Challenger 2 is FINALLY Good. Challeger 2 LEP 

- Join me in War Thunder for FREE on PC, PS®5 and Xbox Series X|S: gjn.link/RedEffectWarThunder. Follow my link to get the game as well as an exclusive bonus. Thank you for supporting the channel!

That's one nice ass tracked tea making machine

Ah yes, the Challenger the tank that simply needs a bit of love from its own government.

Challenger 2 is and always has been a good tank, it has just fallen behind in recant years due to lack of upgrades but hopefully they give it what it deserves, a merger of the 2 ideas would be nice. Im pretty sure I heard somewhere before that there is going to be a seperate program to upgrade the mobility. Also to say that the lack of lower hull protection hasn't been addressed is incorrect because no Challenger 2 would deploy without add on armour such as the Dorchester block found on TES.

Finally British is getting an upgrade for the challenger

last time I was this early a rifled gun wasn't entirely obsolete

Damn i love the look of that 130mm Prototype, but overall I honestly think the MoD should choose to go with the Reinmetal Upgrade for the new gun and if the design changes to fit some of Black Nights stuff even better

The BAE always wins.

It's the youngest of the 3/4th gen mbts, it didnt come online tell 1997. Idk why their is worried about its upgrades. Yes update lower front plate but this tank is pretty good already. I believe it is the safest tank in the world.

Finally good... Chally 2 has always been good

How’s iron fist APS not the best APS currently on the market? It counters both kinetic and chemical threats,has 360 degree coverage and is operational currently,the systems core has been proven in combat already in the form of trophy APS.

I do believe Rheinmetal claims that the turret armour is similar or same on the new turret(in terms of effectiveness, not layout). And I was convinced that Rheinmetal also planned replace powerpack(engine+transmission) with EuroPowerPack - giving it same driving power as Leo2A6 and LeClerc. Also I could see two changes in the future: Combination of Black Night+Rheinmetal proposals, or some compromise between the two. And potentially using the "130mm turret" with120mm L/55A1, with possible quick rearming to the 130mm L/51 down the line.

The CV12 engine can be upgraded to 1500bhp with common rail diesel injection just FYI, and I think that’s likely, as it will be cost effective, and still within the limits of the transmission.

Funny how everyone is so quick to dismiss hesh but you speak to any British tanker and I bet money they will praise it. They love that round and they use it.

With BAE & Rheinmetall joining forces best British tankers could hope for would the best components from both companies mods. The active defense system from BAE and gun & turret from Rheinmetall. Everyone wins, except the adversary.

7:18 I thought the Challenger didn't need blast door protection _because_ it uses two piece ammunition.

still the sexiest looking tank on the battlefield :D

UK: Propose us some life expanding features so that we can keep Challenger 2's. BAE: Here's our few barely improving things. Rh+BAE: Here is our proposal, but just as well barely improving, except in different parts. Rh: As well as here is our new turret with new spaced armor protection similar to Leo, as well as 130mm gun which could be the world's first MBT utilizing 130mm and could dominate. UK: No, thanks...we don't want real life changing upgrades, we're fine with bare minimum upgrades. Me: But what else do you want? Make up your mind or stop asking for proposals, better make a plan, a list with things you want to improve and extend yourself and find someone who is willing to offer to do it...

Here's a thought, if they really needed the Hesh... would it not be ok to design a hesh round that spun itself using fins?

now we have challenger 3

You should make a video on what components you think would make the best tank

The delay in upgrading from challenger2 might be a wise move to have more of a budget to put towards it plus a longer think about if a main battle tank is needed or at least a crewed one?

@ RedEffect Just out of curiosity: suppose both upgrades were combined and better protection to the front lower plate was improved (a lot), would that make Challenger II one of the best tanks in the world in your view? Or would it become too expensive (and anyone buying could only afford a few of them as a result)? If the latter would be the case: would a completely new design be more economical? (Which may be the case for more upgrades to existing tanks). Really love to hear your take on that, as you make excellent videos that make a lot of sense in my humbold opinion. Thanks in advance.

A new challenger appears!

Honestly it's more likely MOD would just phase out challenger 2 for AJAX

With smooth bore being so good, the Army will be going back to using the Brown Bess.......

SO EARLY REDEFFECT

I think politically speaking, the UK won't ever move away from the rifled barrel just because they want to maintain their strange antiquated "monopoly" on HESH ammunition.

Please cover where they the raw material for building these machines explosives darts

If raifled gun is bad because of wear, than it will soon become smoothbore Problem solved

I was going to go on a large conversation on all the things that make this tank proud to be used under the British Army which this guy pretty much said the tank is shit but ya know what, the soldiers that fight in her feel safe and proud and the fact shes never been destroyed in battle but once when she was getting repaired only proves that she is never obsolete that this guy makes out. Im proud of having a Challenger 2 as our MBT, even if some people take this piss.

