Black Night

Black Night

Challenger 2 TES

Challenger 2E

Black Night

Challenger 2 TES

Challenger 2E

Britain

VIII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
12.0	12.0	12.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:400 000

Purchase:1 080 000

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Description

The FV4034 Challenger 2 (Black Night) is a technology demonstrator for BAE Systems' proposal for the Challenger 2 life extension project (LEP), intended to provide a series of modernisations that would extend the service life of the Challenger 2 MBT until 2035. The Black Night has several new enhancements, mainly around the turret, including a Safran Paseo commander's independent sight, a Leonardo thermal imager for the gunner, and a Leonardo night sight DNVS 4 to provide hunter-killer capabilities thanks to thermal imaging equipment for the gunner, commander, and driver. Other additions included a laser warning system and the IMI Iron First hard-kill active protection system. BAE Systems first showcased the Black Night at the Defense Vehicle Dynamics expo in September 2018. However, it was quickly superseded by the Rheinmetall proposal, featuring a completely redesigned turret and smoothbore gun. The Challenger 2 LEP itself has resulted in the development of the Challenger 3, a major upgrade of the platform undertaken in a joint venture by BAE and Rheinmetall to be in operation by 2030.

Introduced in Update "Wind of Change", the Black Night is a technology demonstrating modification of the standard Challenger 2 designed to counter the widespread use of anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) on modern battlefields. Thanks to cutting-edge technologies such as the well-known Iron Fist active protection system (APS), players can lead assaults into modern battlefields without fear of ATGMs from both ground vehicles and helicopters. The Black Night is a one-of-a-kind and exclusive Challenger 2 modification that provides superior protection against ATGMs. However, players should keep in mind that the Iron Fist APS does not provide limitless protection and hence the vehicle should not stay out in the open for long during combat.

General info

Survivability and armour

Composite armour

Balanced protection against all types of ammunition

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

ESS

Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle

LWS

Notifies about the vehicle's exposure to laser emissions

Armourfront / side / back

Hull130 / 38 / 50

Turret270 / 90 / 58

Crew4 people

Visibility88 %

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (turret inner wall, hatches)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	38 mm (79-82°) Upper glacis - Top 50 mm (60°) Upper glacis - Bottom 70 mm (28°) Lower glacis 60 mm Driver hatch	25+38 mm Top - Front 25+50 mm Top - Rear 38 mm (14°) + 4 mm Bottom	50 mm (30°)	38 mm (10°) Front glacis 20 mm Fighting compartment 25 mm (16-20°) Sides 10 mm Engine vents
Turret	50+50+38 mm (50°) 30 mm (0-52°) Gun mantlet	10+38 mm (7°) Front 20+38 mm (7°) Rear	20 mm (17°) + 38 mm (7°)	38 mm (8-15°) Front 38+10 mm Centre 25 mm (7°) Rear
Cupola	60 mm	60 mm	60 mm	44 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels, tracks, and torsion bars are 20 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 16 mm thick.
• A 5 mm internal plate separates the crew from the engine.
• Ammunition is surrounded by 5 mm casings
• A 25 mm plate separates the driver from the crew compartment.
• Additional composite armour is as follows:

Composite armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides
Hull	Upper Kinetic: 420-1,000 mm Chemical: 700-950 mm Lower Kinetic: 100-400 mm Chemical: 350-570 mm
Turret	Cheeks Kinetic: 440-720 mm Chemical: 780-1,000 mm	Internal Composite Kinetic: 190-740 mm Chemical: 300-1,000 mm

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB66 / 42 km/h

RB and SB60 / 38 km/h

Number of gears8 forward

4 back

Weight65.0 t

Engine power

AB2 322 hp

RB and SB1 217 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB35.7 hp/t

RB and SB18.7 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	66	42	65	1,886	2,322	29.02	35.72
Realistic	60	38		1,076	1,217	16.55	18.72

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB4 401 → 6 949

RB4 274 → 6 748

SB5 413 → 8 547

Total cost of modifications295 200

474 000

Talisman cost3 100

Crew training310 000

Experts1 080 000

Aces2 200

Research Aces1 280 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

150 / 190 / 210 %

250 / 250 / 250 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 12 000 Cost: 18 000 300 Suspension Research: 12 000 Cost: 18 000 300 Brake System Research: 12 000 Cost: 18 000 300 Filters Research: 26 000 Cost: 40 000 640 Transmission Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 420 Engine Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 420	Improved Parts Research: 3 600 Cost: 18 000 300 Improved FPE Research: 3 600 Cost: 18 000 300 Crew Replenishment Research: 26 000 Cost: 40 000 640 ESS Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 420	Horizontal Drive Research: 12 000 Cost: 18 000 300 120mm_britain_Smoke_ammo_pack Research: 12 000 Cost: 18 000 300 120mm_britain_L26_APDSFS_ammo_pack Research: 12 000 Cost: 18 000 300 Adjustment of Fire Research: 12 000 Cost: 18 000 300 Smoke grenade Research: 12 000 Cost: 18 000 300 NVD Research: 12 000 Cost: 18 000 300 Elevation Mechanism Research: 26 000 Cost: 40 000 640 LWS/LR Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 420 120mm_britain_L27_APDSFS_ammo_pack Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 420 Artillery Support Research: 17 000 Cost: 26 000 420

Armaments

Laser rangefinder

Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Night vision device

Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.

