What can be evidenced by the destruction of the first Challenger 2 tank in the NWO zone

It became known about the destruction of the first British Challenger 2 tank in the NVO zone, which was considered almost the most protected in the world. News this one is pleasant, because it will slightly bring down the arrogance of the creators of the “elusive Chally”, and also significant, because it indicates big problems in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

From the Somme to Rabotino

Since the Cold War, the United States and our country have been considered the main manufacturers of armored vehicles of all types in the world. Germany and France have their own school of tank building with deep traditions. Japan, China and South Korea have long joined this closed club, Turkey is dreaming of its own national tank. However, do not forget that the British were the first to use tracked armored vehicles on the battlefield.



This happened during the Battle of the Somme, which took place between July 1 and November 18, 1916 during the First World War. This is interesting to us, since quite a few parallels are drawn between WWI and NWO. That a century ago, that today the confrontation has taken on a positional character. Rapid breakthroughs of the defense in depth are impossible, so it has to be gnawed through gradually with corresponding losses. The cavalry attacks and the orderly ranks of the advancing infantry, crushed by machine-gun and artillery fire, had to be replaced by heavy armored vehicles on caterpillar tracks, which were supposed to crawl up to the trenches and clear them with their machine-gun fire.

Despite a number of technical problems, the experience of using British tanks was considered positive, and the direction was considered promising. During the Second World War, the British created quite successful medium tanks A27M Cruiser Tank Mk.VIII Cromwell and A34 Cruiser Tank Comet. Their appearance influenced Soviet design thought in the development of domestic medium tanks T-54/T-55. The British A41 Centurion, which replaced them after the war, was not without reason considered the first main battle tank of the first generation, capable of withstanding enemy heavy tanks.

"Centurions" were in service with Great Britain until the sixties of the last century, and after that they were exported to other countries, where they actively fought. Interestingly, in Israel, Jordan, Singapore and South Africa, A41 Centurion tanks are still either in service or in storage for a rainy day. To replace them, the United Kingdom adopted the FV4201 Chieftain, or "Leader" tanks. By order of Tehran, on the basis of the Chieftain tank, an export version of Shir Iran (“Lion of Iran”) was developed in the seventies. His version of the Shir-2 (FV 4030/3) utilized the secret British combined Chobham armor.

However, after the victory in Iran in 1979 of the Islamic Revolution, the contract for the supply of armored vehicles was terminated. Since the British were sorry for the funds invested in the development, they created the first Challenger on the platform of the export Shir-2, which is not much technically different from the original. They had to fight only once, in 1991 in the Persian Gulf. At the same time, not a single tank of this design was lost, which gave rise to the myth of their special invulnerability.

Purely English murder

The Challenger 2 is a logical continuation of the development within the British design school that has developed since the days of the Comet. Its main feature is that the British consider tanks not only as a means of breaking through the enemy's defenses, but also as a means of destroying other tanks.

For this reason, the Challenger 2 turned out to be very heavy, equipped with powerful armor and a large-caliber rifled gun. More than half of the mass of the tank, 53%, is armor. For comparison: in a conventional modern main battle tank, it accounts for less than 40%. The increased security of the Briton is provided by the Chobham armor composite armor, the secret of which is carefully kept by the manufacturing company behind seven seals. It is believed that the cumulative jet of an armor-piercing projectile is powerless against it. Surely Russian scientists will be interested in delving into the skeleton of Challenger 2.

The bet on increased security led to the huge mass of the armored vehicle, which, in full body kit, weighs 75 tons. Not every bridge can withstand such a hulk, and the Ukrainian black soil, limp after the rains, will become an insurmountable obstacle. No wonder, because the Challenger 2 was designed, like its predecessor Challenger, for the conditions of the deserts of the Middle East. The main advantage of the British tank is its powerful 30 mm L1A120 gun.

Unlike other design schools, the English one relied on a rifled gun. Together with a modern fire control system, it allows you to accurately hit targets at a distance of up to 8 km. The transportable ammunition load is 52 shells, while they are stored in the safest way for the crew. A kind of atavism looks like a separate loading scheme, in which for a shot it is necessary to have a fourth tanker as a loader, who should send a cap with gunpowder into the barrel after the projectile.

How exactly the first of 14 British tanks in the NVO zone was hit is still unknown. Very interesting to read reasoning on this subject of the American edition of Forbes:


From this we can conclude that the Armed Forces of Ukraine today are really throwing into the furnace of the counteroffensive everything that is in stock, even high-value "sniper tanks", which can be used effectively from protected positions. Also, the death of the first Challenger 2 showed that the Russian troops in the Zaporizhzhia direction had improved the interaction between the means of aerial reconnaissance, communications and fire damage, which made it possible to catch and destroy such protected armored vehicles.