It's always been one of the worlds best tanks

I have to imagine that the best call would be a composite package incorporating both BAE and Rheinmetall proposals.

I love your videos and I would like to hear your thoughts about the south African Olifant mk2

*cough* they upgraded the lower glacial plate ages ago *cough*

Since the number of tanks considered affordable keeps decreasing, one might wonder if the UK should field MBTs at all.

woah woah wait a minute did u put new song on the outro or i never know u have a song on your outro

At this point, it'll be safe to call it CLeopard III.

I doubt that the UK can't afford a tank division.

Challenger 2 will get the gun and a couple modules from Arjun?! Now that IS finally good!

Get ready for round 2 red defect

challenger 2 with smoothbore gun for germany makes it that it can multipurse HE and better rounds making it a better MBT for Brittian. rifled gun can not use any better dart rounds now and by going smoothbore is better for the future of Challeger 2 tank.

the streetfighter has a Drone too...

Honestly, they should just make the new challenger 2 a 3-man crew with an auto loader. With 1 lesser crew, they’ll have ample room for more ammunition.

Fitting that a fking Ad abt fking TEA came up

So now that we have chosen that challenger three will be an upgrade ,what are your views on the info that is out there? I do enjoy watching your videos ..

To all my tanks experts tank with Smoothbore gun - anti tank role Tank with refiled gun - ground support role These idiots didn't understand single concept that every military have different doctrine and role for their tank

The Uk was talking about scrapping its armoured assets a few months ago, glad to see government flip flops as much across all departments

Having never suffered a loss due to enemy fire, Chally 2 was never not good. In Op TELIC, one Chally 2 was hit over 70 times by RPGs including a fee times by MILAN ATGMs and it suffered only minimal damage.

It was good from the start who created the first tank The UK

Are you disabled ‘finally good’ One of the best tanks over the last 50 years Best effective armour from any tank EVER Never been destroyed in combat Can still keep up with the rest of the MBTs from Russia, US, Germany and the rest of Europe Do some research mate

Does it come with a kettle as standard?

My views are that heavy tanks in the future will be disregarded by the military for many reasons. 1- New lighter weapons can defeat any tanks, 2- They are too big and too heavy to bring to the battlefield 3- It is very hard maintain and expensive to purchase. They are big and cumbersome so easily can be hit etc etc

Welp , 148 Challenger 3 coming soon

sorry isn't laser warning receiver a very basic thing in modern tanks???? btw, the chinese VT5 light tank also use a rifle gun 105mm, what do you think about their APFSDS-T ammo? pictures here: china-defense.blogspot.com/2021/02/photos-of-day-type15-light-tank-and-its.html

A main battle tank that has never been defeated by enemy fire is finally good !. Even as is, T90 is scrap in comparison. Armata untested. British scientists won't be idle in designing improved armour and weapons to defeat it. All talk of gun technology still doesn't change the fact that Dorchester armour is superior to anything else and undefeated in battle from APG's, Milan missiles.

british : drink tea approvingly while watching this video

I keep hearing that the challenger is surprisingly fast considering its horsepower per ton and looking at past vehicles in the UK arsenal it seems they don't value speed particularly highly. I wouldn't expect an engine upgrade any time soon

In my opinion we are better off making a brand-new tank with 130mm it might cost more in the short term but in long-term it will actually be cheaper Because it won’t need upgrading for years to come and it will last a lot longer than an upgraded Challenger 2 and we need at least 200+Eventually will be at zero tanks so in the future it would be nice if we went back to about 300 tanks and the UK defence budget is having an increase

Challenger was only tank not to be knocked out in both gulf wars she is a proved winner in the end even if the yanks won’t except the truth ,the leopard has never seen action so unproved

HESH, British couldn't get away from it since the 60's

bruh the challenger 2 was already a good tank, it just lacked in some tech that other tanks had. and it looks like bae systems cba to do anything about that

Rifle gun man bad

I thought this was warthunder and I got excited...

Think it does the job 🤔 esp compared others

Maybe the Uk needs to get rid of the Challengers, and buy either the newest Leopard II variant or the M1A3.

I want to see it's copula go sky high !

