiments (the British equivalent of a battalion) to total tanks approximately 1000 tanks in the late 80s to three regiments in accordance with the current Army 2020 modernization program.

Today, these regiments have enough tanks and trained crews available to ensure that in total each of them can deploy a squadron (the British equivalent of a company) - approximately 18 tanks - in support of the lead LATF (Lead Armored Task Force) armored task force. This group, after receiving the order, must advance within 30 days.

After the current cycle of transformations is completed, the term for the advancement of a completed brigade, including 56 tanks, will generally be 90 days.

At the Castlemartin training ground in Wales, a British Army Challenger 2 tank fires an armor-piercing sub-caliber practical projectile with a short range. Live firing remains the key to maintaining a high level of combat training and crew coherence

Over the past 25 years, the British armored forces have demonstrated their capabilities twice. The first demonstration took place in 1990-1991, when a rash decision was made to send two armored brigades (including three Type 57 tank regiments with 171 Challenger 1 tanks) to the liberation of Kuwait as part of Operation Granby.

Later in 2003, two regiments of Challenger 2 tanks (and part of the units of the third regiment) were to be hastily deployed to Iraq in Operation Telic 1. Their number was later reduced to one squadron, which remained in this theater of operations until the end of Operation Telic 13 in 2009.

Despite a request made in 2006, the British Army did not deploy to Afghanistan in Operation Herrick. However, starting in 2007, British forces in Helmand province often called for tank support from their allies: a platoon of three Danish Leopard 2A5DK tanks; corps tank companies marines US M1A1 Abrams; and between 2006 and 2011, a reinforced squadron of Leopard 2A6CAN and Leopard C2 tanks from the neighboring province of Kandahar.

Ultimately, the representation of severe British armored vehicles since 2010, Afghanistan has been limited to three Trojan barrier vehicles (an engineering version of the Challenger 2 tank) and two Challenger CRARRV armored recovery vehicles deployed in Helmand province.

Since the middle of the last decade, the British army has been mainly focused on peacekeeping operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has led to a corresponding reduction in combat training (in the form of tactical exercises and armored maneuvers) of the rest of the combined arms formations in the UK and Germany.

However, the capabilities of the armored forces were supported by the participation of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles in basic training for hybrid combat operations (the concept of the "war of three quarters", the essence of which is that in a relatively small urban area one unit will be forced to conduct simultaneously and military operations and peace enforcement operation and peacekeeping operation), which all combat units have already completed.

A New Look

In accordance with the five-year review of strategic defense and security, published in 2010, and the final structure of the British Army 2020 program, each of the three remaining tank regiments (analogous to battalions) was assigned to one of the three mechanized infantry rapid reaction brigades that are part of the 3rd division . (The army includes eight more combat brigades: the 16th air assault brigade and seven infantry brigades subordinate to the 1st Division, none of which have attached armored units.)

Each tank regiment has its own name: the King's Royal Hussars (KRH), the Queen's Royal Hussars (QRH) and the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR). In addition, the expanded order of battle includes one reserve regiment, the so-called Royal Wessex Yeomanry, which provides all three regular tank regiments with reserve tank crews, but does not have a single tank of its own.

All three regiments are in service, which was originally developed in the late 80s by Vickers Defense Systems (currently BAE Systems). BAE Systems delivered a total of 386 serial machines in 1994-2002; current plans foresee that some of them will remain in operation until 2035.

An upgraded weapon system based on the Rheinmetall 120 mm smoothbore gun and a number of improvements to the undercarriage and fire control system were approved at the beginning of the last decade for the Challenger 2 tank as part of a proposed capability extension program, but due to funding problems in 2008 it was stopped. In 2012, a capability extension program was incorporated into the Challenger 2 Tank Life Extension Program, which will upgrade or replace various subsystems of the tank. In accordance with the service life extension program, 227 Challenger 2 tanks will be upgraded.

A separate funding scheme adopted for the improvement and maintenance of standard ammunition, to date, allows only such minimally costly refurbishment and modernization activities as are necessary to extend the shelf life of existing stockpiles. The depots store ammunition that is at least 25 years old and is not currently manufactured in the UK. No type of regular ammunition is compatible with modern standards for low-sensitivity (inert) ammunition.

rebirth

The first tangible change in the fate of the British armored forces occurred in 2012, when the reduction of troops in Operation Herrick, publicly announced even before the withdrawal of the British contingent in December 2014, allowed these units not to return to Afghanistan and focus on their combat training for future tasks.

