How It Works-Amazing Vehicles

© WIKI; Gett y; Illustration by A lex Pang

DID YOU KNOW? Each AMX-56 Leclerc tank costs £8mn to build

Challenger 2 entered service

with the British Army in 1998

Secondary armament

A pair of 7.62mm machine

guns mounted at the loader’s

hatch provide close defence

for the Challenger 2.

Turret

The aerodynamic Challenger 2 turret

houses sophisticated vision, target

acquisition and defensive systems,

along with seating for the commander

and the gunner.

Engine

The 1,200-horsepower,

12-cylinder Perkins-

Condor CV12 diesel

engine of the Challenger

2 generates a top speed

of 60 kilometres per hour.

Layered armour

Certain characteristics

of the improved

composite armour

protecting the

Challenger 2

remain classifi ed.

In 2007, Canada borrowed 20

Leopard C2 tanks from Germany

to aid their troops in Afghanistan

The M1 Abrams has served in the

Cold War, Iraq and Afghanistan and

is predicted to be in use until 2050

Despite their high-tech

defences, modern tanks can

still succumb to enemy fi re