Challenger DS

2022-10-26T19:28:01Z

U48778265: Corrected two mistakes in wording. Changed "is it" to "it is" and deleted unnecessary "it"

{{About
| about = premium British MBT '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other uses
| link = Challenger (Disambiguation)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_challenger_1_mk_3_gulf
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
|store=11226
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a premium gift rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update "Danger Zone"]].

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-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-1|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:''' 


{| class="wikitable"
|-
! 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 || colspan="4" | 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 ===
{{Specs-Tank-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.

{{tankMobility|abMinHp=1,860|rbMinHp=1,061}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|L11A5 (120 mm)}}
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.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[L11A5 (120 mm)|120 mm L11A5]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 52 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Two-plane || 29.5 || 40.9 || 49.6 || 54.9 || 58.4 || rowspan="2" | 6.50 || rowspan="2" | 5.75 || rowspan="2" | 5.30 || rowspan="2" | 5.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 18.4 || 21.7 || 26.4 || 29.1 || 31.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 410 || 408 || 405 || 400 || 390 || 380
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152 || 152
|-
| Shot L23A1 || APFSDS || 396 || 394 || 387 || 376 || 367 || 357
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Shot L23 || APFSDS || 1,535 || 3.89 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 78° || 80° || 81°
|-
| Shell L31A7 || HESH || 670 || 17.34 || 0.1 || 4 || 6,530 || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
| Shot L23A1 || APFSDS || 1,535 || 3.89 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 78° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | 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]] ====


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! 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 ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|3}}

{{main|L8A2 (7.62 mm)|L37A2 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[L8A2 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm L8A2]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 2,400 (200) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[L37A2 (7.62 mm)|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 ==

''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

== Media ==

''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.''

== See also ==

''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{TankManufacturer Department of Tank Design}}
{{Britain medium tanks}}
{{Britain premium ground vehicles}}

War Thunder Wiki - User contributions [en]

Challenger DS