Rheinmetall unveils UK’s upgraded Challenger 3 battle tank

Rheinmetall unveiled the U.K.’s new Challenger 3 main battle tank to the public at a British Army event this week, with upgraded armor and a 120mm smoothbore cannon for what the company calls the most advanced tank in NATO.

The U.K. is getting its improved tank as allies including France and Germany are still considering whether and how to adapt their heavy armor to evolving battlefield threats including drones, which have been ubiquitous tank killers in the war in Ukraine. The Challenger 3 with the Ajax fighting vehicles and Boxer infantry vehicles is set to form the backbone of the Army’s Future Soldier concept, which seeks to modernize the British forces for beyond 2030.

“The Challenger 3 will bring unmatched lethality to future battlefields,” the U.K. Ministry of Defence said in a video posted on X , formerly Twitter. “Alongside Ajax and Boxer, Challenger 3 will form the British Army’s future fleet of armored vehicles.”

Rheinmetall is upgrading the tank in a joint venture with BAE Systems, after buying 55% of the BAE business that supplies combat vehicles to the British Army in 2019. The Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) joint venture signed a £800 million contract (US$1 billion) with the U.K. Ministry of Defence in May 2021 to upgrade 148 Challenger 2 tanks.

Rheinmetall said two Challenger 3 prototypes have already rolled out of the RBSL site in Telford, England, with another six to be delivered in coming months. Testing is underway to validate the performance of the prototypes and make adjustments, before the remaining 140 tanks are built and delivered to the British Army.

The tank was on show at the British Army’s Defence Vehicle Dynamics event at UTAC Millbrook, a land-vehicle proving ground that includes off-road tracks for testing of military vehicles.

The Rheinmetall-BAE joint venture in April last year conducted firing tests of the smoothbore gun, which replaces a rifled cannon that had left Britain the only user of rifled tank ammunition among NATO members. Rheinmetall’s 120mm smoothbore guns are used on tanks including the Leopard 2 and the U.S. Abrams.

RBSL and the U.K.’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory have developed a modular armor system for the Challenger 3 which the company said is “a step change in survivability” for the tank, with trials successful so far and more planned in 2025.

“The RBSL team is making great strides, with Challenger 3 completing successful non-destructive testing, and further capability trials are to come,” the joint venture’s Managing Director Will Gibby said in a statement . He said the new battle tank is “the most advanced and capable” in NATO.

The upgraded 66-tonne tank, with a crew of four, features 24-hour all-weather sights, engine improvements, a hydro-gas suspension, better communications and increased electrical power that will allow for adding more power-hungry equipment in the future.

The Challenger 3 will further be equipped with the Trophy active protection system from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, designed to protect against rockets and missiles, after the U.K. tested the system in late 2022.

France and Germany are working on a future battle-tank system dubbed the Main Ground Combat System, though that’s not expected to be ready before the 2040s, and military-vehicle makers Rheinmetall and KNDS showed off competing tank concepts at the Eurosatory defense show in June here that could plug the gap.

Gibby said capabilities used for the Challenger 3 program, including personnel, tools and facilities, are the building blocks needed for “new customers solutions,” and “we look forward to RBSL helping shape the future of military vehicle design and production with international allies.”

Rheinmetall and Finland’s Patria showed off a prototype mortar variant of the Boxer at the British Army event. The armored carrier mounted with Patria’s NEMO 120mm turreted mortar system has a maximum fire rate of 10 rounds per minute and a range of up to 10 kilometers, while able to fire on the move, the companies said in a statement on Sept. 19.

The Boxer mortar variant can provide both direct and indirect fire for greater versatility in combat scenarios, while the turret means operators stay protected, according to Rheinmetall. Patria called the variant “a significant leap” forward in terms of battlefield capabilities.

U.K. firm Babcock, in a partnership with ST Engineering, also presented a 120mm mortar system , consisting of a barrel on a ground plate deployed using a hinged system at the back of a vehicle. The system unveiled at the Army event in Millbrook was developed to “address the urgent requirement” to boost the weaponry of the U.K.’s armed forces, and would be built at the company’s site in Devonport, England, Babcock said.

