Challenger 1
In service 1983 - 2000 in UK service
The first tank in service with Chobham composite armour, and the tank that fought the most one-sided armoured engagements of the 1991 Gulf War.
Built byRoyal Ordnance Leeds, later Vickers Defence Systems
Development history
Challenger 1 grew out of the Shir 2 designed for Iran, a project left stranded by the 1979 revolution and adapted for British use. It kept the Chieftain's rifled 120 mm gun but replaced the troublesome L60 engine with the 1,200 hp Condor and, crucially, introduced Chobham armour - a layered composite far more effective against shaped charges than steel of the same weight. Its original fire-control system was weaker than its armour and gun deserved, a gap exposed when a British crew placed last in the 1987 Canadian Army Trophy competition. The Gulf War in 1991 told a different story: Challengers advanced hundreds of kilometres, destroyed around 300 Iraqi armoured vehicles and recorded the longest confirmed tank-versus-tank kill of the war, with no Challenger lost to enemy fire. Challenger 2 replaced them from 1998 and surplus vehicles went to Jordan as the Al-Hussein.
Variants
One canonical record, 4 recorded variants.
Challenger 1 Mk 1
1983Initial production with the original fire-control system.
Challenger 1 Mk 2
1985Improved fire control and thermal observation and gunnery sight.
Challenger 1 Mk 3
1988Further fire-control improvement; the Gulf War standard with desert armour packages.
Al-Hussein
1999Jordanian rebuild of surplus vehicles with a new turret and fire control.
Notable actions
- Gulf War
- Operation Granby