Product Description

The Challenger 2 is the current Main Battle Tank of the British Army and represents the culmination of 80 years of tank design. In 1987, its design was presented to the Ministry of Defence in response to a requirement to replace the Chieftain MBT that had been partially superseded by the Challenger 1 MBT. Production began in 1993, and the tank finally entered service in 2002. The tank recently appeared in Iraq, where it proved indispensable during the battle of Basra. This book covers the evolution of the Challenger 2, from its origins and testing to its involvement in the Middle East and Iraq.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #717444 in Books
• Brand: Osprey Publishing
• Published on: 2006-05-30
• Released on: 2006-05-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

Review
"[This] is a good book for British armour fans and modelers alike. It shows good details on the Challenger 2 and its development and history. It is definitely an asset to have on the shelf." -Gino P. Quintiliani, Armorama (April 2006)

From the Publisher
The unrivalled illustrated reference on fighting vehicles, transport and artillery through the ages. Each volume is illustrated throughout, making these books uniquely accessible to history enthusiasts of all ages.

About the Author
Simon Dunstan is a well-established author, filmmaker and photographer in the field of military history, with several titles already published with Osprey. He specializes in the subject of armoured warfare, a field in which he has been writing for two decades. His books have covered topics such as helicopter and armoured warfare in Vietnam, the Challenger 1 Main Battle Tank, the British Guards and armoured warfare in Korea. Simon lives and works in London.

Customer Reviews

Excellent resource on an important British AFV
I have several other Vanguard books by Simon Dunstan, and he does a great job of briefly but comprehensively explaining the development history, deployment, and combat performance of the Challenger 2 tank (CR2). What I enjoyed reading most of all was the detailed description of the logistical challenges in deploying the CR2 in Oman and Iraq and the combat performance of the CR2 in Iraq in Operation "Telic", where the CR2 distinguished itself in urban fighting and encounters with T55 tanks. Dunstan goes into detail in describing the combat operations of the CR2 in battles such as the assault on Az Zubayr and the Battle of Basra. It was interesting to find out how the lack of availability of spare parts greatly hindered the performance of the CR2, both in the deployment exercises and in combat. The CR2 is one of the few battle-proven new generation tanks along with the Challenger 1, the M1 Abrams, and the Merkava. (Other new generation tanks such as the Leopard 2, Leclerc, and the Ariete have not been tested in combat)

Dunstan does an excellent job of covering so much information in 48 pages. The only info that I wished he could have covered was how the CR2 compared performance-wise with rivals such as the M1 Abrams, the Leopard 2, the Leclerc, and the Ariete. I highly recommend this book for military history/weapons enthusiasts, tank buffs and modelers.

Devoid of any technical details on Challenger II
Simon Dunstan has written some outstanding books for Osprey including 1973 Sinai Campaign , but he defintely falls way short here.

I have most of the Osprey books on New vanguard Series and some like Zaloga's have been excellent . However much to my disappointment Dunstan focus is mostly on the Iraqi battle performance to the detriment of and completely devoid of any technical descriptions or details on the Challenger II except for the centre cut-away.

Dunstan probably wants us to look at other books for basic technical details on the Challenger and this is most disappointing as even 1 page is not there - tip avoid it if u are looking for tech details synonymous with previous Osprey Titles.

A more apt title would have been "Challenger at war"

Good Overview of British Latest Main Battle Tank
Like all Vanguard series, this follows the traditional pattern of history, development and deployment of armored vehicles. 40 pages long, it is mostly narrative, but there are clear B&W photos, line drawings, color diagrams showing the camoflague patterns used by the British.

Simon Dunston is a well reknown British Armor expert, a good read and if you read verrrryyy carefully, you can see he does capture the flaws of the Challenger tank. Most of these books avoid controversy. The Challenger not as reliable or good of a weapon platform as the M-1 or Leopard 2.

I like the book overall. Vanguard tries to hype the color 'cut-away" in the book to show the inside of the tank, but as always, it's too small and many details are hidden.

I have not seen a definitive work on the Challenger, in the mean time, this is OK to add to one's collection.