Soldiers of the King’s Royal Hussars manning a Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank on Salisbury Plain during Exercise Lion Strike.
Exercise Lion Strike is designed to test Majors from all trades accross the Army in Command and Control scenarios. Assisting in the exercise were 4 RIFLES from 1 Armoured Infantry Brigade and 1 YORKS.
Challenger 2 (CR2) is the British Army’s main battle tank. CR2 is based on the Challenger 1 tank, which served with distinction on operations in the Gulf War and the Balkans.
Only five percent of Challenger 2 components are interchangeable with its predecessor, which has had more than 150 major modifications including a completely new turret, L30 CHARM 120mm gun and second generation Chobham armour.
Challenger 2’s thermal observation and gunnery displays a magnified image for the commander and gunner. The commander has a gyro-stabilised fully panoramic sight with laser range finder and thermal imager.
The gunner is equipped with a gyro-stabilised primary sight with a laser range finder and coaxially mounted auxiliary sight. The driver’s position has an image-intensifying day and night periscope, and the loader has a day sight.
