Thunderstorm of the seas, but not tank ranges
The British have a special relationship with tanks. This is not surprising when you consider that these machines owe their very concept to the Foggy Albion.
The first tank in history used in combat was the British Mark I. Although the light French Renault FT is considered to be the most advanced tank of the First World War. During World War II, Great Britain spawned a number of strange and sometimes archaic items. There were also successful ones. Already in 1945, the production of the "Centurion" began, which the British themselves sometimes call the best tank of the Second World War (as you know, it did not take part in the war directly). Good survivability and excellent reliability allowed the vehicle to serve for many decades and become one of the best tanks of the 20th century.
In a word, British tank building developed quite in the spirit of its time, and sometimes even ahead of it, becoming an example to follow. This was the case until the end of the Cold War. Recall that the main battle tank "Challenger" appeared in the 80s: the most advanced aspect of its design was the combined multi-layer armor "Chobham". The main armament is the L11A5 120mm rifled weapon.
In terms of the sum of its fighting qualities, the vehicle was already somewhat inferior to the Abrams and Leopards 2, and in terms of price - to the Soviet MBT. Jordan became the only foreign operator.
In 1994, the British began to produce a new version of the tank, the Challenger 2. The car, among other things, could boast of solid protection. According to the Russian resource btvt, the level of resistance of the front of the turret of the new tank was 800 millimeters from armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber shells and 1200 from cumulative shells. The Leopard 2A5 has 800 and 1300 millimeters, respectively. Challenger 2 received the L30E4 rifled 120-mm cannon, as well as a number of advanced electro-optical devices at the time of the start of production.
However, the tank received more than modest ratings: at least against the background of the most advanced European and Asian vehicles. Apart from Britain, only Oman ordered the tank: 18 units in 1993 and 20 more in 1997. The total number of Challengers 2 built is about 400 vehicles.
In 2009, BAE Systems announced the curtailment of the production of these tanks, which de facto meant at the same time the end of the active existence of the British tank building. It is pertinent to recall that not so long ago, France and Germany launched the Main Ground Combat System program, within which they should create a new tank. The British are no longer able to compete with such giants, even if they had free funds for it (and something suggests that in connection with Brexit, this may be difficult).
However, the tragedy of British tank building at some stage turned into a comedy. Recall that BAE Systems is announced as a participant in the development of the mysterious Polish PL-01 - neither a prototype, nor a technology demonstrator, nor just a character in computer games.
Black Night
In fact, all that the UK has (and will have in the foreseeable future) is far from the new Challengers 2. Now they are trying to modernize them in order to make the machines at least partially meet the requirements of the 21st century. So far, PR is clearly more than real deeds.
Recall that in 2019, the UK Department of Defense suspended the Challenger 2 Life Extension Program (CR2 LEP) tender, which involved the modernization of the MBT. However, some of the previously proposed ideas draw attention to themselves. Last year BAE Systems announced for the first time a new version of the Challenger called Black Night in a pompous way and painted black. The machine, as reported, can receive an active protection complex (KAZ) - like the one that is now installed on the Abrams and Merkavas (I want to say the same about the T-14, but it is still far from a full-fledged "series").
The presentation looked all the more strange when you consider that, apart from the alleged KAZ, there are no other improvements as such. The main and, in fact, the only one of them was the expansion of the ability to conduct combat at night. Remained old and "the main caliber".
Meanwhile, continental Europe is experimenting at full speed with fundamentally new tools. German Rheinmetall offers a 130mm cannon for the future European tank, while French partners are thinking about a 140mm cannon. How not to recall the Soviet experiments with 152-mm "monsters". Recall that they wanted to equip the Object 195 with just such a gun, but in the case of the aforementioned Russian T-14 based on the Armata, this idea seems to remain just a bold proposal.
Streetfighter II
In January 2020, the blog of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies bmpd talked about testing another version of Challenger 2, called Streetfighter II. The information was originally posted by Jane's Defense Weekly in its IronVision trialled on Challenger 2 Streetfighter II story. As reported then, in December last year, on the territory of the British combat training center in the urban setting of Copehill Down (Salisbury), the first tests of the modified tank, which is intended for combat in urban settings, were carried out. The official presentation was held on December 5.
The tank was developed by the Royal Tank Corps' own forces with the participation of the Research Center of the British Ministry of Defense.
In general, the presentation and the choice of the name sound like "butter oil". After all, any modern tank should be able to conduct urban battles: these are the realities of the 21st century, when there are multiple clashes in large cities.
What do the developers offer us? The main novelty should be improved situational awareness of the crew. The vehicle should receive the Iron Vision "transparent armor" system from the Israeli company Elbit Systems. Due to this, tankers will receive an all-round view, which will be provided by cameras mounted on the tank hull. The information should be transmitted in real time to the helmet-mounted indicators of the crew members, thus creating the effect of a view "through" the tank. In addition, the tank should have a new communication system and a dozer blade. An additional 12.7mm M2 machine gun and 60mm mortar can be seen on the turret.
Actually, the name Streetfighter II originates from the attempts of the British to strengthen the protection of Challenger 2 of the British contingent in Iraq in 2007-2008: this version, as you might guess, was called "Street Fighter". The created palliatives involuntarily resemble modern economical versions of the so-called Sherman Jumbo, which appeared at the very end of World War II and are modified M4s. Despite the "fashionable" solutions, such a modernization in itself will not allow obtaining a tank that meets the requirements of the 21st century.
Brief summary
The most potentially successful of the proposed versions is the option shown in London at the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2019 defense exhibition, held in September. Then, recall, was presented Challenger 2, equipped with a new turret with a 120-mm smooth-bore German Rheinmetall Rh 120 L55A1 cannon. This approach has its undeniable advantages: it will unify the shells used within NATO and increase the combat power of the MBT. The standard 1200 horsepower Perkins diesel engine is also expected to be replaced by the German MTU 1500 horsepower. In addition, the tank is proposed to be equipped with new electronics.
Of course, all this will require a lot of money, with which, as we noted above, the British have difficulties. The British Ministry of Defense will say its weighty word no earlier than 2021: it can be predicted with a high degree of confidence that there is no need to expect a breakthrough here.
