The British Army has painted some of its Challenger 2 tanks in a new camouflage scheme that planners hope will help the 62-ton machines hide on city streets. But the government has withheld other, more important enhancements. Posted on 08/29/2017 7:10:41 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Edited on 08/29/2017 7:35:03 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
The British Army has painted some of its Challenger 2 tanks in a new camouflage scheme that planners hope will help the 62-ton machines hide on city streets. But the government has withheld other, more important enhancements.
The tanks’ blocky, white, gray and brown scheme is actually a throwback to the Cold War, when British tankers prepared to defend West Berlin from the Soviets.
Ajax Squadron of The Royal Tank Regiment applied the “Berlin Brigade” scheme to at least two Challenger 2s in late August 2017. The repainted tanks “will be used for U.K. training as part of an ongoing study into proving and improving the utility of main battle tanks in the urban environment,” the regiment stated.
“Ajax are the urban specialists within the regiment and will be looking to test current doctrine, tactics and procedures whilst experimenting with other techniques from across NATO and the rest of the world.”
The Berlin Brigade scheme originated with the officer commanding the 4/7 Royal Dragoon Guards tank squadron in Berlin in 1982, Wayne Davies explained in a 1999 article.
Chieftain tanks in the Berlin Brigade scheme in the 1980s. Photo via Wayne Davies
The major “felt that the normal deep bronze green paint scheme of the British Army was incompatible with [Berlin’s] urban environment,” Davies wrote. “Straight lines are hard to find in nature and the standard patterns of black and green are equally unnatural amid the masonry, brickwork, timber and steel window frames of a city.”
According to Davies, the officer experimented with cardboard silhouettes of the Chieftain tank. “He noticed the repetition of vertical lines and by careful placement of different size squares and rectangles was able effectively to disguise the shape of the tank. The colors chosen, gray, white, brown and black, resembled the shades found on buildings, windows and doors.”
The scheme was unpopular with the troops at first. But they grew to accept it after realizing its effectiveness. At a distance of 100 yards, a tank in the Berlin Brigade camo “almost disappeared,” according to Davies. “I can’t see your ******* tank,” a corps commander reportedly quipped. “Must be a good idea.”
Spot the tank. Photo via Wayne Davies
To be sure, the British Army’s fleet of around 200 Challenger 2 tanks needs all the help it can get. While other countries rush ahead with new and modernized tank designs, the United Kingdom has all but abandoned tank development. BAE Systems is upgrading the Challenger 2s to the “Mark 2” standard under a 2016 contract worth $800 million.
The upgrade replaces old components, adds some new equipment and extends the tanks’ service lives to around 2035. But the program doesn’t substantially enhance the Challenger 2s’ firepower or protection. With their new camo, British tanks might be harder to see on city streets. But they’re still getting steadily less lethal.
Get it? Fish. Tank. ?
Armor is useless in a city. That is why urban warfare is such hell. Stalingrad, Fer instance. The only way to defeat an entrenched urban enemy is Dresden. Burn it. Stay away and burn it into rubble. War is hell. If one lacks the will to show the enemy hell he will show it to you. Modern war isn’t “war”. No concept of what victory is going in and no will to achieve any clear goal to get out. Just limited objectives that change relentlessly to satisfy feckless politicians. Lackluster, aimless objectives that are abandoned at the first sign of negative PR. Engagements that can’t be relinquished over objectives that can’t be achieved. Just global power posturing which is the real objective that can not be explicitly stated.
Thanks for the link. Now I know why there’s a T-34 in Milton Keynes.
The eye is a nice touch.
In the late 1970’s the Armor School taught us something called `MOUT’ (mounted operations in urban terrain). It took the normal symbiotic relationship of tanks and infantry (fight together, survive together) and put the infantry out front going door to door & clearing buildings to make it for the mostly nonsupporting tanks to advance up the street.
They refined urban mounted tactics during OIF/OEF I’m sure, but it’s still a bad idea to deploy tanks in cities, IMHO.
Sergeant Yakov Pavlov,”Hero of the Soviet Union”.
It kinda depends on where it lands. Everything that breathes (people, engines) needs air, not flames.
CLOSE THE FRICKEN HATCH, CARL!
You use tanks to keep Infantry in the cities.
Then, you cut off their food, water, electricity and medical supplies and let them drink their Molotov Cocktails.
In general, very good advice. But there are exceptions-- given that you have experienced supporting infantry and effective TTPs and situational awareness. There are times when the lethality of the tank is useful for obstacle/strongpoint reduction-- if infantry can clear/secure the path to a firing position, then moving the tank up to do the deed and then scoot is fine. Also situations where the tank operates more closely with infantry against numerically superior dismounts with limited/no AT capability-- with the right TTPs and experience the enhanced lethality can make quick work of what would otherwise be a serious PITA.
Great move from years ago, “War of the Rats”. I was still shooting Hi Power Rifle back when it came out. Interesting tips for snipers. Vicious warfare.
You may not be able to kill the crew directly, or cause ammo to cook off, but ALL armored combat vehicles have vulnerabilities, and many of them could be exploited by improvised weapons if one is clever and knows a thing or two about modern armor designs and subsystems. There are videos online showing crews bailing due to Molotov attacks, btw. If you lose mobility you really don’t want to sit there and wait, because time is not your friend, and these days thermite/RPGs/bulk explosives are out there in most theaters.
Exactly. Or, if pressed for time, just burn it. Remember Bastogne. They didn’t realize Patton would not give them the time to correct the mistake they made in thinking they could afford to just leave it I their wake. Sure, there were a lot of moving parts and stuff but IMHO just bypassing Bastogne was a fatal error.
To my mind this makes absolute sense. Not so sure about East Asians, Africans and the others, but there seems to be a moral inhibitor in us Westerners that is, on balance, a good thing.
That's probably one of the restraints that cause us always to wait til the last minute too.
Paint them like a pack of youths in the process of polar bear hunting.
We are the only culture in history with any concept of “mercy”. Mercy has it’s limits.
Oddly enough, I suspect we’re the only culture that thinks racism is the most morally repugnant sin possible too.
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