Black Night

Black Night

Black Night

Description

The Challenger 2, Black Night is a rank British medium tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Wind of Change".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (turret inner wall, hatches)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	38 mm (79-82°) Upper glacis - Top 50 mm (60°) Upper glacis - Bottom 70 mm (28°) Lower glacis 60 mm Driver hatch	25+38 mm Top - Front 25+50 mm Top - Rear 38 mm (14°) + 4 mm Bottom	50 mm (30°)	38 mm (10°) Front glacis 20 mm Fighting compartment 25 mm (16-20°) Sides 10 mm Engine vents
Turret	50+50+38 mm (50°) 30 mm (0-52°) Gun mantlet	10+38 mm (7°) Front 20+38 mm (7°) Rear	20 mm (17°) + 38 mm (7°)	38 mm (8-15°) Front 38+10 mm Centre 25 mm (7°) Rear
Cupola	60 mm	60 mm	60 mm	44 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels, tracks, and torsion bars are 20 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 16 mm thick.
• A 5 mm internal plate separates the crew from the engine.
• Ammunition is surrounded by 5 mm casings
• A 25 mm plate separates the driver from the crew compartment.
• Additional composite armour is as follows:

Composite armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides
Hull	Upper Kinetic: 420-1,000 mm Chemical: 700-950 mm Lower Kinetic: 100-400 mm Chemical: 350-570 mm
Turret	Cheeks Kinetic: 440-720 mm Chemical: 780-1,000 mm	Internal Composite Kinetic: 190-740 mm Chemical: 300-1,000 mm

Mobility

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

120 mm L30A1					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	50	-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	493	491	487	481	474	468
L27A1	APFSDS	564	562	557	551	545	538

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Shot L23A1	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°
L26	APFSDS	1,650	4.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°
L27A1	APFSDS	1,650	4.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	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

Ammo racks of the Challenger 2

Full ammo	Ammo part	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty
50	Projectiles Propellants	48 (+2) 45 (+5)	45 (+5) 39 (+11)	43 (+7) 31 (+19)	41 (+9) 22 (+28)
5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
34 (+16) 14 (+36)	29 (+21) 5 (+45)	5 (+45) 1 (+49)	4 (+46) N/A	1 (+49) N/A	No

Machine guns

7.62 mm L37A2
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	1,700 (100)	650	-10°/+25°	-90°/+50°

7.62 mm L94A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	4,000 (2,000)	600	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

In summary, the Black Night plays in a similar way to the base Challenger 2. This is due to having the same armour configuration, without the option of add-on armour. Where the Black Night differs however is the active protection system. This APS will protect the vehicle well not only from ground launched missiles, but also from air launched missiles provided they are not above the systems maximum elevation.

The Black Night will perform best as a sniper or support tank. With the modern thermal systems and laser rangefinder, locating and ranging at long distance is precise. As with the other Challengers, playing hull down is ideal.

Where playing at range is not an option, such as urban maps, care should be taken to cover the hull as much as possible. Covering the hull can be achieved by using other vehicles or terrain. Where there is no cover available, the Black Night is best played slowly, taking time to ensure locations are clear before pushing into them.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Has a highly effective APS (Active Protection System) which can defend ATGMs
• It has 20 smoke grenades with 4 salvos
• The Black Night has modern thermal systems equipped in the gunner view and commander view with a high resolution
• It comes equipped with a laser warning system which can give an idea of where an enemy might be attacking from

Cons:

• Only 2 x rifle-clibre machine guns
• The engine is rather weak leading to poor acceleration and mobility
• Large weak spots in armour and poor placement of ammo and charges in the tank limit the survivability

History

The Black Night demonstrator was BAE System's bid for the Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme contract, prior to the forming of the Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) joint venture company in July 2019.

The Black Night was fully unveiled in October 2018 and showed a focus on improving the technology of the vehicle, with a Safran PASEO panoramic Commander Primary Sight, a generation 3 Leonardo thermal imaging system (still mounted in the housing above the main gun), a laser warning system, the Iron Fist Hardkill Active Protection System, regenerative braking in the turret ring, and a new fire control system. The armour and firepower were retained from the base Challenger 2, as was the powerpack.

Rheinmetall's proposal was revealed in January 2019, featuring the Rh 120 mm L/55 gun (L55A1 in British use) and a completely new turret. When RBSL was formed, an internal decision was made in favour of Rheinmetall's design, which was seen again at DSEI 2019, putting the Black Night proposal to rest. The MoD confirmed the signing of a £800M (~$1.1B at the time) contract with RBSL for Challenger 3 using Rheinmetall's design on 7th May 2021.

Media

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

See also

• Challenger 2 (Family)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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