- Yes
- No
General Description:
The A30 Challenger I was a British tank developed during World War II. It was designed as a cruiser tank and was a variant of the Cromwell tank chassis but armed with a much more powerful 17-pounder anti-tank gun. The Challenger was intended to provide better firepower to counter the increasingly well-armored German tanks, like the Panther and Tiger.
The A30 Challenger was created by fitting the powerful 17-pounder gun into a modified Cromwell tank chassis. To accommodate this larger gun, the tank received a new turret and its hull was lengthened. This increased the overall size of the tank but also added weight, making it a bit slower and more cumbersome than the Cromwell.
It often fought alongside Cromwells in armored units, but its low production numbers around 200 units and its relatively late introduction to the battlefield limited its impact during the war. The A30 Challenger faced several issues, including its size and high silhouette, making it an easy target for enemy forces.
Although the A30 Challenger had a powerful gun, it was eventually overshadowed by the development of tanks like the Sherman Firefly.
From the 101st vehicle onwards appliqué armour + 102mm cast turret nose (T272001-T272100) became standard in production from November 1944 running into 1945 until production ceased with the 200th A30 Challenger I produced. This means that half of the A30 Challenger I’s produced received this applique package.
Vehicle Specifications:
Role in game:
Typically add-on armour appears as a module on most vehicles, however, due to the how much additional armour these provide and the amount of coverage of this applique I’d actually suggest this as a different vehicle. We are looking at 1 inch (25.4mm) across much of the turret and hull front. This would make a perfect 5.7 vehicle above the current A30 Challenger.
Sources:
- Tank Archives: Cruiser with a Big Head
- Cruiser Mk.VIII Challenger (1943)
- A30 Challenger Tank A Technical History, P.M. Knight, ISBN-10: 1326483455