The first armored regiment to return from its last Afghan tour in October 2012 was the KRH, which operated there as the lead unit for the Lashkar Gah battle group. Having no tanks on this theater of operations, he mainly performed dismounted infantry tasks using Mastiff 6 × 6 mine-protected vehicles and Warthog all-terrain tracked transporters.

The battlegroup-level Prairie Storm Combined Arms Training Maneuvers, held at the British BATUS base in Canada, allows British tankers and infantry units to practice working with their support groups, including minefield-clearing engineer squadrons. In the photo, an elongated Python mine-clearing charge fired from a Trojan engineer tank detonates, and thus ensures the passage of the battle group 1 Yorks

After the necessary recovery and combat training, two KRH tank squadrons (“C” and “A”) were successfully identified to support the intermediate armored group, the lead armored battle group LABG (lead armored battlegroup) and later the lead armored tactical tactical group LATF, deployed by its head of the 12th armored brigade. Since the end of 2013, this brigade has been responsible for performing special tasks (which theoretically include the conduct of hostilities). It was decided that it would be replaced by the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade in January 2016, which in turn would be replaced by the 20th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in January 2017.

At present, the British army is in an intermediate state, more precisely, in the process of transition from old structures to new ones, changing areas of responsibility, changing the location of its bases and auditing military equipment. That is why the 12th motorized infantry brigade was not replaced on time, and its combat duty was extended by 18 months. However, as soon as the “perestroika” turbulence calmed down, it became possible to establish a standard duration of readiness (12 months for a brigade and 6 months for a battle group), which is considered optimal for maintaining “correct service” in accordance with the revised adaptive mechanism for the operational readiness of combat units within the framework of Army 2020 (A-FORM) program introduced in 2015.

The 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade entered its "training" year in early 2015, and its established RTR tank regiment, which provides armored capabilities for this brigade, began a joint combat training in the UK and Canada (level of joint combat training Level 4 / CT4).

The 20th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which will be the last to leave Afghanistan, is currently undergoing rebuilding and reorganization at its bases in Germany and the UK and will take up combat duty in 2017. By 2020, the last unit of this brigade, including the QRH, should finally (after almost 70 years) leave Germany and return to their home base in the UK along with other units of the 3rd (British) Division stationed in the Balford/Tidworth area.

On the range at home

In May-June 2015, live firing of the KRH tank squadron "C" took place at the Castlemartin artillery range and tactical exercises at the platoon level (CT1) in the Salisbury Plain training area.

At the basic levels, the essence of joint combat training (the distances and set of targets on British artillery ranges have not changed significantly over the past 40 years) has remained traditional, although some changes may be worth making.

Since the end of World War II, British tank regiments have typically had three tanks per platoon, but a four tank per platoon structure has been adopted under the Army 2020 programme. This gives greater organizational flexibility and combat redundancy, which allows each platoon to potentially perform more tasks when divided into pairs, as well as being closer to the combat training of tank platoons of the American and German armies.

There are four training grounds in the UK where fire training with live firing is possible. These are Castlemartin, Kircudbright, Lulworth and Salisbury Plain, but none of them yet correspond to the completely new platoon structure.

The Castlemartin range has enough directrixes for the simultaneous operation of four Warrior infantry fighting vehicles, but the limitations of the firing sectors along the length make it difficult to carry out live firing at the level of a platoon of four Challenger 2 tanks. reconnaissance scout vehicles will also need to improve these shooting ranges. This is the concern of the army headquarters, which keeps this issue under control.

While there have been many complaints in the past about limits on kilometers traveled, practical ammunition or fuel reserves, this is no longer a problem for a tank squadron. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the stocks of spare parts and ammunition available at one time were intended to provide a significantly larger number of Challenger 2 tanks than the British Army currently needs for deployment.

The recent increase in politico-military activity in the Baltic states entails the need to demonstrate the competence of the British Expeditionary Armored Capabilities and this will no doubt also be helpful in dealing with any such problems hindering the planning process and the execution of assigned tasks.

