The upgrade plan for the British Army Challenger 3 MBT will include three distinct phases, but the UK MoD is still considering its 120mm ammunition options.
RBSL (a JV between Rheinmetall and BAE Systems Land) has confirmed that the British Army’s Challenger 3 MBT Life Extension Programme (LEP) will comprise three phases with an expected in-service date of 2027.
The first phase, now underway, covers the building of six pre-series Challenger 3 MBTs at the RBSL facility in Telford. This will be followed by Phase 2 LRIP of a further 18 units, with Phase 3 being full-rate production of 203 tanks.
The end result will be sufficient to equip two regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) plus vehicles for training and reserve.
There are currently 227 Challenger 2 MBTs in service with the British Army out of a total of 386 built, which at one time equipped six regiments of the RAC.
The upgraded Challenger 3 hulls are being supplied to RBSL by Babcock from its facility in Bovingdon, Dorset. Babcock previously overhauled all of the current Challenger 2 MBT fleet and its associated support vehicles including the Titan armoured vehicle-launched bridge and the Trojan obstacle breacher.
The new RBSL turret will be armed with the latest Rheinmetall 120mm L55A1 smoothbore gun, which is already in production in Germany. However, according to RBSL the key 120mm ammunition package does not form part of its contracts with the UK MoD.
‘Several ammunition options are being considered,’ MoD Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) said in a statement, adding that ‘no decisions have been made’.
In the past, the UK preferred armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) ammunition with the penetrator being made of depleted uranium (DU), which is claimed to have increased armour penetration characteristics over APFSDS rounds with a conventional penetrator.
Rheinmetall does not make an APFSDS round with a DU penetrator. It is developing the new 120mm KE2020Neo APFSDS round but this will not be ready for serial production for several years and will have a non-DU advanced penetrator. In the US, Northrop Grumman manufactures the M829A4 round with DU but it will cease doing so after its current contract expires.
The secondary ammunition for the 120mm L55A1 smoothbore gun is the Rheinmetall DM11 Air Bursting Munition, which has been in production for some years for the home and export markets and is programmed at the breech.
RBSL will also offer the Challenger 3 turret on the export market armed with the L55A1 but it remains to be seen which direction the British Army moves as regards its future 120mm ammunition requirements; for now, the L55A1 is optimised for German rather than US ammunition.
Terma has received a purchase order from the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) concerning system integration…
Iran has not used a hypersonic missile in its recent attack on Israel, but but Israel has accelerated its efforts…
Toyota Motor Corporation is set to invest an additional $500 million in Joby Aviation, a company focused on developing electric…
LATAM Airlines Group is set to retrofit four more Boeing 777 aircraft with AeroSHARK, a surface film technology designed to…
Boeing successfully completed the first flight of the AH-6 Little Bird light attack helicopter for the Royal Thai Army (RTA)…
At the recent MRO Asia Pacific event in Singapore, HAECO and Boeing signed a new deal to cover spares and…
ST Engineering's Commercial Aerospace business has secured a 15-year exclusive MRO contract with Akasa Air, India’s fastest growing airline, to…
BBN Airlines Indonesia, a new entrant in the country’s aviation sector, has officially commenced operations after receiving its Air Operation…
The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has selected Exail to develop an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) capable of operating at…
Regional Air Mobility company Lilium has completed the first systems power-on milestone of its all-electric Lilium Jet. The successful test…
Embraer has signed an Industrial Cooperation Agreement (ICA) with the Czech Ministry of Defense (MOD). The strategic agreement aimsto enhance…
Plaza Premium Group (PPG), a provider of airport hospitality services, has opened its Plaza Premium First lounge at Macau International…
HENSOLDT, a sensor solution provider, has partnered with DFS, the German air navigation service provider, to advance the use of…
The continued clashes between Israel and the Houthi rebels in Yemen signal that the Suez Canal and the Red sea…
Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business, has officially opened a new 845,000-square-foot facility in Oklahoma City, marking the company’s largest…
Cebu Pacific, a low-cost carrier based in the Philippines, has finalised a firm order with Airbus for 70 A321neo aircraft,…
In view of the growing tension between Israel and some of the Iranian proxies in the region, the Israeli ministry…
The Indo Defence, Indo Aerospace, and Indo Marine 2024 Expo & Forum, which was originally set to take place from…
The Franco-German defence group KNDS, a key partner of the Ukrainian land forces, has established a subsidiary in Kyiv. The…
Deutsche Aircraft has announced a partnership with Weerts Group for the construction of its Final Assembly Line (FAL) at Leipzig/Halle…
Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş. (STM) and Bahçeşehir University (BAU) are set to develop ocean sensing systems aimed at…
Naval Group has formalised a contract to deliver four Barracuda Family expeditionary submarines to the Netherlands, as announced during a…
Challenge Group has announced the expansion of its operations in India by introducing two weekly flights to Delhi, commencing on…
ECS Group’s subsidiary, AVS GSA, in partnership with Thai Vietjet and Lactasoy, has launched an initiative to assist flood-affected communities…
Liebherr-Aerospace and Egyptair Maintenance & Engineering have signed a three-year contract for the maintenance of heat transfer equipment on Airbus…
Rheinmetall, a German technology group, and US-based Honeywell have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore strategic cooperation on…
SATS Ltd has signed a three-year agreement with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to expand the implementation of DG…
Semi Conductor Devices (SCD) has launched the Sparrow HD, a mid-wave infrared (MWIR) sensor module aimed at improving detection and…
As global air traffic demand exceeds pre-pandemic levels in 2024, airlines are turning their attention to fleet expansion, according to…
In recent months, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, an Iranian proxy, managed to shoot down a number of U.S-made MQ-9…
Headquartered in Singapore with reporters spread across all major regions, GBP Aerospace & Defence is a leading media house that publishes three publications that serve the aerospace and defence sector - Asian Defence Technology, Asian Airlines & Aerospace and Daily News. Known industry-wide for quality journalism, GBP Aerospace & Defence is present at more international tradeshows and exhibitions than any other competing publication in the region.
For over three decades, our award-winning team of reporters has been producing top-notch content to help readers stay abreast of the latest developements in the field of commercial aviation, MRO, defence, and Space.
Copyright 2024. GBP. All Rights Reserved.
Home Defence & Security Space Commercial Aviation Maintence Repair & Overhaul Daily News Events About Us
2024 GBP all rights reserved.