FV4034 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank (British Army)

[SKB]

Heard it mentioned on the tv this week that the tank is 100 years old this weekend. Happy Birthday "tank" !

[arfah]

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[GastonGlocker]

British Army Cribs.

Featuring Argonaut.

Nice summary of the lineage

[arfah]

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[arfah]

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[ArmChairCivvy]

Yes, a big gun needed (a new turret, with a 130 mm cum an autoloader?):

the Military Balance 2016. The report adds:

“When it enters service Armata will be the first tank designed for an unmanned turret and APS. Successful fielding of APS will reduce the effectiveness of anti-tank guided missiles and shoulder-fired weapons such as rocket propelled grenades. This will change battlefield dynamics by increasing the importance of cannon, anti-tank guns and tanks.”

Hmm... what have I been saying all along (anti-tank guns being of course mounted on... tanks).

[shark bait]

judging by the standard of their aircraft defensive aid suites we have little to worry about

[~UNiOnJaCk~]

Now KMW bids for LEP: http://www.janes.com/article/64647/kmw- ... -2-lep-bid

[arfah]

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[ArmChairCivvy]

The 130 mm needs a new turret design anyway
... why not make it Ch2 compatible

[LordJim]

Count we live with having all a Tanks ready ammunition on the rear of the turret? As has been frequently pointed out the hull of the CA2 is too shallow to have ready one piece rounds stored vertically. Yes they could be stored horizontally but ease of access would be an issue. I suppose a few could be stored to the left of the Driver with easy access but how would the driver feel about that.

In reality I strongly believe we are going to keep the CA2 going for as long as possible, tinkering around the edges. We will have to wait until the 2030s to get a new tank, so we will do what we always do and get by until then.

[RetroSicotte]

Most tanks store ready in the turret bustle.

The trick is whether you can get blowout panels and sealed doors in there.

[marktigger]

have seen footage of a fire in an Abrhams ammo locker very interesting still wouldn't have wanted to be in the turret.

[Cooper]

From the article.

Currently, young men in the US aged between 18 and 25 are required to register to be potential draftees, in case of a war requiring an expansion of the armed forces.

Wow, I did not know this.

[Ron5]

I assume there's a department at Qinetiq who are working on armoured sanitary bins?

http://forces.tv/57054620

Seriously? I sure hope you are not in the military.

[Ron5]

You're the boor old chap.

[mr.fred]

Flippancy aside, it's actually a fairly good point, though there is probably a bunch of different ways of solving the problem, starting with the existing method of dealing with solid waste.

[The Armchair Soldier]

Don't wind each other up, guys. Back on topic.

[mr.fred]

Most tanks store ready in the turret bustle.

The trick is whether you can get blowout panels and sealed doors in there.

Blowout panels are pretty easy. If nothing else you want the the cover to be easily removable for maintenance and it's pretty basic to make a panel harder to push in than push out. The trick would be to make the rounds accessible and the door sufficiently stronger than the round stowage and the roof panel that any explosion definitely goes that way. Easier with an autoloader as the door needs only be the size of one round.

[dmereifield]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/201 ... go-abroad/

Rheinmetall considered the favourites

[Gabriele]

Zero surprises there. If i had to bet on which two offers would be picked up for final evaluation, i would always put my money on BAE-GD and Rheinmetall. The latter, just because it includes a smoothbore solution, ought to gain the Army's attention big time. Maybe it won't win in the end, but the RAC sure will want to find out what it is all about.

[shark bait]

Shouldn't care if this one goes abroad, Rheinmetall has the technically superior offering.

[marktigger]

such a shame we have to go down this route but lack of a coordinated industrial and defence strategy have led us to this point!

[~UNiOnJaCk~]

Rheinmetall is clearly offering the more ambitious and more capable bid. If they don’t get it, it will be a travesty.

[marktigger]

Rheinmetall is clearly offering the more ambitious and more capable bid. If they don’t get it, it will be a travesty.

would agree but the fallout if they do will be interesting as BaE throws a tantrum