Despite Britain currently lacking the capability to produce new main battle tanks, with only modernization of existing ones possible, the option of light tank procurement is not being considered.
The country's defense ministry responded to a parliamentary inquiry about possible light tank procurement, stating there is currently no need for them. At the same time, the British Ministry of Defence monitors potential market offerings, UK Defence Journal reports.
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Defense Express recalls that Britain's plans currently involve keeping only 148 upgraded Challenger 3 tanks in service, manufactured from old Challenger 2 hulls. Of the 213 Challenger 2s in service, their hulls are quite worn, delaying the modernization process.
The possibility of tank exports has not yet been ruled out. Britain currently lacks main battle tank hull production capability. The only factory capable of this, Vickers Tank Factory in Leeds, closed in 1999. It was demolished, with the site now being developed for residential housing. In other words, the British cannot produce new MBTs even in the medium term.
Britain can and does manufacture ASCOD chassis for the Ajax family of combat vehicles. These are ordered in six different versions, of which only two are combat vehicles, the Ajax reconnaissance vehicle itself (effectively an IFV) and the Ares APC.
Though the ASCOD chassis has a stated maximum load capacity of 42 tons, quite sufficient for mounting a turret with a 105mm or even 120mm gun. An excellent example of such a vehicle is the M10 Booker, built precisely on this General Dynamics platform.
At the same time, it should be noted that despite spending over $1.8 billion and 10 years on the light tank project, as well as producing 80 vehicles, the Pentagon has abandoned its M10 Booker light tank. The main concept of transporting two vehicles initially they wanted three on a C-17 could not be realized.
In Britain, which has a quite powerful military transport aircraft fleet of 22 A400Ms and 8 C-17A Globemasters, the key benefit from light tanks could be ensuring 120mm caliber presence on the battlefield, or at least 105mm.
National champion BAE Systems has an updated version of the M8, which was promoted for the U.S. Army Mobile Protected Firepower light tank competition. Because the Pentagon objectively skewed requirements toward the M10 Booker project winner, development went no further. The turret could quite likely be transferred to ASCOD.
At the same time, even despite debate about the tank's place on the battlefield, the British Ministry of Defence position on light tanks may be entirely driven by the fact that the Ajax program has encountered such significant difficulties that undertaking any additional developments on this chassis may simply be ill-timed.
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