Challenger 3 TD
Contents
Description
The Challenger 3 Technology Demonstrator is a rank VIII British medium tank with a battle rating of 11.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Air Superiority".
The Challenger 3 (TD) is the capstone of the British ground tech tree, and a fitting end to the mighty Challenger line. It is the Rheinmetall entry to the Challenger 2 upgrade program, in the same way the Black Night is BAE's entry to the same. In short, the Challenger 3 (TD) brings NATO standardized ammunition, better ammunition storage, a proper commander's gunsight, and a few other toys to the end of the Challenger line. If you've got this far in the tree, you will be rewarded handsomely with this mighty tool, a combination of the best of British and German engineering.
General info
Survivability and armour
The armour protection on the Challenger 3 (TD) is much the same as the preceding Challenger 2E, and the Challenger "Black Night". You have your standard composite blocks in the turret cheeks, front of the hull, and then minimal armour covering the rest of the tank. If you are familiar with the previous tanks (which you should be, having got to the end of the British Challenger tank line) then you will know the layout of the Challenger 3 (TD). The standard Challenger 2 weak points apply - the driver's viewport, the gun mantlet and breech, and lower front plate are all very susceptible to being one-shot straight through by the rounds you'll commonly face at this battle rating.
However, the upgrades the Challenger 3 (TD) gets over the preceding Challenger 2E and Black Night are much more subtle. You still retain the spall liner the preceding Challenger 2s get, though not in the turret, only the hull. The major increase to survivability in this tank comes in its new ammunition layout - no longer are shells strewn throughout the hull, you get a dedicated ready rack and blowout panels at the rear of the turret. If you are carrying 16 shells (15 in the rack, and 1 in the breech), you won't have any shells throughout the hull at all! Combined with the new spall liner, this means the Challenger 3 (TD) can soak up fire much more reliably than one would reasonably expect from the Challenger tanks.
Furthermore, the Challenger 3 (TD) gets two more toys to play with in the form of a Laser Warning System (LWS), and a commander's gunsight mounted on a tower above the hull. The commander's sight (and the gunner sight) both get generation 3 thermal sights, making target acquisition and fire control a painless experience. These tools allow you to know when you've been targeted by laser rangefinding, or laser-guided munitions, and comfortably hide 95% of your tank behind hills or terrain, while firing back with pinpoint accuracy. The survivability bonus imparted by these tools is not to be underestimated.
Armour type:
Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hull | ___ mm | ___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom |
___ mm | ___ - ___ mm |
Turret | ___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet |
___ - ___ mm | ___ - ___ mm | ___ - ___ mm |
Cupola | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm |
Notes:
Mobility
The Challenger 3 (TD) uses a similar engine to the Challenger 2E, the Perkins CV12-6A. This engine pumps out 1,500 HP of power on a chassis slightly heavier than the 2E, accounting for the new 120 mm gun. This is the same as the Euro Power Pack in the Challenger 2E, which also has 1,500 HP. Mobility is much the same as the 2E, you may notice a slight decrease in acceleration and top speed, but ultimately the difference is trivial.
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 | 62.5 | 2,325 | 2,290 | 37.2 | 36.64 |
Realistic | 60 | 38 | 1,327 | 1,200 | 21.23 | 19.2 |
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Main armament
Challenger users will be pleased to know the Challenger 3 (TD) has a new trick up its sleeve in comparison to the previous Challenger line - the Rh120mm L/55 A1 gun. This is a Rheinmetall 120 mm smoothbore cannon, the same as found on the Leopard 2A7V. This allows the Challenger 3 (TD) to use NATO standard ammunition, and more pointedly, DM53 ammunition once unlocked. DM53 is a dramatic improvement over the previous L27A1, and you will notice a stark difference in your ability to punch through even the heaviest armour effectively. The gun is an upgrade in virtually all areas - velocity, penetration power on both flat and angled surfaces, the amount of spalling generated, accuracy, etc.
