Design and configuration
Six road wheels support a heavy hull and angular turret. Added theatre protection substantially changes the external appearance and mass.1
FORCETALLY
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Main battle tank
Challenger 2 is a British main battle tank with a rifled 120 mm gun and four-person crew. Its ammunition arrangement differs from smoothbore-armed contemporary tanks.
United KingdomMain battle tank
United Kingdom
1998–present
British Army Royal Army of Oman Ukrainian Ground Forces
UNMIBH Kosovo War Iraq War Russo-Ukrainian War
Vickers Defence Systems
1986–1993
Alvis plc Vickers plc BAE Systems Land & Armaments
£4,217,000 (FY 1999)
1990 (prototypes) 1993–2002 (main production)
about 447
64 t (63 long tons ; 71 short tons ), 75 t (74 long tons; 83 short tons) with combat armour modules
8.3 m (27 ft 3 in), 13.5 m (44 ft 3 in) gun forward
3.5 m (11 ft 6 in), 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) with appliqué armour
2.49 m (8 ft 2 in)
4 (commander, gunner, loader–operator, driver)
Chobham / Dorchester Level 2 (classified)
L30A1 120 mm rifled gun with 47 rounds
7.62 mm coaxial L94A1 chain gun 7.62 mm L37A2 loader–operator hatch machine gun
Perkins CV12-6A V12 diesel 26.1 L (1,590 cu in) 1,200–1,500 bhp (890–1,120 kW)
18.7 hp/t (13.9 kW/t) at 64 t; 16 hp/t (11.9 kW/t) at 75 t
David Brown TN54E epicyclic transmission (6 fwd., 2 rev.)
Hydropneumatic
0.5 m (1 ft 8 in)
1,592 litres (350 imp gal; 421 US gal)
550 km (340 mi) on-road, 250 km (160 mi) off-road on internal fuel
37 mph (59 km/h) on-road, 25 mph (40 km/h) off-road
United Kingdom
Oman
Ukraine
Reference text from Wikipedia contributors, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Additional sources
L30A1 main armament bore
Single sourceBase mass; excludes the separately stated 75-tonne add-on armour configuration
Single sourceMaximum; Maximum road speed
Single sourceRoad range; internal fuel
Single sourceCommander, loader, gunner and driver
Single sourceTrue scale
Sourced dimensions beside a 1.75 m human reference.
The system in detail
Six road wheels support a heavy hull and angular turret. Added theatre protection substantially changes the external appearance and mass.1
Stabilised sights and fire control support the manually loaded main gun. The rifled barrel and ammunition types are important configuration identifiers.1
This profile covers Challenger 2. Challenger 3’s smoothbore turret and associated upgrades must not be presented as already fitted to every Challenger 2.1
Use matched protection packages and ammunition scope. Baseline weight and a heavily equipped deployed photograph may describe different vehicle states.1
Visual reference
Reference photograph · Configuration may differChallenger 2 of the Queen’s Royal Lancers outside Basra during Operation Telic 4. Reference photograph showing a deployment-specific armour configuration.
Graeme Main / Ministry of Defence (UK) · OGL v1.0 · Source ↗ · ModifiedPoints represent sourced observations, including revisions. Revisions on the same effective date are not separate inventory events. Ranges appear in the table and are not plotted as exact points.
| Observation / report period | Value | Source | Claim state |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Sept 2026 | 120 mm | British Army | approved |
| 28 Sept 2026 | 120 mm | British Army | superseded |
Challenger 2 equipment records. Variants, orders and quantities are shown as reported in each inventory source; coverage is incomplete.
OmanArmy exact named equipment holdings: Challenger 2. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: ARMOURED FIGHTING VEHICLES / MBT. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
Army holdings of the exact named Challenger 2 component: active, reserve operational and training units, excluding equipment in store. This is a service-scoped observation, not a national total or combat-readiness count. No parent-design, sibling-variant, heading aggregate or mounted-weapon total is inherited.
UkraineReported Ukrainian Air Assault Forces Challenger 2 holdings in the 2025 edition. This is a dated service inventory, not the total delivered or a current combat-readiness assertion.
United KingdomReported land equipment holdings; excludes vehicles used exclusively for training or ceremonial use. Does not distinguish active, stored or maintenance status. Not assessed as Accredited Official Statistics. Platforms included: Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank.
British Army Royal Army of Oman Ukrainian Ground Forces
Equipment reference ↗