British Challenger 2 tanks have been seen for the first time on the front lines against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, with Ukraine’s 11th Independent Army Aviation Brigade releasing footage of one of the tanks, which multiple reports say is operating near Russian positions. US intelligence reports indicate that the Challenger 2 has been assigned to the 82nd Air Assault Brigade since its delivery in March, which also uses German Marder tanks and US Stryker armored personnel carriers – suggesting it is a highly mobile unit. Only 14 Challenger 2 tanks have been deployed, and most of the Western-built tanks Ukraine has received since March have been German-made Leopard 2 and Leopard 1 tanks supplied by European countries. The most capable of these was the Leopard 2A6, which was confirmed to have suffered multiple losses at the front, and at least one reportedly captured by Russian forces. The Leopard 2A6 is also deployed with mechanized infantry in M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles donated by the United States. While assets such as the Leopard and Bradley tanks are available in the hundreds from large inventories in Europe and the United States, the Challenger 2 remains in very limited numbers, with only about 200 in service outside Ukraine, and only about 440 vehicles.
The Challenger 2 is the only post-Cold War tank class developed in the Western world, and its armor protection is considered world leading, although its fire control gear, especially thermal sights, are increasingly considered obsolete. The tank still uses a rifled gun instead of a smoothbore gun, and was the last tank in the world to use a smoothbore gun, with Soviet tanks transitioning to the smoothbore gun in 1961, followed by German and American tanks in 1979-1980. The upgrade package commissioned by the British Army will introduce a belated smoothbore gun later this century that offers increased power, especially against enemy armor, although this is not expected to affect units that may be supplied to Ukraine in the future. The 14 Challenger 2s on offer are probably the most powerful tanks in Ukrainian service, although they are comparable to the Leopard 2A6, T-84 Oplot (less than six of which were built in Ukraine using Soviet production lines) and the T-80UK among them Ukraine is believed to have inherited a small portion from the USSR. However, the main disadvantage of Soviet tanks is that most tanks do not have thermal sights, which have become more and more standard since the end of the Cold War. It’s not sure where the Challenger 2 fighters are currently deployed, or when they’ll see their first battles, but their appearance comes as Ukraine’s new Western armored forces are on the front lines with Russian rotorcraft, especially the Ka-52 attack helicopters. This came in the form of heavy losses in battle, in which they reportedly paid a particularly high price.