Challenger variants

[Grey Havoc]

UK rushes naval laser weapon, as major tank upgrade hits snag

The British government in its Spring Statement in March announced plans to spend at least 10% of the Ministry of Defence equipment budget on new tech.

www.defensenews.com

The ongoing plan to upgrade Britain’s main battle tank to the Challenger 3 version ran into some supply-chain hiccups, Eagle said. The upgraded tank’s initial operating capability is forecast for 2027, with all of the U.K.’s 138 Challenger 3 tanks planned to be in service by the end of 2030.

“Additional resources have been directed towards resolving these issues and the next phase of trials will start in quarter two 2025,” Eagle said. “Progress will be monitored carefully and any impact on the delivery of initial operating capability will be continually assessed.”

The upgrade is being led by Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land, with enhancements including a turret wit a 120mm smooth-bore gun, new armor and an active protection system. The approved budget for the upgrade is £1.9 billion, which includes the contract with RBSL, and there have been no increases to the total budget due to technical challenges or inflation, Eagle said.

“We are confident that Challenger 3 will continue to match potential threats throughout its lifecycle, but we will continually review the performance of its specification to ensure that it remains world-leading,” Eagle said.

Why am I not optimistic about this development?

 

[DWG]

Why am I not optimistic about this development?

It's not a technical issue, supply-chain should be fixable.

 

[Grey Havoc]

It's not a technical issue, supply-chain should be fixable.

'should be' being the operative words.

 

[Scott Kenny]

It's not a technical issue, supply-chain should be fixable.

Not if the problem is "the parts you ordered are no longer in production because they were obsolete 10 years ago"...

 

[DWG]

Not if the problem is "the parts you ordered are no longer in production because they were obsolete 10 years ago"...

That's why you make lifetime buys while they are

 

[Scott Kenny]

That's why you should make lifetime buys while they are

Fixed that for you.

With how anti-effective military HMTreasury has been historically, I would not be surprised to hear that a lifetime buy was denied on grounds that it cost too much. Or that the item has been kept in service for so long that all of the "lifetime" spares were used up.