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British Army’s next tank reaches seven test prototypes
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supersquirrel lemmy.ca supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-07
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29   Original
Mihies programming.dev Mihies@programming.dev
Joined: 2024-06-16
#2 · Quote Reply

If it's not drone resistant, it's useless.

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supersquirrel lemmy.ca supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-07
#3 · Quote Reply

If it's not drone resistant, it's useless.

I can't think of something MORE drone resistant really if it is anything like the challenger 2.

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Mihies programming.dev Mihies@programming.dev
Joined: 2024-06-16
#4 · Quote Reply

I can't think of something MORE drone resistant really if it is anything like the challenger 2.

Weren't those wrecked in Ukraine? AFAIK there are currently no such tanks out there. Russia is trying something lately.

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supersquirrel lemmy.ca supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-07
#5 · Quote Reply

Weren't those wrecked in Ukraine? AFAIK there are currently no such tanks out there. Russia is trying something lately.

No, some were lost, they are also very heavy because they are so well armored. There just wasn't a big enough of a supply chain plus the rifled tank cannon has its own esoteric industrial pipeline unlike all the other 120mm smoothbores... but no with all that in mind I still don't think it was shown as a bad tank not at all.

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Mihies programming.dev Mihies@programming.dev
Joined: 2024-06-16
#6 · (edited) Quote Reply

No, some were lost, they are also very heavy because they are so well armored. There just wasn't a big enough of a supply chain plus the rifled tank cannon has its own esoteric industrial pipeline unlike all the other 120mm smoothbores... but no with all that in mind I still don't think it was shown as a bad tank not at all.

Not bad, but as Ukraine showned us, any tank can be destroyed by a few cheap drones. Tanks have to adapt.

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Skua kbin.earth Skua@kbin.earth
Joined: 2024-03-17
#7 · Quote Reply

If it's not drone resistant, it's useless.

It has a active protection system which can handle incoming missiles, that will be a solid defence against drones too. Russia has developed an APS which they've used successfully in the invasion, but they only had it ready a few months before their full-scale invasion started, so it's only on newly-built or fully-refurbished tanks. It also has the drawback that it was initially designed to deal with missiles; Ukraine figured out that it could eventually be overwhelmed by just sending enough drones at it to drain its relatively limited ammo, something that would be impractical with expensive missiles, but until then it apparently handles incoming drones pretty effectively. The Challenger's one has the benefits of being designed with the knowledge of what drone warfare looks like

It's also worth noting that nobody publishes videos of drone attacks failing. A cheap little quadcopter with a grenade strapped to it is, ultimately, jut a way to throw a grenade unusually far. A tank like this can shrug off a grenade. Attacking them requires bigger, heavier, more expensive drones carrying bigger, heavier, more expensive munitions. Or you use the drone to sight artillery. But the point remains that even in the age of drone warfare, tanks are still harder to kill. There's a reason both sides are still using them

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CyberEgg discuss.tchncs.de CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
Joined: 2023-06-22
#8 · Quote Reply

When has this c/ become a news channel for military equipment development?

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supersquirrel lemmy.ca supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-07
#9 · (edited) Quote Reply

When has this c/ become a news channel for military equipment development?

Do you realize Europe is essentially at war with russia or do you think that is just a joke or something?

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CyberEgg discuss.tchncs.de CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
Joined: 2023-06-22
#10 · (edited) Quote Reply

Do you realize Europe is essentially at war with russia or do you think that is just a joke or something?

I don't see how that makes it necessary to post every minor development in weapons industry to this community. And I find it especially weird that it is so often an account from a canadian instance posting these news.

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supersquirrel lemmy.ca supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-07
#11 · (edited) Quote Reply

I don't see how that makes it necessary to post every minor development in weapons industry to this community. And I find it especially weird that it is so often an account from a canadian instance posting these news.

I would not describe the Challenger 3 as a minor development? I would rather say it is one of the larger developments?

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supersquirrel lemmy.ca supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-07
#12 · Quote Reply

Not bad, but as Ukraine showned us, any tank can be destroyed by a few cheap drones. Tanks have to adapt.

They have

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Melchior feddit.org Melchior@feddit.org
Joined: 2024-07-11
#13 · Quote Reply

I would not describe the Challenger 3 as a minor development? I would rather say it is one of the larger developments?

Challenger 3 is just an upgraded Challenger 2. For the most part is just integrates subsystems already in use in other European systems like Leopard 2 and Puma(Rheinmetall is heavily involved, so it is a lot of German stuff) and puts them into the Challenger 2. The big one is the new gun(same as Leopard 2 and Abrams).

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supersquirrel lemmy.ca supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-07
#14 · Quote Reply

Challenger 3 is just an upgraded Challenger 2. For the most part is just integrates subsystems already in use in other European systems like Leopard 2 and Puma(Rheinmetall is heavily involved, so it is a lot of German stuff) and puts them into the Challenger 2. The big one is the new gun(same as Leopard 2 and Abrams).

"just" is doing a lot of work here

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CyberEgg discuss.tchncs.de CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
Joined: 2023-06-22
#15 · Quote Reply

I would not describe the Challenger 3 as a minor development? I would rather say it is one of the larger developments?

Seven prototypes enter testing. Okay, who cares? It's not like Britain has made a final decision and placed an order to equip several decisions or something.

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supersquirrel lemmy.ca supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-07
#16 · Quote Reply

Seven prototypes enter testing. Okay, who cares? It's not like Britain has made a final decision and placed an order to equip several decisions or something.

Seven is quite a lot honestly.

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CyberEgg discuss.tchncs.de CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
Joined: 2023-06-22
#17 · Quote Reply

Seven is quite a lot honestly.

Yes, exactly. Does not seem to be a big step.

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supersquirrel lemmy.ca supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-07
#18 · (edited) Quote Reply

Yes, exactly. Does not seem to be a big step.

I mean it is seven more actual main battle tanks than russia possesses so it depends how you look at it shrugs.

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Stormy thelemmy.club Stormy@thelemmy.club
Joined: 2026-02-16
#19 · Quote Reply

Seven prototypes enter testing. Okay, who cares? It's not like Britain has made a final decision and placed an order to equip several decisions or something.

What if it's your government spreading the news trying to prepare you mentally for impending disagreements up into war. Or a foreign government.

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CyberEgg discuss.tchncs.de CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
Joined: 2023-06-22
#20 · Quote Reply

I mean it is seven more actual main battle tanks than russia possesses so it depends how you look at it shrugs.

Idk about russian development. But again, this is a testing stage. Nothing big outside special interests.

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Mika piefed.ca Mika@piefed.ca
Joined: 2025-08-30
#21 · Quote Reply

It has a active protection system which can handle incoming missiles, that will be a solid defence against drones too. Russia has developed an APS which they've used successfully in the invasion, but they only had it ready a few months before their full-scale invasion started, so it's only on newly-built or fully-refurbished tanks. It also has the drawback that it was initially designed to deal...

You can totally strap a BIG payload to a cheap one way fpv.

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