Challenger 2

Challenger 2

Challenger Mk.3

Challenger 2 (2F)

Challenger 2

Challenger Mk.3

Challenger 2 (2F)

Britain

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
11.7	11.7	11.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:350 000

Purchase:950 000

Show in game

This page is about the British medium tank Challenger 2. For other uses, see Challenger (Family).

Description

The Tank, Combat, 120-mm Gun, Challenger 2 is a rank VII British medium tank with a battle rating of 11.7 (AB/RB/SB). This tank was introduced in Update 1.87 "Locked On".

General info

Survivability and armour

Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat?

If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.

Mobility

The Challenger 2 is fitted with a Perkins CV12-6A V12 diesel 26.1-litre engine which produces 1,200 bhp. This gives the Challenger 2 a speed of 56 km/h (35 mph) forward. The transmission is a David Brown TN54E epicyclic transmission, with 6 gears forward and 2 gears backwards. The tank has a mass of 62.5 tons, which gives the tank a horsepower-to-ton ratio of 19.2. This means that your manoeuvrability is worse than most of the other MBT's because of the fact that most other MBT's are having a 1,500 hp engine with less mass. Also, the neutral steering of this tank exacerbates the already low mobility. You get forced into neutral steering at low speeds and because of your low hp-to-ton ratio, neutral steering is really slow.

So the Challenger 2, like other British tanks beforehand, is one of the heaviest MBT that is mated with a weak engine. The stock manoeuvrability makes the tank feel a bit sluggish. However, when you research the manoeuvrability upgrades, the tank has some decent mobility and will get you from A to B quite effectively; but again, not as quickly as some other MBT's so be careful when the game starts. Don't rush to caps and take care of the flanks.

Armaments

Main armament

The main gun is a L30A1 120 mm rifled gun. The reload of this gun is 6.5 seconds, which makes this one of the best reloading rates of the MBT's. The angle of elevation allowed by the gun is 20 degrees up and 10 degrees down. The stock turret rotation of this tank is 14.3 degrees per second. However, the vertical aiming speeds are really bad. The gun is accurate and combined with the armour makes the Challenger a good sniper. Because the gun can fire and reload very quickly, enemy's can't shoot you as quickly as you can shoot them. You get the L23A1 stock APFSDS shell. This is a good shell but not special.

The gun fires three-staged ammunition (the loader only puts in the charged bag and round, but because of the firing mechanism it's called three-staged ammunition) which means you have charged bags. This makes the tank very vulnerable against ammunition explosions. It is recommended to take 25 shells max because of the charged bags that can be detonated. When you get the L26 shell, you'll receive 77 mm extra penetration at 500 m. This means you can shoot the upper front plate of a Leopard 2A5 without trouble meaning you can penetrate 2A5's more effectively.

120 mm L30A1
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
50			-10°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	29.50	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic	18.40	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
6.50	_.__	_.__	_.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
Shot L23A1	APFSDS	396	394	387	376	367	357
Shell L31A7	HESH	152	152	152	152	152	152
Shot L26	APFSDS	471	469	464	457	450	443

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
Shot L23A1	APFSDS	1,535	3.89	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	75°	78°	80°
Shell L31A7	HESH	670	17.10	0.4	0.1	4,100	+0°	73°	77°	80°
Shot L26	APFSDS	1,550	4.10	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	78°	80°	81°

Smoke characteristic
Ammunition	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Screen radius in m	Screen time in s	Screen hold time in s:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):
L34	670	17.1	20	5	25	50

Machine guns

The Challenger 2 possesses two 7.62 mm machine guns. One of them being the coaxial L94A1, and one roof mounted L37A2 machine gun. These machine guns are weak against aeroplanes, but can shoot down a helicopter. However, you should not use them for AA purposes as the chances of shooting down aircraft/helicopters are relatively small and you will just be giving your position away. These machine guns are also not effective against infantry fighting vehicles. The best way to use your machine guns is to spot enemies for your teammates.

Usage in 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 instead 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

Pros:

• Very accurate gun with good optics
• Good gun depression
• Fast reload rate
• Strong turret cheeks and hull's upper frontal armour
• More powerful engine than Challenger 1
• Good reverse speed
• Has ESS, smoke shells and smoke grenades

Cons:

• Ammo storage can be hit very easily, like in previous Challenger 1
• Weak frontal lower glacis
• Big weak spot near the gun breach
• The upper part of the turret is vulnerable to HEAT shots
• No reactive armour
• Weak manoeuvrability compared to other MBT's

History

Work on developing a successor to the Challenger 1 began only a short time after the vehicle entered service with the British armed forces. Already by the mid 1980s, the Vickers company had developed a new MBT as part of a private venture. After requirements for a next-generation MBT have been issued, Vickers immediately submitted their design on the new Challenger 2 to the Ministry of Defence. Having briefly considered the adoption of the M1 Abrams, the Ministry decided to proceed with the Vickers design by ordering the construction of a prototype Challenger 2 for testing and evaluation. The Challenger 2 passed evaluation and met expectations even when put through comparative testing against contemporary MBTs of other nations, such as the American M1 Abrams and German Leopard 2. Satisfied with the test results, the Ministry of Defence adopted the Challenger 2 and placed the first production order in 1993, with the initial batch consisting of 127 tanks in addition to 13 trainer vehicles. The first Challenger 2 tanks were delivered to the tank regiments by 1994. The Challenger 2 participated in several operations during the ‘90s and into the 2000s, ranging from peacekeeping missions on the Balkans to military interventions in Iraq. A number of Challenger 2 MBTs have also been exported to Oman, with this nation being the only operator of the Challenger 2, besides the UK. Production of Challenger 2 tanks seized in 2002 after all pending production orders were fulfilled, with close to 440 vehicles being produced. Since 2008, Challenger 2 tanks have constantly been undergoing modernization work, with a number of upgrade packages being developed. Thanks to these upgrades, the Challenger 2 MBT is expected to serve with the British Army well into the future.

- From Devblog

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, 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 2 and rank VII armored vehicles