Challenger 1

Challenger 1 was the main battle tank (MBT ) of the British Army from 1983 until replaced by Challenger 2 in mid- 1990. It is also currently used by Jordan as its main battle tank after heavy modifications and upgrades. The variant sold to the Jordanian military has to be upgraded to a standard similar to the Challenger 2 also has been undergoing upgrades using an unmanned tower known as Falcon.

Development
The tanks Chieftain and Challenger, although different, were nevertheless result in a line of development in which some are the basis for the manufacture of the following.

The Chieftain, which began to be studied in the late 50s were in practice superseded the famous Centurion , which was designed for World War II but was never used in conflict. The large number of Centurion in fact delayed the new tank, and Britain studied another type of super -heavy tanks like the Conqueror, in the early '50s.

Conqueror was the failure of which meant that the British developed the Chieftain, trying to solve some of the problems that had been detected.

Although it was a heavy tank, the Chieftain was equipped with the L11 120mm gun , which made him in the early 60 's most powerful battle tank in western countries , manning a tank with a 120mm cannon more than ten years before of the remaining countries of NATO doing so.

The Chieftain was also exported to several countries in the Middle East, particularly to Iran , which sought to make further orders of the vehicle, not having it done for political reasons.

A more sophisticated version of the Chieftain was sold to Jordan. The order from Iran to a more powerful version of the Chieftain, resulted in practice in the Challenger -I, that when the sale to Iran was committed , was acquired by the British Army to replace the Chieftain in service.

The latest version of the Challenger II is the version that was released by the company Vickers as a private project for commercialization in international markets.

The model was then chosen by the British Army in 1991 as a replacement for Challenger-1 In Britain's only Oman has acquired this car combat. The Challenger-I is a development of two - Shir tank designed to Iran by Royal Ordnance Leeds, before this company has been acquired by Vickers Defence.

The total order of vehicles Shir 2 (Like the tank should be called Iranian ) was over 1000 and how the plan was to replace their old Chieftain, the British Army received the new tanks.

The Challenger, inaugurated the Chobham armor on British tanks, armor considered revolutionary in the 80s and that combined with metal ceramic composites , thus making it less efficient chemical energy munitions.

Operators
Although it was originally designed to Iran, the Challenger was totally adapted to the needs of the army British. He began to be delivered in the early '80s, slowly replacing the older Chieftain. Although the armament of the Challenger is the same as the Chieftain, he has a much more powerful motor and control systems and more powerful shot. Some of the Challenger Mk. 1 withdrawn from the British army were transferred to the army of Jordan where replaced the older tanks Tariq Jordanians. The Challenger -1 transferred to Jordan underwent a complete review of systems. Khalid tanks ( upgraded Chieftain ) will also be modified to ensure maximum common systems between the two tanks. With the Challenger I, along with the older Khalid, Jordan have one of the most powerful tank forces of Middle East.
 * United Kingdom
 * Local Designation : Challenger I
 * Maximum Quantity : 420 - Qty in service : 0
 * Operational status : Slaughtered
 * Jordan
 * Local Name : Al Hussein
 * Maximum Quantity : 288 - Quantity in service: 288
 * Operational status : In service800px-Challenger_Desert_Storm_1.jpg

Operational Service
About 180 Challenger tanks were deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Gransby, The operation of the UK in the Persian Gulf War. The British claimed to have destroyed the Challengers with 300 armored vehicles Iraqi without losses. It was also the tank with more range in military history, destroying an Iraqi tank at a distance of 5.1 km. Challengers were also used by the British Army in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Operation Joint Guardianundefineded by NATO at Kosovo.