The United Kingdom will send heavy tanks to Ukraine, a first for a Western country since the start of the conflict against Moscow. The “Challenger 2” is famous for its “very powerful” gun.
A delivery that will make the difference for Ukraine? The United Kingdom announced on Saturday the dispatch of several “Challenger 2” tanks – 14 according to information from the BBC – to the kyiv forces. This delivery should allow London “to intensify its support for Ukraine”, according to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. A first for a Western country in this conflict and significant support for the Ukrainians.
“The ultimate”
At 3.04 meters high and 8.3 meters long, the “FV4034 Challenger 2” tanks should constitute a heavy reinforcement for Ukraine.
“It’s the ultimate British tank,” summarizes General Jérôme Pellistrandi, Defense consultant for BFMTV.
Initially designed to face Russian armored vehicles, this tank was put into service in 1998. It was notably used during the war in Iraq from 2003. If it is not recent, it would still be of the “most modern” tank that Ukraine has on the front, according to the BBC.
The tank weighs 64 tons in combat order, which does not prevent it from exceeding 50 km/h. It can accommodate up to four soldiers at a time and has a gun “very powerful, very precise, very high mobility”, according to the general.
A turning point for kyiv?
It could serve asgame changer” for the Ukrainians, according to our Defense consultant, that is, the tank could be a game-changer for kyiv in their battle against Moscow.
If the BBC is more reserved about the ability of the tank to constitute a turning point in the conflict, the British media believes that this delivery could “push other countries to give more modern equipment to help Ukraine”.
“(This) dispatch is in a way the consequence of the decision which was taken about three weeks ago by France to send a medium armored vehicle, the AMX-10 RC”, and of that taken by the United States since “the Americans decided that they would send infantry fighting vehicles”, explains the general.
“We are really changing range,” says Jérôme Pellistrandi.
kyiv’s European allies have already delivered nearly 300 modernized Soviet tanks since the start of the conflict. The delivery of “Challenger 2” is expected in about two months in Ukraine.
