Challenger 2

The primary MBT (Main battle tank) of the British army. An upgrade on the origonal challenger battle tank featuring over 150 improvements. Armed with a 120mm rifled gun, a 7.62mm chain gun and a 7.62mm GPMG. The armour is an upgraded version of chobham making the challenger 2 possibly the best armoured tank in the world

• Crew 4
• Length Gun Forward 11.55m;
• Hull Length 8.3m;
• Height to Turret Roof 2.49m;
• Width 3.5m;
• Ground Clearance 0.5m;
• Combat Weight 62,500 kgs;
• Main Armament 1 x 120mm L30 CHARM Gun;
• Ammunition Carried Typically 50 rounds - APFSDS, HESH, Smoke;
• Secondary Armament Co-axial 7.62mm chain gun; 7.62mm GPMG Turret Mounted for Air Defence;
• Ammunition Carried 4000 rounds 7.62mm;
• Engine Rolls-Royce CV12 with engine management system;
• Maximum Road Speed 56kph;
• Average Cross Country Speed 40kph.

Information curtesy of the British Ministry of defence

The first Challanger II's delivered to the British Army went to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard of 7 Armored Brigade(The Desert Rats) for service in Kosovo

The Challanger II, was brought without sand filters. In the snow and summer of Kosovo, this wasn't a problem. However, on excercise in Oman serious problems were discovered. The power packs had lifetimes of hours rather than days. Considering where The Desert Rats were named after, and where they had last fought in anger, this was a BIT of an oversight.

Challanger II was fitted with sand filters before the current war in Iraq. Thank god we went now and not two years ago.

Also one undocumented feature of the Challanger II is its boiling vessel. It's a fantastic device for the Infantry, as it stops them having to get out our hexi blocks and gas burners.

For other UK kit that doesn't work well in the desert look at

• SA-80
• Lynx Helicopter
• British Army Boots
• British Army Desert Uniforms

In fact, there isn't much Brit kit that works well anywhere. I guess thats up to the budget to sort out though.