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FORMATOSE

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FORMATOSE last won the day on February 24

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  1. The what would become the Challenger 2 protection requirements (SR(L) 4026) were promulgated in November 1987. And what you call a "growth margin" has occured as the SR(L) 4026 requirements were amended somewhere between 1990 and 1992, as there was now a possibility to stretch levels from 500 mm to 600 mm vs KE (and 800 mm to 900 mm vs CE). The latest proposal made by Vickers Defence Systems to the MoD was 540 mm vs KE and 900 mm CE for the turret front. The FV4034 Challenger 2 entered service in June 1998 not because they continued to work on its composite armour until 1998 but because they have been subject to lengthy user trials (reliability, availability, service) between 1991 and 1998. As I said before, ballistic testing ended in 1990. It makes sense that the whole design of the tank was frozen as expected to go into production. In fact, the first 127 Challenger 2 were ordered in June 1991 and built in 1993-94. The Challenger 2 was accepted for service on 16 May 1994 and the first service Challenger 2 were delivered to the ATDU the next month, in June 1994, for testing and the same month, 259 other Challenger 2 were ordered. Mk. 2 upgrade of the Challenger 1 is related to the factory-fitting of the TOGS thermal sight. There was never any official reference to improved glacis protection.
  2. The document below states that the lower glacis (not to be confused with the lower hull front) of the Challenger 1 is 300 mm vs KE and 580 mm vs CE : The Gulf column show that the Challenger 1 used during the Gulf War (the 179 Challenger 1 deployed during the Gulf War were either Challenger 1. Mk. 2 ACB or Mk. 3.) had improved protection in the lower glacis area (350/700) but this is only due to the addition of an add-on NERA sandwich above the ROMOR-A support frame. KE protection was only increased by 16%. Challenger 2 ballistic protection trials were completed by Vickers Defence Systems in July 1990 and at that time, the best APFSDS rounds available for testing in Britain were the 120 mm BD26 (prototype) and the L26A1 CHARM 1 or its prototype, the XL26E1 (production of the L26A1 started in 1990 but at an unspecified date). There's no reason to believe that the Challenger 2 turret front (and even less its UFP) would have been proof against a foreign APFSDS that didn't even exist in 1990.
  3. This illustration is based on this kind of drawing (made more than 10 years ago, by a Polish forum user, Jaroslaw "Militarysta" Wolski, IIRC) whose estimates are purely speculative. Leopard 2A4 either have B-tech or C-tech composite armour packages. The latter has been tested against 120 mm DM23 APFSDS and HOT-1 ATGM.
  4. This configuration allows to keep the benefits of the mantlet sights.
  5. GIAT vintage video from 1983 about French APFSDS : basic principles, manufacturing process, quality control, testing, beyond-armour effect, packaging. I find it very interesting. https://imagesdefense.gouv.fr/fr/munitions-fleches.html
  6. But in any case, the sponsons are supposed to include NERA elements :
  7. So, there is actually 3 NERA sandwiches inside the front sponsons.
  8. 3BM60 Svinets-2 alongside a 3BM42 Mango in Ukraine : Notice the removable perforated disk which protects the sabot inside its packaging.
  9. 2001 picture of the Giat Industries 125 G1 APFSDS next to the Ukrainian 3BM42U1 APFSDS made by the "Tasko" corporation :
  10. The full scale mock-up does not represent the final product.
  11. I'm looking forward to have more information on its autoloader, something like the Western Design's 44-round basket carousel or the Meggitt's 34-round bustle conveyor ?
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