Images of a destroyed Challenger 2 tank in Ukraine “highlight the quality of equipment Britain is providing during the conflict”, a British defense source told Sky News.

In a video that has spread on social networks, a battle tank can be seen burning on the side of the road, with black smoke coming out of it.

The crew survived the attack – the machine is believed to be the first and only Challenger 2 tank destroyed during the war.

“This underlines the quality of the equipment we provide to Ukraine,” said a source in the British Ministry of Defence.

“In those tanks that were in Ukraine before the support of the West, the chances of the crew surviving unharmed were zero,” the source said.

Administrators of the OSINT technical page, for example, note that, judging by the images, the tank appears to have been destroyed by indirect fire, that is, general shelling of Ukrainian positions, and not a specific target.

Military analyst David Ax notes for Forbes that, ironically, the video attests to the durability of the Challenger 2 tanks. He cites the fact that while the battle vehicle appears to have been hit squarely, the footage clearly shows that its turret is still is standing attached to the chassis.

In other words, the tank did not suffer a catastrophic detonation of its on-board ammunition despite the heavy impact, as numerous videos that have surfaced over the months show this happening to Russian tanks or armored vehicles, including the T-90, the most advanced in the Russian army.

What western tanks did the Ukrainian army receive?

Such excellent durability of Challenger 2 tanks is due to the fact that, like most Western tanks, it was designed to store ammunition in special compartments in the turret, which throw an explosive wave outwards when the combat vehicle is hit.

In fact, Forbes also pointed out a few days ago that this difference in design compared to Russian tanks is also evident in the case of the Leopard 2 tanks that the Ukrainian army received from Germany. The crews of all 5 Leopard 2 tanks, which the Russians managed to destroy by the beginning of September, withstood hits that disabled their combat vehicles.

On January 16 of this year, Britain became the first partner of Ukraine to announce the delivery of Western-made Challenger 2 tanks to Kyiv. The British delivered 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Later, under pressure from Poland, Germany also announced on January 25 that it had authorized the transfer of Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv by partner nations willing to do so, and that Berlin would in turn send 14 units.

Shortly after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s statement, US President Joe Biden, in turn, announced that the United States would send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. However, it was not possible to prepare them quickly enough to participate in the summer offensive of Ukraine.

In early February, Germany announced that it would also send Leopard 1 tanks, the forerunners of its most advanced model, to Ukrainian forces. As in the case of Leopard 2 tanks, Berlin has approved all transfers to partner states that want to send such combat vehicles to Ukraine.

NATO’s military procurement rules state that a member state must obtain the permission of the country where the weapon was created to transfer it to third parties.

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