Only reason the rifled gun is still used is due to doctrine. British doctrine used tanks for infantry support more than tank hunting, where HESH is much more accurate using a rifled barrel. Changing the gun would fly in the face of everything the British army has trained for, being a complete waste of time and money. Retooling the whole arms industry to suit what would be a negative upgrade and a total waste of money making it completely pointless. I love your videos but you can't really compare tanks without the main key part being doctrine. BTW HESH doesn't detonate when being hit due to it being plastic explosives and is far cheaper to produce than HEAT and actually does a better job.

Have you forgotten that this tank should face the T-14?

"Able to afford it" oh please cut the bullshit.

It would have been pretty easy to remove that drivers hatch weak spot. Cover it up with NERA and add a camera leading to a monitor on the inside for the driver to see. Add a hydraulic hatch for the driver in the new plate with a back up manual one under the tank for emergencies or hydraulic failure.

it's a pity it's just good, not very good or excellent. when it's 'terrifying for its enemies' , let me know , only then will I start the celebrations

Didn't the British just eliminate their tank forces?

The Anglo finally did it

I do not care about what people say about the tank my cousin was a tanker and his tank took an RPG he is alive today because of his tank

Upgraded or not it still sh..s on other MBT

I wonder How challenger 2 is better than Arjun mk1a . It specs are even bad for comparing with Arjun

With Russia upgrading i'm not sure that reduction of vehicle numbers is that good idea.

HOW DARE YOU INSULT 🅱️ESH!!!

Arjun watching all this from distance.

It’s not a RedEffect video without a word from War Thunder

*angry Matsimus noises*

Hi, Just wanted to tell you that Indian Army is placing order of 118 Arjun Mk1A this mid February. 😂

Rheinmetall: Maybe just buy some A7's instead?

they invented the tank, yet seem to have the most mediocre tanks since ww1

If we're gonna change the main gun then we may as well go all in and go for the Joint Rheinmetall/BAE Systems 130mm Smoothbore gun and autoloading turret system, but it must incorporate either Dorchester Chobham or an even more new and improved 3rd Gen Chobham, and Non Explosive, Reactive Armour (NERA),(Extremely Dense Rubber Blocks), and if course areas of Spaced Armour too for use against tandems shaped charged warheads and Tungsten or as in Russias' case as with our own penetrator rods stopping Depleted Uranium rids from passing straight through the tanks armoured shell as well as some add-on armour packages, luckily the Challenger 2 as is,(as well as CH-1), has never been lost in combat not a single Challenger 2 MBT to enemy fire, one took 24grs of continuous small arms fire and around 30 Russian Made RPG-7s, and an anti-tank rocket too, recovered all crew intact, Challenger was fixed and back out on job within around 6hrs, sights replaced, tracks replaced, ammunition stocked, off they went, and when asked by an interviewing Documentary Maker was asking the crew questions, tye said all they could remember is hearing tiny pings, the odd thud and one small boom, which WAS the small arms fire the RPGs and the small boom was actually the anti-tank rocket. In my opinion until we decide on a new tank altogether, I'd go for the Joint Rheinmetall BAE systems proposal with new Turret and 130mm main gun, everyone catch us up again like they did when Chieftain first appeared, that day everyone sat up and took notice, seeing the best and Armored, tge most powerful new 120mm gun,(instead of the British 105mm), up-gunned, outgunning any other tank in the World, because mist Western tanks,(Yes, even the US), used them British 105mm cannon, which was mass produced for a tank armament Anyway, a bit like Rheinmetall 120mm gun today or versions of it manufactured within some of the users respective Country,((countries)).

"it still uses HESH, c'mon" Whilst being useless against modern tanks, HESH has a range advantage over HEAT and APFSDS making it great for smacking light skinned targets at safer distances. HESH is very much loved for a reason. Just saying.

A good challenger variant that can be added to War Thunder? BrItAiN sUfFeRs No MoRe

umm did anyone notice the specila lol did u mean to write that at the intro

Hey Red! I have a questions for you. Will you make a interview with russian tanker? And what about tank arena series? Then you should start to compare IFVs too. And i have tips for new video. Czechoslovack T-72M2 modrna or MBT/KPZ-70. Thanks!

Just to let you know. Rheinmetall was selected as the upgrade partner for the Challenger on the 29 March 2021.

The Elton John LEP package removes main gun and paints tank pink.