The first expeditionary test of the 12th High Readiness Combat Brigade LABG was the Black Eagle exercise held in Poland in October 2014. In the background is a Challenger 2 tank, manned by KRH C Squadron, paired with a Polish Army Leopard 2A4 tank. In the course of the exercises, a methodology was developed and consolidated for the early depreservation of tanks that are in long-term storage. Interestingly, on british tank there is no usual camouflage cape.

In order to perform the so-called annual crew test (ACT), the crew of the Challenger 2 tank can count on firing 83 rounds of ammunition from the main armament of the tank, as well as 2940 rounds from the 7.62-mm machine gun. During the school year (once every three years), the crews also conduct evaluation live firing at the platoon level, during which an additional 42 cannon rounds and 1,200 rounds of 7.62-mm machine gun rounds can be fired.

Before the start of live firing, personnel undergo intensive training on simulators (including 20 exercises for gunners and 4 or 5 exercises for the crew as a whole, including annual comprehensive testing) in their unit. The target designation procedure is carried out at the crew level (in simulators and on the shooting range) and then at the platoon level as part of joint combat training.

Distances to targets fired from tank guns (mostly static tank hulls) at Castlemartin range is 3 km or less, while for auxiliary weapons the maximum distance is about 1100 meters (tracer burnout time). The percentage of hits from the gun for the gunner and commander during the annual ACT must be at least 75%; a similar standard when firing from a coaxial machine gun (7.62-mm L94A1 Chain Gun), but in the latter case, the standard exercise consists in firing three bursts of five rounds (one sighting and two "to kill") at one target. Shooting from a coaxial machine gun is considered more difficult from a technical point of view, although even if you take a separate machine gun L94A1, its dispersion characteristics are regarded by some as "too insufficient" for suppressive fire.

One of the "legacies" of Afghanistan was to give each company one advanced aviation gunner (in the 80s there were only three gunners per brigade). As a result, Challenger 2 tank squadrons are now accompanied by a modified version of the Warrior artillery observation vehicle, which houses the fire support team leader, along with a forward observer and a forward air gunner, coordinating with jets or attack helicopters.

The original Challenger 2 armament and fire control system requirements previously determined that the crew must be able to fire the 120mm L30A1 rifled cannon with individual ammunition at a rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute. However, the need for this kind of prolonged firing will not arise very often: in a series of standard tests, one tank, as a rule, will need to fire at five targets (including one for a machine gun) for 55 seconds, set at random azimuths and distances in a sector over 120°.

According to one of the squadron officers, creating the right "atmosphere" and the interaction of the crew in the tower is the key to success in battle.

At the end of the armored forces center, a crew member usually starts as a driver, then he is promoted to a gunner and loader, and, eventually, to a vehicle commander with a certificate of training in several specialties.

In addition to its main function of providing the main and auxiliary weapons with ammunition, the loader also acts as a radio operator and fires from a 7.62 mm universal machine gun mounted next to the hatch; it also makes a significant contribution to target detection for the gunner and commander. The driver also contributes to close range targeting by taking advantage of his day and night vision devices with a wider forward field of view; it can also assist the loader by keeping a count of the number of shots remaining in the magazine, thereby ensuring that when firing at a target, the shells do not run out at the most crucial moment.

commanders tank crews are either in the rank of corporal (junior sergeant), sergeant (at the age of 22-25 years old who occupied the place of the loader, or older in the case of a platoon sergeant), or officer (platoon leader, deputy squadron leader, squadron leader and in an armored combat group unit commander) . After undergoing 44 weeks of general officer training at the Royal Army Military School Sandhurst, armored officers attend a six-month crew commander course at the Bovington Armor Center where they are trained in driving, gunnery, communications and tactics. Platoon corporals who have passed through the ranks of sergeants attend the same courses.

After completing the mandatory educational training required to qualify for the ACT, newly promoted officers initially assume the position of platoon leader under the supervision of their more experienced drill sergeant. After the new platoon commander undergoes joint training in tactics and combined arms combat at the BATUS (British Army Training Unit Suffield) training base in Canada, his dependence on the supervising drill sergeant may noticeably decrease (depending on the qualities of the newly minted officer).

As a result, a candidate for the position of an officer can already command soldiers in just two years after entering the military service. (For example, in the German army, a newly appointed tank officer can take up a position in his battalion no earlier than 79 months after the start of his military career.)

