The FV 4034 Challenger 2 is a modern 3rd generation British Main Battle Tank. The first prototypes of the vehicle were built in 1991, and serial production continued in the years 1993-2002, ending with the production of about 450 examples. Challenger 2 is powered by an engine Perkins-Condor CV12 with 1,200 hp . The basic version of the vehicle is armed with a single 120mm L30A1 rifled cannon and two 7.62mm machine guns.
Challenger 2 in the first stages of development works (mid 1980s), was constructed as a private enterprise of Vickers Defense Systems (now BAE Systems), which was based on the experience gained from the operation of the Chieftain tank and - especially - the Challenger 1, which Challenger 2 was supposed to replace. It was only at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s that the British army became interested in the project and chose the Challenger 2 as their new main battle tank. The Challenger 2 tank has very good armor, using Chobham / Dorchester L2 composite armor and an effective 120mm gun. However, it gives way to other western 3rd generation tanks in the field of maneuverability and mobility, which is due to the high weight of the car (63 tons in the basic version, as much as 75 tons in the version with reinforced armor) and the engine power of only 1200 HP, compared to 1500 engines. KM in M1 Abrams, Leclerc and Leopard 2. The Challenger 2 tank was used in combat during Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991) and the war with Iraq in 2003. The only user of this type of tank - apart from the British army - is Oman.
The AS-90 is a modern British self-propelled howitzer. The first prototypes of the vehicle were created in the early 1990s, and serial production continued in 1992-1995, ending with the production of 179 vehicles. AS-90 is engine driven Cummins VTA 903T-660 with a power of 660 hp. The vehicle is armed with a single 155 mm Royal Ordonance L31 cannon howitzer and a single 7.62 mm machine gun.
AS-90 was created to replace the M109 self-propelled howitzer from the United States. Originally, at the beginning of the 1980s, work was carried out on a new SP-70 self-propelled gun in several European countries in cooperation. However, in 1986, the cooperation was terminated and participants of the SP-70 program, including the United Kingdom, started working on their own. The fruit of these works is - in the case of the British army - precisely AS-90 . It is undoubtedly a modern weapon with decent parameters: it has a good rate of fire (up to 18 shots in 180 seconds) and an acceptable range of the shot: the classic missile has a range of about 25-26 km, and a gas generator up to 30 km. AS-90 it is exclusively owned by the British armed forces and has not been exported to other countries.