British Challenger Main Battle Tank, outside BATUS headquarters, CFB Suffield, taken last week on a rare sunny day.
Decades ago, during the latter part of the Cold War, the prairies here were crawling with Challengers. From what I am hearing now, however, the future of these giant tanks is by no means assured. British government austerities will see the armoured regiments of the British Army pared back, and these tanks will most likely be relegated to second-line service with the Territorial Army.
Canada's main battle tank, FYI, is the German-built Leopard 2, operated by three regiments in the Canadian Army, two English and one French Canadian. Unlike our British colleagues, who operate in the more mountainous Helmand province, Canada's role was in the plains around Kandahar, and so we were able to send tanks to Afghanistan, where they provided good support to the infantry. That service may well have justified the Leopard's role in our OOB for some years to come.
Taken w my iphone using the Pro HDR app.
1 comment:
The Challenger has a long life in it yet. After being a second-line tank, they will probably be sold to smaller nations, who will eventually replace them and sell them to developing nations.
This is common with tanks. I've even heard that Syria still keeps some T-34s on the Golan Heights as pillboxes! I've also heard that they're still used in some African nations.
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