The Challenger 1 is a British main battle tank built by the Royal Ordnance Factory, entering British Army service in 1983 and remaining in front-line use until 2001, with 420 built between 1983 and 1990. Weighing 62 tonnes in its standard configuration and armed with the Royal Ordnance L11A5 120mm rifled gun, driven by a 1,200 horsepower Perkins CV12 diesel engine, the tank pioneered the composite Chobham armor that later influenced the design of the American M1 Abrams. During the 1991 Gulf War, British Challenger 1 tanks destroyed roughly 300 Iraqi tanks without a single combat loss, including a record tank-on-tank kill at a range of 5,100 meters using depleted uranium ammunition, and after British retirement the type continued in Royal Jordanian Army service under the local name Al-Hussein from 1999 until 2023.
Facts
Classification
Service Status Weapon Class Introduced Year Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category) Connections
Operated By
Source Challenger 1, Wikipedia
Used In
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Challenger 1, Wikipedia
Lead paragraph
is a British main battle tank (MBT)
History
The Challenger 1 entered service with the British Army in 1983
service status
The Jordanian Challenger 1 fleet had been retired by January 2023
Caliber attribute (challenger-1-tank)
Weighing 62 tonnes in its standard configuration and armed with the Royal Ordnance L11A5 120mm rifled gun, driven by a 1,200 horsepower Perkins CV12 diesel engine, the tank pioneered the composite Chobham armor that later influenced the design of the American M1 Abrams.
- Operated By: British Army, infobox used_by/operator field: 'British Army'
Used In: Gulf War, Infobox, wars field
Infobox wars field lists: Persian Gulf War
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