120 mm Rh120 L/55 A1 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
Arcade | 37 | -10°/+20° | ±180° | Two-plane | 29.5 | 40.8 | 49.6 | 54.9 | 58.4 | 7.80 | 6.90 | 6.36 | 6.00 |
Realistic | 18.4 | 21.7 | 26.4 | 29.2 | 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 | ||
DM12A1 | HEATFS | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 |
DM33 | APFSDS | 496 | 494 | 486 | 476 | 466 | 456 |
DM11 | HE-TF | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 |
DM53 | APFSDS | 652 | 650 | 640 | 628 | 616 | 604 |
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% | ||||||||||
DM12A1 | HEATFS | 1,190 | 13.5 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 2.15 | 65° | 72° | 77° | |||
DM33 | APFSDS | 1,690 | 4.3 | - | - | - | 78° | 80° | 81° | |||
DM11 | HE-TF | 1,015 | 19 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 3.93 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
DM53 | APFSDS | 1,750 | 5 | - | - | - | 78° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
37 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ |
The other, more hidden benefit, of the Challenger 3 (TD) as mentioned above is the ready rack. Gone are the much-maligned 4 shell racks of the previous Challengers, this one has a ready rack of 15 shells! Not only that, they are positioned neatly at the back of the turret, with blowout panels behind. Taking 16 shells will mean none whatsoever in the hull, and the ones in the turret will be much more survivable to kill-shots compared to any previous Challenger model.
Machine guns
The Challenger 3 TD only comes with a single 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun operated by the gunner/commander.
7.62 mm L94A1 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Coaxial | 4,000 (2,000) | 600 | - | - |
Usage in battles
Use of the Challenger 3 TD is effectively the same as all preceding Challengers with it still lacking in mobility and armour, though finally having access to the DM53 round which will allow it to more effectively pick off targets at range. The addition of a LWR also allows you to more effectively engage in long-distance duels across map. The armour configuration, slow turret traverse and below average reload rate discourages close-range brawls.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Gains German gun seen on Leopard 2A7V with corresponding ammunition (significantly better than default ammunition of challenger 2)
- Retains some features from Black Night - the LWS and commander thermal scope
- Retains most pros of the base challenger 2, except for the inert ammo rack and spall liners on the turret roof
- Slightly better acceleration than the base challenger 2, but same speed
- No random ammo racks everywhere in the hull, major ammo racks are placed behind the toughest plates in the entire tank (at least, when attacked from the front)
Cons:
- Vast majority of HE can obliterate it by hitting the constructs below commander optics which isn't too difficult to hit. In fact, the turret roof can be overpressured even by the weakest HEAT ATGM due to the lack of HE protection
- No longer immune to overpenetrating turret ammo rack shot, as ammunition is no longer inert, either destroying it instantly or burning all of its ready ammo rack
- The reload after emptying ready rack is 31 seconds (assuming the loader is still alive) and the ready rack will not start filling up until the gun reload is completed (effectively putting the tank out of order for a minute), unless assisted by a capture point
- Retains some of the weaknesses of the base challenger 2:
- Same unreliable mantlet armour
- Majority of top tanks can penetrate it from high ground
- Pretty bad mobility
- Hull will not sustain direct hits well as usual and has no special armour for glancing hits like competition
- Ballistic markings on the British sight do not fit into the scope when fully zoomed (x10 mode) with APFSDS selected, commander has to dezoom a bit every time to see the ranges properly or just give up and spam laser rangefinder (subsequently spooking enemies with LWS)
- When firing while fully zoomed, the gunner scope furiously shakes, which can be very tilting (although it doesn't really move the scope), while the commander scope doesn't shake (basically, an opposite situation with the other Challenger 2)
History
The Challenger 3 TD was first announced in 2020 as a project which the British army had commissioned from Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land. The model in-game is one of the first prototypes to receive media coverage during press events between 2020-23, though it has yet to be confirmed as the definite design for mass production scheduled to begin 2027. It is one of a few concepts submitted to British army procurement for testing and consideration, affectionately named 'Megatron' by the media. The main design differences between the Challenger 2 and 3 are the move to the standard 120mm Rh120 L/55 A1 smoothbore main gun as well as a new power pack for the chassis to solve the Challenger 2's chronic mobility issues. The new gun would also mean leaving not only the long-standing use of HESH shells behind but also 2-part ammunition as Rha120 L/55 A1s can only accept NATO standard single-canister shells. These are far from the only proposed changes however, as with the USA and Germany now beginning to develop the next generation of MBTs with 130mm main guns, it is possible that the Challenger 3 may be further modified in line with these advancements in firepower.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
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