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Best British (And NATO?) Battle Tank Bombed & Battered In Basra ...
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The 'best' battle tank that we Brits - and indeed NATO too - currently posses is the Challenger 2, as shown below.
That's why when we read one particular recent Iraq war report, official confirmation today, we were worried.
Iraq bomb penetrates British tankRead the rest of this rather alarming report, which is of course being played right down by the British Army brass
A British Challenger 2 tank has been penetrated by a roadside bomb in Iraq, leaving the driver seriously injured, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
A spokesman said the tank had been on routine duties in a western district of Basra when it was hit on 6 April.
It is believed to be the first incident where a Challenger tank has been
breached by such an attack.
Then see what the experts originally said about this top tank -- and maybe worry even more.
The Challenger 2 is the best protected tank in NATO (10) incorporating Chobham second-generation armour plating. Its NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical protection) system is capable of dealing with all known threats and, for the first time in any British tank, the crew compartment has both a heating and a cooling system.
Here's more about this tank; supposedly the best protected in NATO?!
In light of what's just happened, we'd say one really must now wonder whether or not everything claimed regarding Challenger 2 - is all that it's cracked up to be.
What would you say?
Maybe more to the point, we wonder what our own (self styled), 'war lords' will say -- and do?
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Labels: Basra, Challenger 2 tank, chobham armour, Iraq
posted by Richard at Monday, April 23, 2007
6 Comments:
fwiw..
that poor tank driver lost both his legs
Tell you what Richard, you're damned right to be worried. This is NOT good news.
What I know, that so called shape charges have surfaced up the last few years, which is not just a typical tank mine to break the threads, thus make the tank immobile.
This one sends a white-hot tungsram rod from bellow into the crew compartment after breaching the hull, and then some debris from explosion. It was quite capable to penetrate Abrams a few times, so its difficult to see, how much better the Challenger 2 would do.
The Berlin wall fell, but not before the Russians had developed a whole range of clever tricks to destroy american and/or british armoured vehicles.
The roadside bombs and rpg`s in Iraq, and the anti-tank missiles used in Lebanon are mostly based on these technologies.
The armoured vehicle is now about as effective as the pitchfork. Good news for the taxpayers, bad news for the makers of tanks. After all, let`s not forget that the primary purpose of war is to enrich the already rich.
Worrying, yes. But we must realise that no tank can be 100% impenetrable. Simply adding more heavy armour will compromise the Challenger's speed and mobility, and then only solve the problem until the opposition build a yet bigger mine.....
Iw8nkL The best blog you have!
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