Britain is sending Ukraine the right tanks
The Germans, meanwhile, must be pressured into at least letting the Poles donate their Leopards
No sooner did the long-awaited news break that Britain would be sending Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine than some began to argue that we were sending them the wrong ones. On these pages, it was suggested that we should prioritise getting hold of the 400 or so Challenger 1s being made obsolete by Jordan instead. It’s an interesting idea – but wrong.
I have spent many thousands of hours in both models, and the Challenger 1 proposal is a distraction. What has been successful in Ukraine is modern Western weaponry – next generation anti-tank weapons and HIMARS. Challenger 1 is in effect a Chieftain tank – 1950s technology – with a decent engine and Chobham armour, the forerunner of the “secret” and impenetrable Dorchester armour. Challenger 2, meanwhile, can fire accurately on the move and at night, critical for “shock action” to get behind Russian defences, something Challenger 1 and most of the Russian tanks cannot do.
Crucial to getting Ukraine ready for an armoured thrust to encircle enemy forces is converting their tank crews to be able to use Western tanks. This is far easier to do with Challenger 2 than 1. As second in command of a Royal Tank Regiment, I converted 500 tank soldiers from Challenger 1 to Challenger 2. This was straightforward, and my own conversion took less than a day.
Challenger 2 is essentially Playstation technology for firing the gun and using the tank, so easy to assimilate for anybody under 30, which most Ukrainian tank crews are. In comparison, Challenger 1 is steamdriven gunnery, not intuitive; the fire control box is down on your right-hand side, and you need to be a contortionist to use it, while your head is in the gunsight tracking targets.
From a maintenance perspective, I also found the Challenger 2 hugely reliable. My last experience in the model was on a major exercise in Canada where my tank went 2,500 miles without a problem. Many of the systems in the tank are plug and play, with major components like engines being replaced in short order if problems arise – little challenge, I expect, for Ukrainian mechanics.
The UK has been supporting a battle group of Challenger 2s in Estonia for some time, so logistic lines are in place across Europe, and we still have significant infrastructure in Germany. Allied to this is a vast tank training area in Poland that could be ideal for familiarising Ukrainian tanks crews with Challenger 2 fire and manoeuvre capabilities.
It is the firepower, protection, mobility and ability to fight at night which sets modern Western tanks way above what is left of the Russian tank fleet. The ability to fire on the move, in the dark (due to our effective thermal sights) will allow the Ukrainian armour, supported by infantry in high mobility Bradley vehicles and by AS90 and other guns, to have a transformational impact on the battlefield.
The Russians are in static defence and their conscripts are fighting a First World War-type entrenched slugging match which would be overwhelmed by this force. Even the much-vaunted criminals in the Wagner Group would likely be crushed by this weight of armour. I applaud Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, once a trooper in the Scots Dragoon Guards, for leading the charge to provide decisive new heavy-armoured capability to Ukraine. But I would go further and not only give the Ukrainians a small number of Challenger 2s, but empty our tank sheds of them entirely. It will take the Russians five to seven years to rebuild their tank fleet and it is a chance for us to do similar, perhaps with a completely new tank rather than just an upgrade of an old one. Is now not the moment to be thinking boldly?
In the meantime, we must hope that the Challenger 2s push Europe into action. If the Germans still won’t lean into the fight, they must allow the Finns and Poles to donate their Leopards to join our Challengers. The early models of both were designed to defeat Soviet armour. They are now going to realise this task thanks to the forward-leaning British Government.
Challenger 2 cannot destroy Russian armour sitting in a tank shed in Tidworth, and it will be of little use in the future if Russia prevails in its invasion of Ukraine.
FOLLOW Hamish de Bretton-gordon on Twitter @Hamishdbg; READ MORE at telegraph.co.uk/ opinion