Decisive Test

Achievements in the field of simulation allow significant savings, including on the expenditure of ammunition. At the same time, live firing still remains the most important part of the educational process; they validate practical skills in materiel and gunnery and allow system performance checks and annual ACT crew testing.

The ACT result is determined to a greater or lesser extent lesser degree operational parameters of the tank systems and, as it ages, the degree of their “looseness” in the turret, especially the FCS. As the crews go through their tests, they begin to understand that much depends on the efficiency and well-coordinated work of all the systems of a particular tank, and that their readiness and the readiness of their commanders to perform combat missions depend on this.

By the end of training, all 18 crews of Panzer Squadron "C" had successfully passed their ACT tests. Squadron Commander Major Peter Pirowne said that "C Squadron is now confident in each of its 18 tanks." This is a significant improvement compared to 2014, when the squadron had only 14 tanks at its disposal, and the crews of only three tanks showed sufficient combat training and met the ACT standards.

Shelter

As part of the ground forces fleet management program, gradually implemented by the British Ministry of Defense over the past ten years for all registered vehicles, Challenger 2 tanks of two out of three squadrons, as a rule, remain in long-term storage at the army equipment depots in Ashchurch. The storage conditions there make it possible to keep the tanks in working condition, but if contracts are issued, the industry will be able to upgrade them in accordance with the agreed plan and standards without negative impact for the planned combat training of units.

Although this approach has not met with general approval, "collectivization" or pooling of this kind has its advantages in terms of significant savings, as well as the impact on the coherence of military actions. This gives the regimental personnel, unable to work with their tanks, the "room for maneuver" necessary to improve their individual skills, that is, the opportunity to leave the unit, enroll in courses and improve their professional level. As one officer put it, "The regiment cannot go full throttle indefinitely, otherwise it will not be able to do the extra work required of it while keeping its entire fleet in working order."

The commander of the tank squadron, currently serving as the armored component of the lead armored combat group LABG, Major Piroun noticed that, unlike his colleagues in the other two tank squadrons ("A" and "B"), he "owns" only 18 tanks, who are held in position as part of the regiment's base unit. This base unit typically consists of 20 tanks, with two additional tanks serving as spare vehicles in case of breakdown, as well as reserve vehicles for training.

Tank Challenger 2 TES, designated Megatron, created by the group of development and testing of armored vehicles for urban operations in Iraq. Note the improvised explosive device silencer system (similar to a bird feeder), the Enforcer remotely controlled weapon station mounted on the loader's hatch, and also installed in front of the electronic signature control system. CoolCam plastic mesh thrown over upper surfaces tank, reduces heat from sunlight.

The Royal Hussars KRH have half of the parking spaces at their base in Tidworth, which has a "garage" capacity for 72 tanks, the remaining 36 places are given to the RTR regiment. The latter is also tasked with providing a tank squadron for the 1st Brigade LABG battle group, that is, providing reinforcements for the base unit with additional tanks so that the second squadron can perform the required firing or tactical exercises or training for large exercises.

The Challenger 2 tank must be kept in a safe hangar (whether for long-term storage or military service) even if it is not equipped with electronics and additional armor in accordance with the Theater Entry Standard (TES) upgrade. In this regard, it is unique, but similar restrictions will apply to the promising Scout vehicle, which should replace the eight Scimitar vehicles in service with the reconnaissance group of each regiment.

Current plans provide for the redeployment of the third QRH armored regiment from the "native" base in Germany to the base in Tidworth, and in this case, difficulties may arise when placed in existing hangars with a capacity of 72 tanks; all the more so, there will definitely not be additional places to accommodate the promising Scout car. However, as one of the officers said, "the new funding will allow the construction of appropriate hangars in Tidworth to accommodate the base units of all three armored regiments."

The operational readiness of the tanks of the base units is also increased due to the greater availability of squadron mechanics and mobile regimental repair shops. Tank crews are also contributing, enthusiastically using unofficial means. Major Piroun cited as an example a simple vacuum cleaner (it is extremely popular with German tankers and artillerymen), which "fastidious crews" can use in the field to keep the armored space and turret systems relatively clean, and, most importantly, allows you to get rid of annoying sand.

To be continued…