£53 Million Allocated to Assessment Phase

The UK MoD announced on 22 December it has awarded contracts to BAE Systems and Rheinmetall LandSysteme to progress the CHALLENGER 2 Life Extension Project (CLEP). The awards, marking the start of the competitive Assessment Phase of CLEP, are for £23 million each: an additional £7 million has been allocated to the programme to cover additional work.

In service since 1998, CHALLENGER 2 is the British Army’s principal MBT and is scheduled to remain active till at least 2035. CLEP takes into account the fact that recent advances in electronics, computing and electro-optics make improvements to several of the tanks major system possible. The awards will enable the companies to undertake technical studies, produce detailed digital models and evaluate how upgrades can best be integrated onto the platform.