Soldato
The problem then is No CR2 means no CR3. Which leaves us in a hole with limited armour capability and a huge bill to replace them with something else.YES! Which is why I say, in the circumstances we find ourselves right now, unforseen a year ago, where a democratic country we are supporting faces being overrun unless it gets a supply of modern MBTs that potential major suppliers of Abrams 2s and Leopard 2s are appatently too **** scared to supply, we CANCEL saving them for upgrade (saving us tens of millions to spend on other kit) and send them, as they are now, to Ukraine as they are apparently enough to tip the balance.
The lack of any Challengers in Afghanistan supports my view that are not needed for the UK army to operate in most operations - none in the last 20 years anyway. But even if we HAD sent a few... the few dozen C2s we retain would be enough for that role.
As I said before and Ian has also stated Other countries like Poland are in a much better position to bare that burdon.
Afghanistan was an entirely different conflict with different threats! Do not base future threats on our last conflict.
A few dozen wouldnt suffice, we need more not less, and getting rid of what we have is not a cheaper option.