Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle vs M88 recovery vehicle

Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle — licensed reference photograph

AEngineering & recovery

Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle

Armoured Recovery Vehicle

Credit

JzG · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source ↗ · Modified

M88 recovery vehicle — licensed reference photograph

BEngineering & recovery

M88 recovery vehicle

Armored recovery vehicle

Credit

baku13 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Resized · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source ↗ · Modified

First system

Second system

At a glance

Side by side

Length comparisonOne shared metre scale

Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery VehicleLength

9.61 m

Length source ↗

M88 recovery vehicleLength

8.27 m

Length source ↗

Lengths retain their source configuration and measurement scope.

Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehiclelarger figure on 3 of 3

Length+16%
Width+6%
Height

M88 recovery vehiclelarger figure on 0 of 3

None

Counts only measures both sources give with the same scope. A larger figure is not a better system.

Measured figures

Head to head

20 of 52 rows sourced on both sides

9.61m

8.27m

Length+16%

All recorded figures & sources

9.61 m

Length

Single source

9.61 m (31.5 ft)^[source]

8.27 m

Length

Single source

27.13 ft (8.27 m )^[source]

3.62m

3.43m

Width+6%

All recorded figures & sources

3.62 m

Width

Single source

3.62 m (11.9 ft)^[source]

3.43 m

Width

Single source

11.25 ft (3.43 m)^[source]

3.13m

3.12m

Height

All recorded figures & sources

3.13 m

Height

Single source

3.13 m (10.3 ft)^[source]

3.12 m

Height

Single source

10.25 ft (3.12 m)^[source]

61.2t

63.5tM88A2

Mass

All recorded figures & sources

61,200 kg

Mass

Single source

61.2 t (60.2 long tons; 67.5 short tons)^[source]

63,500 kg

M88A2

Single source

50,800 kg

M88/M88A1

Single source

M88/M88A1 : 50.8 t (112,000 lb ) M88A2 : 63.5 t (140,000 lb)^[source]

Crew

All recorded figures & sources

3 people

Crew

Single source

3^[source]

3 people

Crew

Single source

3^[source]

59km/hMaximum; Maximum speed

48km/hMaximum; M88A2

SpeedScopes differ

All recorded figures & sources

59.2 km/h

Maximum; Maximum speed

Single source

59.2 km/h (36.8 mph)^[source]

48 km/h

Maximum; M88A2

Single source

42 km/h

Maximum; M88/M88A1

Single source

M88/M88A1 : 42 km/h (26 mph) M88A2 : 48 km/h (30 mph)^[source]

500kmOperational; Operational range

450kmOperational; M88/M88A1

RangeScopes differ

All recorded figures & sources

500 km

Operational; Operational range

Single source

500 km (310 mi)^[source]

322 km

Operational; M88A2

Single source

450 km

Operational; M88/M88A1

Single source

M88/M88A1 : 450 km (280 mi) M88A2 : 322 km (200 mi)^[source]

895kWPerkins-Condor CV12-5C/6C

780kWM88A2

PowerScopes differ

All recorded figures & sources

894.839846 kW

Perkins-Condor CV12-5C/6C

Single source

Perkins-Condor CV12-5C/6C 1200 bhp^[source]

780 kW

M88A2

Single source

560 kW

M88/M88A1 : Continental (now RENK America LLC, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Renk ) AVDS-1790-2DR V12 , air-cooled Twin-turbo diesel engine • M88A2 : Continental AVDS-1790-8CR, V12 air-cooled Twin-turbo diesel engine M88/M88A1

Single source

• M88/M88A1 : Continental (now RENK America LLC, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Renk ) AVDS-1790-2DR V12 , air-cooled Twin-turbo diesel engine • M88A2 : Continental AVDS-1790-8CR, V12 air-cooled Twin-turbo diesel engine M88/M88A1 : 750 hp (560 kW) M88A2 : 1,050 hp (780 kW)^[source]

Bars compare reported quantities only. A larger figure does not make a system better; configurations and test conditions differ.