The Netherlands in June picked BAE’s 120mm mortar system to equip its CV90 armored vehicles. The double-barreled turreted mortar has a maximum range of 13 kilometers, and can fire as many as 16 rounds a minute, with a sustained rate of 6 shells a minute, according to the spec sheet.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

莱茵金属公司本周在英国陆军的一次活动中向公众展示了英国新型挑战者3主战坦克，该坦克配备了升级的装甲和120毫米滑膛炮，该公司称之为北约最先进的坦克。

英国正在接收其改进型坦克，而包括法国和德国在内的盟国仍在考虑是否以及如何调整其重型装甲以应对不断变化的战场威胁，例如在乌克兰战争中屡屡成为坦克杀手的无人机。挑战者3型坦克将与阿贾克斯战车和拳击手步兵战车一起，构成英国陆军“未来士兵”概念的核心，该概念旨在实现英国军队在2030年后的现代化。

英国国防部在X（原推特）上发布的一段视频中表示：“挑战者3型装甲车将为未来的战场带来无与伦比的杀伤力。挑战者3型将与阿贾克斯和拳击手装甲车一起，构成英国陆军未来的装甲车队。”

莱茵金属公司在2019年收购了英国陆军作战车辆供应商BAE系统公司55%的股份后，正与BAE系统公司合作升级坦克。莱茵金属BAE系统陆地公司（RBSL）合资企业于2021年5月与英国国防部签署了一份价值8亿英镑（10亿美元）的合同，用于升级148辆挑战者2型坦克。

莱茵金属公司表示，两辆挑战者3型坦克原型车已从位于英国特尔福德的RBSL工厂下线，另有六辆将在未来几个月内交付。目前正在进行测试，以验证原型车的性能并进行调整，之后剩余的140辆坦克将完成制造并交付给英国陆军。

这辆坦克在英国陆军国防车辆动力学活动上展出，该活动在 UTAC Millbrook 举行，这是一个陆地车辆试验场，包括用于测试军用车辆的越野赛道。

莱茵金属公司与英国航空航天系统公司（BAE Systems）的合资企业于去年4月对滑膛炮进行了射击测试。该滑膛炮取代了英国此前使用的线膛炮，此前英国是北约成员国中唯一使用线膛坦克炮弹的国家。莱茵金属公司生产的120毫米滑膛炮被用于包括豹2坦克和美国艾布拉姆斯坦克在内的多种坦克上。

RBSL 与英国国防科技实验室共同开发了一种用于挑战者 3 型坦克的模块化装甲系统。该公司表示，该系统“大大提高了坦克的生存能力”，目前试验已取得成功，并计划在 2025 年进行更多试验。

“RBSL团队取得了巨大进展，挑战者3型坦克已成功完成无损检测，后续还将进行更多性能测试，”合资企业总经理威尔·吉比在一份声明中表示。他称这款新型主战坦克是北约“最先进、性能最强”的坦克。

这款升级后的 66 吨坦克，乘员 4 人，配备了 24 小时全天候瞄准器、改进的发动机、液气悬挂系统、更好的通信系统和更大的电力，未来可以添加更多耗电设备。

挑战者3型坦克还将配备拉斐尔先进防御系统公司的“战利品”主动防护系统，该系统旨在防御火箭弹和导弹，此前英国已于2022年底对该系统进行了测试。

法国和德国正在研发一种名为“主战坦克系统”的未来主战坦克系统，但预计要到 2040 年代才能准备就绪。军用车辆制造商莱茵金属和 KNDS 在今年 6 月的欧洲防务展上展示了各自的坦克概念，这些概念可能会填补这一空白。

Gibby表示，挑战者3项目所使用的能力，包括人员、工具和设施，是“新客户解决方案”所需的基石，“我们期待RBSL与国际盟友一起，帮助塑造军用车辆设计和生产的未来。”

莱茵金属公司和芬兰帕特里亚公司在英国陆军的活动上展示了一款“拳击手”装甲运兵车的迫击炮原型车。两家公司在9月19日的一份声明中表示，这款搭载帕特里亚公司NEMO 120毫米炮塔式迫击炮系统的装甲运兵车最大射速为每分钟10发，射程可达10公里，并具备行进间射击能力。

据莱茵金属公司称，Boxer迫击炮的改进型既可提供直接火力，也可提供间接火力，从而在作战场景中展现出更大的灵活性，同时炮塔设计也能保障操作人员的安全。帕特里亚公司称该改进型在战场能力方面实现了“重大飞跃”。

英国巴布科克公司与新加坡科技工程公司（ST Engineering）合作，展示了一款120毫米迫击炮系统。该系统由安装在底板上的炮管组成，可通过铰链系统从车辆后部展开。巴布科克公司表示，该系统在米尔布鲁克举行的陆军活动上亮相，旨在“满足提升英国武装部队武器装备的迫切需求”，并将在该公司位于英格兰德文波特的工厂生产。

今年6月，荷兰选择BAE系统公司的120毫米迫击炮系统为其CV90装甲车配备。根据规格表，这款双管炮塔式迫击炮最大射程为13公里，最高射速可达每分钟16发，持续射速为每分钟6发。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。