Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Nov 2002
- Posts
- 16,376
- Location
- 38.744281°N 104.846806°W
God no it isn't a challenger. They're almost indestructible:
In one encounter within the urban area a Challenger 2 came under attack from irregular forces with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. The drivers sight was damaged and while attempting to back away under the commander's directions, the other sights were damaged and the tank threw its tracks entering a ditch. It was hit directly by eight rocket propelled grenades from close range and a MILAN anti-tank missile, and was under heavy small arms fire for hours. The crew survived remaining safe within the tank until the tank was recovered for repairs, the worst damage being to the sighting system. It was back in operation six hours later after the repairs. One Challenger 2 operating near Basra survived being hit by 70 RPGs in another incident.
There have been only three Challenger 2s lost in combat:
* A friendly fire ("blue-on-blue") incident on 25 March 2003 in Basra in which one Challenger 2 mistakenly shot another, destroying the second tank and killing two crew members
* August 2006 - the driver of a Challenger 2, Trooper Sean Chance, lost three of his toes when an RPG-29 penetrated the frontal armour during an engagement in al-Amarah, Iraq.
* April 6, 2007 - in Basra, Iraq, an IED shaped charge penetrated the underside of the tank, resulting in the driver losing a leg and causing minor injuries to another soldier.
The BBC quotes a British MoD spokesman as saying Challenger 2 was:
"Well armoured but in an operational theatre it's not the case that you can have absolute protection. This was not in any way new technology - the device involved was the same type of shaped charge that we have seen used very regularly. No-one has ever said Challenger tanks are impenetrable. We have always said that a big enough bomb will defeat any armour and any vehicle."
