#9 — Challenger 2: Britain's Unkillable Fortress
Only one Challenger 2 has ever been destroyed by enemy fire — and that was a friendly-fire incident by another Challenger 2 in 2003. In every engagement against enemy forces in Iraq, the Challenger 2 maintained a perfect 100% crew survival rate. One Challenger 2 survived 14 RPG hits and a Milan anti-tank missile strike in Basra — and was back in action six hours later. Another reportedly took as many as 70 RPG strikes without a single penetration.
The Challenger 2's second-generation Dorchester composite armor is among the most closely guarded secrets in British defense technology. Its 120mm L30A1 rifled gun — the last rifled tank gun on a NATO MBT — fires CHARM 3 depleted uranium APFSDS with devastating effect. Only 447 were built for Britain and Oman, making it an exclusive but formidable machine. The tank's thermal imaging and commander's panoramic sight give it genuine day-and-night hunter-killer capability. Critics point to its manual loading (slower than autoloader-equipped rivals) and aging fire control, but the ongoing Challenger 3 upgrade with a Rheinmetall 120mm smoothbore will address these gaps. In terms of crew protection — the single most important metric in military equipment — the Challenger 2 has the best combat-proven record of any tank in the world.
