{"id":18516,"date":"2026-04-21T09:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/18516\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T09:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:26:15","slug":"british-army-new-challenger-3-tanks-to-be-capable-of-outgunning-putins-tanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/18516\/","title":{"rendered":"British Army: New Challenger 3 tanks to be capable of ‘outgunning Putin\u2019s tanks’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain’s armed forces are set to receive a new main battle tank that defence officials believe will surpass anything Vladimir Putin’s military can field in combat.<\/p>\n

The Challenger 3 represents a joint Anglo-German venture expected to deliver 148 vehicles at a total cost of nearly \u00a31billion.<\/p>\n

Each tank costs roughly \u00a36million and weighs 66 tons, capable of reaching 37mph whilst travelling up to 300 miles on a single tank of fuel.<\/p>\n

Construction is currently underway at a Telford facility operated by Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land.<\/p>\n

The first vehicles are anticipated to enter operational service next year, with deployment across three regiments: the King’s Royal Hussars, Queen’s Royal Hussars and the Royal Tank Regiment.<\/p>\n

The most significant upgrade is the Rheinmetall L55A1 smoothbore gun, a German-manufactured weapon replacing the older rifled 120mm barrel on the Challenger 2.<\/p>\n

This new armament delivers greater explosive capability than any previous British main battle tank and opens access to advanced Nato munitions that were previously incompatible with UK armour.<\/p>\n

The gun can launch high-velocity projectiles capable of penetrating enemy tanks from a distance of three miles, travelling at nearly five times the speed of sound.<\/p>\n

\"Challenger<\/p>\n

A Challenger 3 Main Battle Tank is displayed at the Ministry of Defence UK Capability Showcase<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

Challenger 3 can also deploy sophisticated programmable ammunition, including airburst rounds, time-delayed explosives and point-detonation shells.<\/p>\n

A new digital sensor array enables improved coordination with other armoured vehicles and future unmanned aerial systems.<\/p>\n

The tank’s defensive systems include Israeli-manufactured Active Protection Systems that provide complete 360-degree shielding against anti-tank missiles, grenades and drone attacks.<\/p>\n

Nick Berchem, a retired tank commander with three decades of British Army service who now works at RBSL, said: “[Challenger 3] will overmatch all current defence or current armour defences. <\/p>\n

\"Challenger<\/p>\n

Challenger 3 can also deploy sophisticated programmable ammunition, including airburst rounds, time-delayed explosives and point-detonation shells<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

He added: “Everybody globally will agree it’s the best armour in the world, the levels of protection are spectacular.”<\/p>\n

Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former tank commander who tested the vehicle on Telford’s mile-long track, described it as “a mightily impressive tank”.<\/p>\n

He said: “What sets it aside is its levels of protection and that it is a full digital platform which should enable it to control a multiplicity of drones and autonomous ground vehicles which are having such an impact in Ukraine.”<\/p>\n

Critics have questioned whether tanks remain relevant given the proliferation of inexpensive suicide drones that have destroyed numerous armoured vehicles during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including at least two British Challenger 2s donated to Kyiv in 2023.<\/p>\n

\"Challenger<\/p>\n

The most significant upgrade is the Rheinmetall L55A1 smoothbore gun, a German-manufactured weapon replacing the older rifled 120mm barrel on the Challenger 2<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

However, developers maintain the upgraded vehicle can repel swarm attacks using its new defensive systems.<\/p>\n

The Challenger 3 is positioned as a rival to Russia’s T-14 Armata, a programme plagued by manufacturing difficulties and cost overruns. <\/p>\n

In 2015, an Armata famously stalled on Red Square during a Victory Day parade rehearsal, and British military intelligence reported in 2023 that Russian troops considered the tanks in “poor condition”.<\/p>\n

A senior Army officer involved in the project told The Telegraph: “Ukraine has proved beyond doubt that while the battlefield has changed and is changing, there is a place for armour.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain’s armed forces are set to receive a new main battle tank that defence officials believe will surpass…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4977,13,18,484,16,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-18516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"tag-army","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-russia","12":"tag-sgg","13":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116441984690046806","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}