CONNECTING THE DEFENCE COMMUNITY WITH INSIGHT, INTELLIGENCE & OPPORTUNITIES

Officially Supported By: Defence Contracts International Supply2Defence

Official Media Partners for:

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has given new contracts to BAE Systems and Rheinmetall Land Systeme GmbH to advance the Challenger 2 Life Extension Project.

The £23M agreements mark the beginning of the competitive Assessment Phase. This will allow the companies to develop innovative upgrades which will keep the formidable Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank, crucial for the delivery of a modern ground manoeuvre warfighting capability as part of Joint Force 2025, in service with the British Army until 2035.

Minister for Defence Procurement Harriett Baldwin said: “Modernising the British Army’s Main Battle Tank under the Challenger 2 Life Extension Project involves partnerships across Defence exploring innovative solutions.

“Backed by a rising Defence budget and a £178Bn equipment plan, these tanks, just like the brand new Ajax armoured vehicle, are crucial to the British Army.”

Challenger 2 has been in service since 1998 and has proven its worth in combat time and again; most notably during operations in Iraq in the 2000s.

Recent developments in electronics, computing and sight optics mean upgrades to several of the tank’s components are now possible.

The total value of the Challenger 2 Assessment Phase is £53M. This includes both £23M Assessment Phase contracts and a further £7M to cover additional work.

The MOD’s investment will allow BAE Systems and Rheinmetall to undertake technical studies, produce detailed digital models and consider how upgrades will be integrated onto the current platform.

At the end of the Assessment Phase the companies will present their solutions to the MOD for consideration. The Demonstration and Manufacture Phases of the project will follow.

Chief of Materiel (Land) for Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), Lieutenant General Paul Jaques, said: “Challenger 2 is an excellent Main Battle Tank with an impressive operational track record.

“The Challenger 2 Life Extension Project will upgrade the vehicle with the latest technology to make it available for operations out to 2035.”

Challenger 2 has a crew of four and carries a 120 millimetre main gun and two 7.62 millimetre machine guns, with a top speed of around 59 kilometres per hour.

It is currently in service with the Queen’s Royal Hussars, the King’s Royal Hussars and the Royal Tank Regiment.

image © Crown copyright

If you would like to join our community and read more articles like this then please click here

BAE Systems Challenger 2 Life Extension Project Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank Ministry of Defence MOD Rheinmetall Land Systeme GmbH

Post written by: Promark Media Ltd

LATEST STAKEHOLDER

Become a Stakeholder today and benefit from an exclusive marketing package which will allow you to:

  • Engage with active defence buyers and key supply chain partners
  • Create your own branded micro-site which within Defence Online which is managed by you
  • Have a dedicated Digital Account Manager to help enhance your Stakeholder page
  • Promote your news, products, press releases, eBooks and Videos as a Defence Online partner which feeds through to our homepage and social media channels
  • Have your company promoted on our partner website Defence Contracts Online (DCO)
  • All news promoted in mynewsdesk, a major hub for all of our news articles which enables news to be picked up from trade magazines, national newspapers and many other publications which offers extra exposure at no additional cost!

Contact us today or call us on 0845 557 1315 to take advantage of this exclusive marketing package


RELATED ARTICLES

DPRTE partner DIO awards £1.6bn contracts to upgrade UK Defence estate

October 17, 2024

Homeland - Defence contractors compliance with SSRO under scrutiny

The latest Compliance Bulletin evaluates how effectively defence contractors are adhering to the regulations for reporting on non-competitive, or single

Co-founders Shefali Sharma (L) and Eddie Jackson (R) in front of the servers being used for AVIS processing to support strategic government decision making.

September 24, 2024

Homeland - UK AI start-up secures first ever software Agreement Lite with MOD

AI & robotics start-up Oxford Dynamics has secured an Enterprise Agreement Lite with the UK Ministry of Defence worth up