The Sun has for the first time gained access to the crew deploying the British-made tank’s devastating 120mm gun.
A British-trained squadron commander with the call sign “Kayfarick” said that the best thing about the Challenger 2 was its cannon. He noted:
I like the Challenger 2. It is like a sniper, it is very accurate.
Kayfarick, 26, said his crew regularly hit targets 4.5 kilometres away.
The crew invited The Sun to come aboard, and journalists sat on the turret as the Challenger 2 roared over the countryside and its cannon fired rounds. The squadron’s chief engineer, who uses the call sign Chol, said:
There are pluses and minuses with everything, and the minus is its mobility — its ability to manoeuvre across ground. They keep getting stuck in the mud because it is so heavy.
But journalists soon became convinced that the soldiers meant mobility when it plunged into the mire.
Kayfarick rebuked the rookies for driving too slowly down the ravine, although they said they drove slowly for fear of bumping the journalists. Another tank of the same type had to be called in to extract the Challenger from the quagmire.
Britain’s donation of Challenger 2 tanks opened the way for the Allies, who last year received American Abrams tanks and German Leopard 2s.
However, Challenger Squadron told The Sun that only 7 of the 14 tanks handed over in March 2023 are still operational. Ukrainian soldiers recently drowned a British Challenger in mud near Robotyne.
But a more serious problem is reliability. Five vehicles have broken down and Kayfarick says spare parts from the UK sometimes take months to arrive and there are not enough qualified mechanics to keep the vehicles in combat-ready condition. He added:
It takes a long time to get spares. The logistics are very complex, at this end and your end.
He also said that due to a chronic shortage of fresh soldiers on the front line, trained tankers have been forced to abandon their vehicles to dig trenches for infantry.
Kayfarick added the rubber pads on the tracks and wheels of the tanks were constantly wearing out. He said:
The parts in the turret and the parts of precision aiming are also not so long-lasting. They have been breaking from the start.
