Challenger DS

This page is about the premium British MBT Challenger DS. For other uses, see Challenger (Disambiguation).

Challenger DS

Challenger DS

Description

The Challenger was introduced in 1983, as the new MBT for the British Army. While reliability and performance were debated during the Canadian Army Trophy of 1987, their action in Operation Granby, the British contribution to the Gulf War, gave them a chance to prove their worth. In this time, the British Army deployed the 1st Armoured Division in the Middle East with 3 Armoured Brigades equipped with Challenger tanks, some of which were the latest Mk.3 variant with new ERA installed. The Challengers had a good performance, dealing with several T-55s and Type 69s while not losing a single tank. A Challenger tank holds the record for the longest tank-to-tank kill, achieving a destruction at a range of 5.1 km in 1991.

It was introduced in Update "Danger Zone". The Challenger Mk.3 Desert Storm is identical to the Challenger Mk.3 found in the tech tree, the only difference is the visual discrepancy and the fact that it lacks ROMOR-A ERA on the front of the vehicle. Compared to most Soviet and other NATO platforms, the Challenger is very heavy and quite slow; while it struggles to accelerate, it has a very good top speed and an excellent reverse speed. The cannon is a powerful 120 mm gun, with access to 1st generation thermals for the gunner, which means that it has a very competent armament for its BR.

General info

Survivability and armour

Overall, the armour on the Challenger DS is exactly the same as the tech tree counterpart, the Challenger Mk.3. However, it lacks the additional ROMOR ERA and the sides armour package. It gets a slight but negligible upgrade on the lower frontal plate compared to the Challenger Mk.2 as it has spare tracks strapped on the LFP. While it is a Challenger Mk.3, it is most comparable to the Challenger Mk.2 in terms of armour. The upper half of the turret cheeks are capable of withstanding almost all kinetic penetrators and will stop most chemical projectiles with less than 800 mm penetration, while the lower half won't protect against most top-rank rounds. The hull composite is only good against lower penetrating APFSDS rounds such as T-55AM, and can also withstand some chemical munitions, but it is not advised to rely on this armour. The rest of the tank (turret and hull sides, lower front plate) has decent protection against chemical rounds due to the add on armour, ERA, and thick turret sides.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	38 mm (79-81°), 50 mm (60°) Upper glacis 70 mm (30°) Lower glacis	20 mm, 25 mm (74°) Top 38 mm (12°) Bottom	25 mm (29-30°)	20 mm 8 mm Engine grille
Turret	50 mm (51-54°) 60 mm (55-56°), 200 mm Gun mantlet	80 mm + 15 mm Front right 80 + 25 mm + 4 mm Front 45 + 4 mm Rear	44 + 4 mm	38 mm (82°) Front 20 mm (80-90°) Rear
Cupola	60 mm

Notes:

• The propellant ammo racks are surrounded by 5 mm RHA.
• Side skirts consist of 150 mm NERA composite, 70 mm composite screens, or 19 mm aluminium.
• Tracks and wheels are 20 mm thick.
• Sandbags are just decorative.

Mobility

While it is slower than Western MBTs at its BR, it is not a slow platform. It holds a fast top speed for both forward and reverse. Despite being a heavy vehicle, the brake distance is surprisingly low, between 20-30 m at top speed. It has the ability to do neutral steering relatively fast and, since it comes with all upgrades, it immediately gets the tracks modification which significantly improve this ability. It has little to medium impact when crossing muddy terrain, wet and snowy terrain, but nothing that impacts performance significantly. Thanks to not having the additional armour package, the cross-country capabilities of the Challenger DS are significantly increased, being able to easily traverse and cross over long trenches, deep craters and through steep terrains up to a certain level.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade				1,886			__.__
Realistic				1,076			__.__

Armaments

Main armament

The Challenger bears the 120 mm L11A5, an updated but essentially identical version of the gun found on the Chieftains. It keeps the same ammunition as the Challenger Mk.2 and previous Chieftain Mk.10, making the ballistic performance identical. The L23 comes as the stock round with a significant armour penetration at the cost of reduced penetration angle. L23A1 has much better angle penetration at the cost of reduced armour penetration.

120 mm L11A5					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	52	-10°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane	29.5	40.9	49.6	54.9	58.4	6.50	5.75	5.30	5.00
Realistic					18.4	21.7	26.4	29.1	31.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Shot L23A1	APFSDS	396	394	387	376	367	357
Shell L31A7	HESH	152	152	152	152	152	152
L26	APFSDS	471	469	464	458	450	444

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Shot L23A1	APFSDS	1,535	3.89	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°
Shell L31A7	HESH	670	17.34	0.1	4	6.53	73°	77°	80°
L26	APFSDS	1,550	4.3	-	-	-	78°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
L34	670	17.1	20	5	25	50

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
52	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Machine guns

7.62 mm L8A2
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	2,400 (200)	1,001	-	-

7.62 mm L37A2
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	3,600 (100)	650	-10°/+50°	±180°

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Short reload time
• Can be hard to penetrate hull down
• Has a great reverse gear

Cons:

• Only 4 shells in the ready rack
• Heavy tank
• Driver's optic are huge which makes it a huge weak spot
• Can be easily ammoracked
• Sides are riddled with fuel tanks which makes it prone to catch fire from enemy shells

History

After the introduction of Challenger in 1983 as the new MBT for the British Army in different units, there were debates on its reliability due to its inferior overall performance in the Canadian Army Trophy of 1987. As the Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990 and the subsequent Gulf War began in 1991, the Challengers were given the chance to show their worth.

The British Army deployed the 1st Armoured Division to the Middle East alongside three armoured brigades with Challenger tanks, some even with the latest Mk.3 series with new ERA packages installed in Saudi Arabia by late 1990. After the deadline for complete withdrawal of Iraqi forces passed, the coalition started the assault on 17th January, 1991, after which the Challengers destroyed and captured hundreds of Iraqi tanks (ie. T-55A, Type 69-IIa) while received no loss from enemy fire. Operation Granby was where the Challenger held the world record of the longest tank-to-tank kill, done by the callsign of 11B from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, achieving a destruction at around 5.1 km away on 26th February, 1991.

The livery of Challenger DS belongs to a tank with a callsign Zero Charlie (ØC) of A Squadron to an unknown unit in British Army.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Challenger DS from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• Challenger 1 (Family)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Department of Tank Design
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MBTs
Centurion	Centurion Mk 1 · Centurion Mk.2 · Centurion Mk 3 · Centurion Action X · Centurion Mk.5 AVRE · Centurion Mk 10
Challenger*	Challenger Mk.2 · Challenger Mk.3 · Challenger DS
Tank Destroyers
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Export
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See also	US Ordnance Department · Israeli Ordnance Corps · Vickers-Armstrongs Limited
	*By successor, the Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment
	**Swedish modernizations incorporating innovations from the Israeli Sho't Kals.