Challenger Mk.3

Challenger Mk.3

Challenger Mk.2

Challenger 2

Challenger Mk.3

Challenger Mk.2

Challenger 2

Britain

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
10.7	10.7	10.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:150 000

Purchase:830 000

Show in game

This page is about the British medium tank Challenger Mk.3. For other uses, see Challenger (Disambiguation).

Description

The Tank, Combat, 120-mm Gun, Challenger Mk.3 (shortened as Challenger Mk.3) is a Rank VII British medium tank with a battle rating of 10.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".

The Challenger Mk.3 is a fast, mobile, manoeuvrable tank. It is almost identical to the legendary Challenger Mk.2. It has some unique differences; such as: "ROMOR-A ERA" which covers the lower glaciers and sides, along with the addition of the ammunition storage being covered with rolled homogeneous armour. A higher performance engine which provides 1200BHP at 2300RPM. This also allows for sharper handling and faster acceleration. Its iconic, legendary, and pin-point accurate gun stays the same as already installed on the Challenger Mk.2.

General info

Survivability and armour

The armour protection on the Challenger Mk.3 is excellent in some areas and bad in others. The turret is capable of withstanding all kinetic penetrators except the Ariete top round and will stop most chemical penetrators with less than 800 mm. Additionally, the breach weak spot is quite small. This means the turret has excellent protection and hulldown play is recommended. The hull composite is only good against lower penetrating APFSDS rounds such as T-55AM, and can also withstand some chemical munitions, but it is not advised to rely on this armour. The rest of the tank (turret and hull sides, lower front plate) has decent protection against chemical rounds due to the add on armour, ERA, and thick turret sides.

Mobility

The Challenger Mk.3 is capable of keeping up with its adversaries, but it is slightly slower in most respects to comparable western MBT.

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armour weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
65.5	N/A	39 (AB)
		35 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	1,860	2,290
Realistic/Simulator	1,061	1,200
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	__.__	__.__
Realistic/Simulator	__.__	__.__

Module rotation speed	90 Degrees	180 Degrees	360 Degrees
Tank Hull	5 Seconds	10 Seconds	20 Seconds
Tank Turret	3 Seconds	6 Seconds	12 Seconds
Test Conditions	*Tank and crew conditions of this test were done using a spaded Challenger MK 3: With crew at maximum crew skill, with the qualification of basic training. Results can very based on tank research state, crew levels & qualifications.

Urban Environment

In an urban environment, the Challenger mark 3 is not able to compete with its rivals such as the T-80B, M1 Abrams and Leopard 2A4. The Challenger Mk.3 turns into a slow and big target. The Mk.3 cannot turn as fast or go as fast in the urban streets; its wide body makes finding suitable alleyways hard, which it can use to its an advantage to sneak around or to hide and wait for some prey to be ambushed. There is a lack of protection at the rear. The engine cover, which is also at the rear, limits the gun depression where it is unable to use it to fight off the attacking tanks if attacked from the rear. If the Challenger Mk.3 is turning on a street corner and is suddenly surprised by an enemy tank, the tank will not be able to defend itself from the aggressor tank, since it will be unable to depress the cannon low enough due to engine bay.

Rural Environment

The Challenger Mark 3 in a rural environment excels like no other tank. It can go hull down and hold the enemy off until reinforcements arrive! (That’s unless it has destroyed the opposing force). The Challenger Mark 3 is able to snipe enemy opponents with point accuracy from anywhere on the battlefield (Pending you can see them, of course). Its faster acceleration over the Challenger Mk.2 and more responsive handling makes the critical difference for the mobility. When driving in a rural environment, the maximum forward speed is around 43 km/h (27 mph), with a maximum reversing speed of -35 km/h (-22 mph). What makes the Challenger Mk. 3 especially unique is its cannon, additional armour, and it's higher performing engine over the previous generation. The Challenger Mk.3 can move around the rural map like an ancient Celtic druid. It may lack protection which the competition may have the advantage over. However, its overall urban mobility makes up for it. Its gun is very well stabilised when firing on the move, at speed, and it can terminate its targets with ease.

Armaments

Main armament

Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: {{main|Name of the weapon}}. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.

Additional armament

Some tanks are armed with several guns in one or more turrets. Evaluate the additional weaponry and give advice on its use. Describe the ammunition available for additional weaponry. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage. If there is no additional weaponry remove this subsection.

Machine guns

It is possible to switch to the machine-gun as the main weapon and use thermals through the machinegun sight to get a better view of the situation while hulldown.

Usage in the battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Do not use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".

Pros:

• Good Turret armour with small breach
• good all around chemical protection

Cons:

• Gun lacks penetration against higher teir vehicles
• anything but the turret is vulnerable to kinetic penetrators
• slightly slower than most of its peers

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

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

• [Devblog] Challenger Mk 3 - A Royal Upgrade