Home EurAsian Region

‘Two Times Stronger Than Steel’, How Do British Challenger-2 Tanks Stack Up Against Russian T-90 MBTs?

Very soon, the war in Ukraine could witness a tank-on-tank battle between the UK’s Challenger-2 and Russian T-90 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs).

The Ukrainian army is reportedly equipping its 25th and 80th air-mobile brigades with Challenger-2 tanks to counter the Russian T-90 tanks and BMP-T fighting vehicles in the forests around Kreminna, around 16 kilometers north of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Currently, the 25th and 80th air-mobile brigades operate the fastest T-80BV tanks, the fastest tank types in the Ukrainian arsenal.

So far, there has not been a lot of tank-on-tank combat in Ukraine, with the Russians and the Ukrainians primarily deploying their tanks in combined-arms groupings, which include infantry and fighting vehicles. The infantry protects the tanks, while the latter destroys enemy fortifications to make way for the infantry.

However, this could change from early April onward, as the UK plans to deliver 14 BAE Systems Challenger-2s to Ukraine by the end of March.




Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank patrolling outside Basra, Iraq MOD 45148325.jpg
Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank patrolling outside Basra, Iraq (Wikipedia)

Western military commentators suggest that Challenger-2s could pose a considerable challenge for the Russian 90th Tank Division, which is operating the T-90 tanks and BMP-T fighting vehicles in Kreminna, which have so far given a hard time to the Ukrainian army.

In January, a Ukrainian tank commander acknowledged that Russia’s T-90 tank has superior combat capabilities and said that it takes three tanks or a ‘good luck’ to engage the advanced Russian main battle tank.

Meanwhile, Russia’s BMP-T tank support vehicle has effectively defended and aided the Russian MBTs during their armored operations. It is well-equipped to safeguard the MBTs from ambushes by enemy infantry, Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs), or grenade launchers in open terrain or urban centers.

Despite the technological disparity between the T-90s and all other Ukrainian tank types, the Ukrainian armed forces have still managed to destroy or capture at least 50 Russian T-90s, according to the latest figures compiled by the OSINT military tracking blog Oryx based on visual confirmations.

The Ukrainians have even put some of the captured T-90 tanks back into combat against Russia after reparations at some of their remote warehouses, located close to the frontlines, which have been discussed in great detail by EurAsian Times here.

Also, earlier this month, a Russian BMP-T was allegedly destroyed near Kreminna. On February 9, a video emerged on social media of the first visually documented destruction of the Russian BMPT Terminator by the soldiers of the 140th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion of Naval Forces of Ukraine.

Therefore, the introduction of Challenger-2s in Ukraine could exacerbate the scale and rate of Russia’s tank and armor losses.

Challenger-2 Vs T-90

The Challenger-2 is a third-generation MBT, the same generation as the Russian T-80 and T-90 tanks.

The armor of the Challenger-2 is called the Chobham armor or the Dorchester armor and is considered among the best in the world. While its composition is top-secret, it is around two times stronger than steel and can reportedly survive a direct hit from a Russian T-72.

Furthermore, during the conflict, more armor could be added with Explosive Reactive armor (ERA) kits, and additional bar armor can also be fitted.

Read More

Exit mobile version