UK Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps unveiled the Challenger 3 MBT from his social account as “the first fully British built tank in 22 years.” Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) is a joint venture established in 2021 between the United Kingdom’s BAE Systems and Germany’s Rheinmetall AG to produce the Challenger 3 MBT. The British Defence Ministry allocated a budget of £900 million. The program has passed its critical design review and has been given the chance to produce eight Challenger 3 MBT prototypes. The ministry has also announced that these eight prototypes will soon be handed over to the Britishl Army. The Challenger 3 will be based on the existing Challenger 2.
The most substantial change from Challenger 2 to Challenger 3 will be observed in the main armament. The 120 mm L30A1 rifled main gun will be replaced with a 120 mm L55A1 smoothbore gun, an upgraded version of the L55 cannon fitted to the Leopard 2A6/A7 tanks. Israeli Elbit systems will deliver 150 ELAWS to provide tank crews with accurate warnings and enable an effective and timely response to laser-guided threats. According to Elbit, ELAWS provides 360° threat coverage by detecting, categorising, and precisely locating laser sources such as rangefinders, anti-tank guided missiles, target markers, and infrared emitters.
