One of the people involved in the Challenger 3’s development said on twitter that the turret can fit onto a T72/T90 chassis as well as the Leopard 2 chassis.
I assume it therefore has quite a universally sized turret ring which could give them a lot of options for fitting it onto new hulls if they chose to do so
This is expected.
Challenger 3 model posted by Grant Shapps
https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1782714713794630041?t=tTDycZy4dxqxlPmZxX_5Cg&s=19
That’s interesting, it’s got even more armour on it than the latest prototype images
huh, looks like additional plates on the turret face and sides, with a sensor mount top left and right, nifty
Is the CR3 getting LWS? cause those look like LWS sensors to me
Well its getting APS, so a LWS is gonna come with that surely. I don’t know for sure though.
yes
The extra plates aren’t too surprising, the first images of P1 didn’t have the turret roof armour, and you can see that where the studs were above the mantlet/breech translated to the additional roof plate we see on P2 that extends down towards the mantlet. Nice to have confirmation though
Looks like even more UFP addons too. On the model there’s a cut out for the drivers cameras, which does not appear on the prototypes we’ve seen
Is it actually confirmed getting APS? Cause I’m not seeing any APS on it. I think I can see the LWS on it but again, no APS. Is the MOD really skimping out on it? After Ukraine has proved it really needs to be something a modern MBT needs. Is it also getting a 1500hp upgrade or are we still having the same shitty engine.
Trophy won the contract for CR3’s APS and the process is ongoing: https://des.mod.uk/20-million-contract-awarded-by-des-marks-big-steps-towards-challenger3-missile-protection-system/
Engine changes are still up in the air afaik
I believe the plan was to make all CR3s compatible with APS, but buy less APS sets than tanks and only give out the APS kits when needed.
yes its a war kit
Like with the abrams, the APS isn’t a standard thing, and is only added when needed. Under normal ops where no APS is needed, no APS is fitted, probably to save weight, Tropy is quite heavy (the “lighter” weight Trophy that was selected is 480KG, the original is nearly a double that)
Is it weird how the CH3 looks like the Ariete PSO…
https://x.com/RH_BAES_Land/status/1782336839006785658
The background to the left seems to have the TD turret? Seeing as there’s a CR2 turret behind it could be there as a “comparison” for the photos, CR2 > CR3(TD) > CR3(P), but it could also mean that the TD is being converted to the prototype spec?
they will take whatever they can from the old models
The TD turret was taken off the hull and put on a turret stand even before the first prototype was unveiled.
There’s been photos of it dismounted on the stand since at least November last year
https://twitter.com/RH_BAES_Land/status/1729522950213165535
Wonder when Gaijin will add the new prototype to the game.
