Ukraine is assigning scarce Challenger 2 tanks for an operation in the Kursk area and has been a disappointment again. Russia has released footage of a Challenger 2 tanks been destroyed.
Footage published on August 15 showed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had deployed Challenger 2 main battle tanks to help the current offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, which began on August 6.
Fourteen tan were delivered in March 2023 and were later managed by the Ukrainian Army’s 82nd Air Assault Brigade, though it is alleged that two of them were destroyed in combat by the end of the year. The Challenger 2 had been in reserve for several months before making its first appearance on the battlefield against Russian troops in Eastern Ukraine in June 2023.
The Challenger 2 is the only new type of tank to enter service in the Western world after the Cold War, and its armor protection is regarded as among the best in the world. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the tank’s fire control systems and sensors, particularly the first-generation thermal imaging sights, are out of date. This tank is also the last in the world to use rifled rather than smoothbore weaponry, as Soviet tanks transitioned to smoothbore armament in 1961, followed by German and American tanks in 1979-1980, resulting in severe firepower disadvantages.
Unlike the M1A1 Abrams tanks supplied by the United States, which were downgraded for service in Ukraine, the Challenger 2 tanks were directly obtained from British Army depots to equip the Ukrainian army. Initially, this created enormous expectations in the Western world for their performance. However, once in action, the vehicles began to suffer casualties relatively rapidly, with footage verifying the loss of the first tank captured in the first week of September 2023.
The fact that the first tank was damaged by a portable Kornet anti-tank weapon rather than more powerful Ordance armament did not bode well for the class’s survivability, and the Challenger 2 was later claimed to have been pulled from frontline action.
Video published on August 15 reveals the loss of at least one Challenger 2 tank involved in the Kursk operation. It is uncertain if many British-made tanks participated in the action, and if so, how many were lost. During the assault, many of Ukraine’s most combat-capable forces and assets were engaged in operations, with the possibility of their destruction becoming increasingly likely in the event of severed supply lines and defeat by Russian troops.
A Russian Lancet-3 drone destroyed the tank near Sudzha; as a result of the drone strike, the ammo detonated, destroying the tank beyond repair. The video demonstrates that drone strikes and precise artillery have become the primary methods of disarming Ukrainian-controlled tanks, with an American M1A1 Abrams destroyed just four days before by a similar Lancet drone hit. These Kursk strikes also destroyed more than a dozen Ukrainian armored vehicles, possibly several dozen, including numerous tanks.