Configuration

Details

Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle and M88 recovery vehicle configuration
Specification	Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle	M88 recovery vehicle
Type	Armoured Recovery Vehicle^[source]	Armored recovery vehicle^[source]
Place of origin	United Kingdom^[source]	United States^[source]
In service	1988 - present^[source]	1961–present^[source]
Used by	British Army Royal Army of Oman^[source]	See operators^[source]
Wars	First Gulf War Iraq War War in Afghanistan^[source]	Arab–Israeli conflict Vietnam War Lebanese Civil War Persian Gulf War Kosovo War Iraq War War in Afghanistan Russo-Ukrainian War 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive 2025 Cambodia-Thailand conflict^[source]
Designer	Vickers Defence^[source]	Bowen McLaughlin York (BMY)^[source]
Designed	1985^[source]	1959^[source]
Produced	1988-1993^[source]	1961–present^[source]
No. built	84^[source]	1,690 (all variants)^[source]
Passengers	2^[source]	—
Armour	Rolled homogeneous armour and applique armour^[source]	—
Main armament	None^[source]	M2 .50 cal heavy MG with 1,300 rounds^[source]
Secondary armament	1 x 7.62mm GPMG Smoke dischargers^[source]	—
Transmission	David Brown TN54E^[source]	Twin Disc XT-1410-5A cross-drive (3 speed forward, 1 speed reverse)^[source]
Manufacturer	Vickers plc, Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land^[source]	BMY (1961–1994) United Defense and Anniston Army Depot (1994–2005) BAE Systems Land and Armaments (since 2005)^[source]
Unit cost	—	US$ 2,050,000^[source]
Variants	—	See variants^[source]
Armor	—	Hull and cab armored to protect against small-arms fire up to 30 mm direct fire weapons^[source]
Suspension	—	Torsion bar suspension^[source]
Ground clearance	—	17 in (0.43 m)^[source]
Reported operators	—	Reported operator · Australia Reported operator · Austria Reported operator · Bahrain Reported operator · Brazil Reported operator · Egypt Reported operator · Greece Reported operator · Iraq Reported operator · Israel Reported operator · Jordan Reported operator · Lebanon Reported operator · Kuwait Reported operator · Morocco Reported operator · Pakistan Reported operator · Poland Reported operator · Portugal Reported operator · Saudi Arabia Reported operator · Spain Reported operator · Sudan Reported operator · Republic of China Reported operator · Thailand Reported operator · Tunisia Reported operator · Turkey Reported operator · United States Reported operator · Ukraine

FORCETALLY

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Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle

M88 recovery vehicle

Type

Armoured Recovery Vehicle^[source]

Armored recovery vehicle^[source]

Place of origin

United Kingdom^[source]

United States^[source]

In service

1988 - present^[source]

1961–present^[source]

Used by

British Army Royal Army of Oman^[source]

See operators^[source]

Wars

First Gulf War Iraq War War in Afghanistan^[source]

Arab–Israeli conflict Vietnam War Lebanese Civil War Persian Gulf War Kosovo War Iraq War War in Afghanistan Russo-Ukrainian War 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive 2025 Cambodia-Thailand conflict^[source]

Designer

Vickers Defence^[source]

Bowen McLaughlin York (BMY)^[source]

Designed

1985^[source]

1959^[source]

Produced

1988-1993^[source]

1961–present^[source]

No. built

84^[source]

1,690 (all variants)^[source]

Passengers

2^[source]

—

Armour

Rolled homogeneous armour and applique armour^[source]

—

Main armament

None^[source]

M2 .50 cal heavy MG with 1,300 rounds^[source]

Secondary armament

1 x 7.62mm GPMG Smoke dischargers^[source]

—

Transmission

David Brown TN54E^[source]

Twin Disc XT-1410-5A cross-drive (3 speed forward, 1 speed reverse)^[source]

Manufacturer

Vickers plc, Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land^[source]

BMY (1961–1994) United Defense and Anniston Army Depot (1994–2005) BAE Systems Land and Armaments (since 2005)^[source]

Unit cost

—

US$ 2,050,000^[source]

Variants

—

See variants^[source]

Armor

—

Hull and cab armored to protect against small-arms fire up to 30 mm direct fire weapons^[source]

Suspension

—

Torsion bar suspension^[source]

Ground clearance

—

17 in (0.43 m)^[source]

Reported operators

—

Reported operator · Australia
Reported operator · Austria
Reported operator · Bahrain
Reported operator · Brazil
Reported operator · Egypt
Reported operator · Greece
Reported operator · Iraq
Reported operator · Israel
Reported operator · Jordan
Reported operator · Lebanon
Reported operator · Kuwait
Reported operator · Morocco
Reported operator · Pakistan
Reported operator · Poland
Reported operator · Portugal
Reported operator · Saudi Arabia
Reported operator · Spain
Reported operator · Sudan
Reported operator · Republic of China
Reported operator · Thailand
Reported operator · Tunisia
Reported operator · Turkey
Reported operator · United States
Reported operator · Ukraine