Non-Subscriber Extract
Challenger nears end of the line
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| 18 May 2005 |
By James Murphy, Reporter, Jane's Defence Industry
BAE Systems Land Systems has confirmed that it has no plans to promote its Challenger 2E main battle tank (MBT) for foreign sales, despite reports only a year ago that export customers were being sought.
The news will come as no surprise to industry analysts who have long suspected that the Challenger 2E programme was unlikely to proceed after it failed to win the Hellenic Army's competition for a new MBT in 2002.
The withdrawal of Challenger 2E from the active export market may well signify the end of new MBT building in the UK.
A spokesman for BAE Land Systems said that this newly formed division of BAE Systems would be presenting a strategic business plan in August 2005. He declined to confirm that Challenger 2E would be a part of that plan. Instead, it is thought that the company will focus on the UK's proposed Future Rapid Effects System (FRES).
All work on the Challenger 2E ceased, following six years of development, after it failed to win the Hellenic Army's MBT competition. The Challenger 2E was designed and developed for the Hellenic Army's requirement for a new MBT. However, the Leopard 2A, developed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann in Germany, was selected over the British Challenger 2E, French Leclerc and US M1A2 Abrams in 2002.The tank has attracted little serious interest since the Greek bid failed.
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