Ukrainian soldiers arrive in UK to be trained on Challenger 2 tanks for delivery in March 2023.

According to information published on the British Ministry of Defence Twitter account on January 29, 2023, Ukrainian army tank crews have arrived in the UK to begin training with the British-made Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank (MBT) that will be delivered in March this year. 
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Ukrainian soldiers arrive in the United Kingdom to be trained in the use of the Challenger 2 tank. (Picture source British MoD)

According to a statement published by the British Government on January 14, 2023, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the United Kingdom will send to Ukraine 14 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) as well as armored recovery and repair vehicles.

On January 16, 2023, the British Secretary of State for Defence announced the most significant package of combat power to accelerate Ukrainian success in the war with Russia, including a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs).

Citing information from the British Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence Alex Chalk, it is planned that the British-made Challenger 2 MBTs will be delivered to Ukraine at the end of March this year.

The Challenger 2 tank entered into service with the British army in 1998 and is currently undergoing a life extension program that will keep it in service until 2035. The tank has proven its worth in combat time and again, most notably during operations in Iraq in the 2000s. It is currently in service with the British army Queen’s Royal Hussars, the King’s Royal Hussars, and the Royal Tank Regiment.

The design of the Challenger 2 is conventional for a modern main battle tank. It has a crew of four with the driver seated at the front center of the hull, a turret in the middle with the commander, gunner and loader, and powerpack at the rear. The turret and hull incorporate Chobham composite ceramic armor over the frontal arc for increased battlefield survivability. Due to the extreme hardness of the ceramics used, the tiles offer superior resistance against a shaped charge jet and they shatter kinetic energy penetrators (KE-penetrators).

The Challenger 2 is armed with the Rheinmetall L55 smoothbore gun which is able to fire armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS), high-explosive squash head (HESH) or smoke rounds. The L30 gun can also fire the depleted uranium (DU) round with a stick-charge propellant. A 7.62mm coaxial machine gun is mounted to the left of the main armament and another 7.62mm machine gun is mounted on the loader hatch.

The Challenger 2 is powered by a 12-cylinder Perkins Caterpillar CV12 diesel engine developing 1,500 hp coupled to a David Brown TN54 gearbox with six forward and two reverse gears. It can run at a maximum road speed of 59 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 450 km.