Thermal imager

Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

120 mm L30A1 cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Ammunition50 rounds

First-order4 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

6.5 → 5.0 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 20°

120 mm L30A1					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	50	-10°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane	29.5	40.9	49.6	54.9	58.4	6.50	5.75	5.30	5.00
Realistic					18.4	21.7	26.4	29.1	31.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Shot L23A1	APFSDS	396	394	387	376	367	357
Shell L31A7	HESH	152	152	152	152	152	152
L26	APFSDS	493	491	487	481	474	468
L27A1	APFSDS	564	562	557	551	545	538

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Shot L23A1	APFSDS	1,535	3.89	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°
Shell L31A7	HESH	670	17.34	0.1	4	6.53	73°	77°	80°
L26	APFSDS	1,650	4.3	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°
L27A1	APFSDS	1,650	4.3	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
L34	670	17.1	20	5	25	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Challenger 2

Full ammo	Ammo part	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty
50	Projectiles Propellants	48 (+2) 45 (+5)	45 (+5) 39 (+11)	43 (+7) 31 (+19)	41 (+9) 22 (+28)
5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
34 (+16) 14 (+36)	29 (+21) 5 (+45)	5 (+45) 1 (+49)	4 (+46) N/A	1 (+49) N/A	No

Machine guns

7.62 mm L94A1 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition4 000 rounds

Belt capacity2 000 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate600 shots/min

7.62 mm L37A2 machine gun

Ammunition1 700 rounds

Belt capacity100 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate650 shots/min

7.62 mm L37A2
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	1,700 (100)	650	-10°/+25°	-90°/+50°

7.62 mm L94A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	4,000 (2,000)	600	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

In summary, the Black Night plays in a similar way to the base Challenger 2. This is due to having the same armour configuration, without the option of add-on armour. Where the Black Night differs however is the active protection system. This APS will protect the vehicle well not only from ground launched missiles, but also from air launched missiles provided they are not above the systems maximum elevation.

The Black Night will perform best as a sniper or support tank. With the modern thermal systems and laser rangefinder, locating and ranging at long distance is precise. As with the other Challengers, playing hull down is ideal.

Where playing at range is not an option, such as urban maps, care should be taken to cover the hull as much as possible. Covering the hull can be achieved by using other vehicles or terrain. Where there is no cover available, the Black Night is best played slowly, taking time to ensure locations are clear before pushing into them.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Has a highly effective APS (Active Protection System) which can defend against ATGMs and sometimes can even snipe HE shell at point blank range
• It has 20 smoke grenades with 5 salvos, smokes fire in a 360 degree pattern, protecting the entire tank from all directions
• The Black Night has modern thermal systems equipped in the gunner view and commander view with a high resolution
• It comes equipped with a laser warning system which can give an idea of where an enemy might be attacking from
• Retains other Pros from base Challenger 2

Cons:

• Retains weaknesses of the base Challenger 2
  • Large weak spots in armour and poor placement of ammo and charges in the tank limit the survivability
  • Does not have ERA of the 2F model, so can be defeated by basic HEAT-FS sometimes
  • The engine is rather weak leading to poor acceleration and mobility despite not having too much of excessive weight
  • Same shell options as the previous Challengers 2 at a higher BR
• Although APS is very powerful, it runs out of ammunition very quickly, cannot sustain against modern SAM/ATGM carriers and sometimes reacts to near unhittable things like APFSDS, which can be good or bad
• Only 2 x rifle-calibre machine guns

History

The Black Night demonstrator was BAE System's bid for the Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme contract, prior to the forming of the Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) joint venture company in July 2019.

The Black Night was fully unveiled in October 2018 and showed a focus on improving the technology of the vehicle, with a Safran PASEO panoramic Commander Primary Sight, a generation 3 Leonardo thermal imaging system (still mounted in the housing above the main gun), a laser warning system, the Iron Fist Hardkill Active Protection System, regenerative braking in the turret ring, and a new fire control system. The armour and firepower were retained from the base Challenger 2, as was the powerpack.

Rheinmetall's proposal was revealed in January 2019, featuring the Rh 120 mm L/55 gun (L55A1 in British use) and a completely new turret. When RBSL was formed, an internal decision was made in favour of Rheinmetall's design, which was seen again at DSEI 2019, putting the Black Night proposal to rest. The MoD confirmed the signing of a £800M (~$1.1B at the time) contract with RBSL for Challenger 3 using Rheinmetall's design on 7th May 2021.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Black Night from live.warthunder.com.

See also

• Challenger 2 (Family)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.