20.10.2004, 14:52
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Zitat:Facing up to the Challenger
The Alvis Vickers Challenger 2 performed exceptionally in the harsh environs of the Iraqi desert. François Prins reports.
The Vickers Challenger 2 main battle tank (MBT) has been in service with the British Army since 1994, but it had not been subject to desert battle conditions until the war on Iraq. In 2001 the tanks took part in Exercise Saif Sareea 2 in Oman with poor results. This was due to the fact that the UK treasury did not make available funds for the fitting of the correct air filters to counter the desert sand. In contrast, the Omani Challenger tanks had been so equipped during manufacture and performed faultlessly. This lesson was learned and taken on board.
British Challenger tanks were ordered to be made fully 'desert compatible'. While the fitting of the correct filters is expensive, it is a fraction of the price of a new tank and several British tanks were incapacitated during the exercise in Oman.
Iraq War
In terrain crossing and combat performance the Challenger 2 is an excellent desert tank, but Saif Sareea 2 exposed a vulnerability to dust ingestion and especially the fine sand particles in the Oman. The rapid blockage of air filters - filters designed for temperate conditions - quickly became a major constraint in exercise activity. A flurry of post exercise activity by the tank systems IPT and Alvis Vickers looked at filter re-design, the pattern of dust thrown up by the vehicle and the position of the air intakes. They believed that they could redesign some aspects of the tank to improve the situation.
An improved bank of scavenge fans and filters doubled useful life in the dustiest conditions, and by extending the side skirts of the vehicle to prevent dust being thrown up towards the air intakes in the first place resulted in a dramatically increased tolerance to the worst conditions likely to be experienced in the Iraqi desert. However, the time required to manufacture enough of these modifications precluded them being fitted in Germany before the tanks were embarked by sea, so all the work had to be carried out in Kuwait. Alvis Vickers and the Equipment Support (Land) Business Unit sent a team of over 50 individuals out to theatre with all the extra equipment and the tanks were modified in the Gulf. They set up a production line for the modifications to Challenger 2 and other armoured vehicles. The programme was completed before hostilities began. The improved air filtration system proved so effective that the only complaint from one CO concerned the fleet of trucks full of spare filters that he did not ultimately need.
The performance of the 116 Challenger 2 tanks prepared for desert conditions was exceptional. The Scots Dragoon Guards travelled about 700 kms after the modified air filters and side skirts were fitted, and most of their Challenger 2s had just one filter change in that period. During operations, the tanks averaged more than 90 per cent availability. Other improvements were made to Challenger 2 beyond dust mitigation measures. Its thermal signature was reduced and additional armour was fitted, improving immeasurably the troops' confidence in the tank's survivability - a confidence justified by one Challenger 2 withstanding eight rocket propelled grenade (RPG) attacks in an encounter with Iraqi troops.
Most of the Challenger tanks took small arms and RPG fire; all that did was to 'chip the paint'. No Challengers were lost through enemy action. [...............]