This video is full of inaccuracies. 1) “Whichever design is chosen BAE wins either way” This is false because in 2019 rheinmetall bought a 51% stake in BAE’s British operations, enough to effectively buy the company (the UK section that is) out and then proceeded to launch a joint venture called rheinmetall BAE systems land (RBSL). In this rheinmetall acquired BAE’s British operations, everything from projects (like the black knight program) to their Telford factory. So in short BAE cannot win because rheinmetall are running BAE’s British operations now under a joint venture. 2) BAE systems land challenger life extension program bid: because of rheinmetall buying out BAE’s British operations discussed in my previous point there is no BAE systems life extension program bid, rheinmetall acquired the black night program and shut it down. It would have made no sense for Rheinmetall to run two separate projects for the challenger life extension program when their design is far better than the company’s that they just bought out. 3) The picture of a challenger main gun, breach and Mantlet in a static mount you showed when discussing the l30 rifled main gun is not the l30. This picture is of the l55 smoothbore from the 2006 challenger lethality improvement program when the mod worked with BAE to test the feasibility of fitting a smoothbore to a challenger. 4) the cut away image you’ve used when discussing the ammunition stowage is of a challenger 2e not a standard British army challenger, same basic principle yes but two separate vehicles. 5) the rheinmetall proposal lacks laser warning receivers of the BAE proposal The Rheinmetall proposal keeps the same engine This is most likely rheinmetall understanding their customer, the British mod. The British mod are known for being cheap when it comes to upgrading military equipment and a whole new welded turret for 227 main battle tanks is already an expensive upgrade, plus APS systems weren’t in the requirements for CLEP. When bidding for a military contract You can always add more to your proposal if your customer wants it but once you’ve scared off a government defense procurement office it’s a ballache trying to get them back. 6) the British are downsizing from 227 to 148 challenger main battle tanks This was just pure bullshit spread by the newspapers last year after some leaks/rumors started, it was a scary thought to middle aged and the elderly nationalists and would sell newspapers and so the press took these rumors and ran with them. It was confirmed by the chief of the army that it was a lie and the British tank fleet will stay at 227 vehicles. Red effect you need to stop reading the sun and Daily mail. 7) street fighter and later street fighter 2 are/were not upgrades it was at best a team building exercise between personnel from the royal tank regiment and the mod to find out what the troops wanted. What the troops were given failed to reflect what the vehicles would be like when deployed as the troops were given a stock challenger 2 and a small budget for minor modifications opposed to a full spec operational entry standard challenger 2 complete with signal jamming system and add on armor package which would have proved many of the troops modifications (steps bolted to the bazooka plates) Impractica . For street fighter to have worked properly with what the troops were given a much larger budget and far larger scope and the ability for the troops to look outside the box and beyond would have been needed.

Street fighter had no side armour as until they are in theatre they don't apply it as it wears out the drive quicker.

The Challenger 2 was always good. It just didnt get the love and attention other tanks got. Also, correction needed in the video: The drivers section of the front hull is not a weakspot. The idea that it is, is a myth. Directly behind the drivers head when turned out is a 600mm composite armour block. The bit in front of the drivers head when turned out has equal protection to the rest of the UFP. Also, the LFP wasnt a weakness and most certainly is not one since the early 2000's. Having had the privilege of examining a Chaallanger 2 in person and being able to discuss the tank with a serving tank crew, the LFP has a 250MM block of composite behind it. It is not just bare steel like a Challenger 1. Also, since 2003, if I am remembering correctly, theatre specifications has dictated that the Challenger 2's have a 300+mm thick composite armour block added to the LFP to bring protection up to the level of the UFP. In short, from the front the Challenger 2 has excellent armour on its hull. Do not believe Gaijins interpretation of the Challenger 2's armour scheme, as it is wrong and British tankers have actually contacted Gaijin to tell them they are wrong (and even offered to advise on the armour scheme so that it can be changed to be realistic). The War Thunder Challenger 1 armour scheme is also completely wrong as well. The side armour wasnt lacking either, at least for the forward two thirds of the hull. That was improved later on with 250mm composite armour side skirts (and then even further with ERA blocks to protect the more expensive composite armour underneath).

Why is this channel always streeses the weakness of tanks?,lets not forget all tanks has its achilles heals either M1 Abrams,T-14 Armata,Leopard 2,Challenger 2,Leclerc or even Chinese tanks. Is the Arjun the best tank in the World?😆😆😆😅😅😅.

To say the challenger 2 is only finally good now is somewhat disingenuous on your part. The chally 2 has been good for a long time but It's fleet is aging, tired and has largly been neglected from the funding it has required even having it pulled in the past. Its very apparent that these upgrades are necessary and the LEP has been in the pipeline for years.

Excelent video! Can you make a video about the argentinian TAM? I think that you would find that interesting

The reason the UK stays with the rifled is that they want to continue to use HESH rounds which is a major part of what they want from a design.

whats up with the hesh hate? last time i've checked western Mbt's haven't faced a same generation tank since the iraq-iran war, and hesh seems to be the best ammunition for blowing up landcruisers and houses anyway (wich is what tanks are actually used for)