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29-658: RBSL may refer to: Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land , a military vehicle defence contractor based in the United Kingdom Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title RBSL . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=RBSL&oldid=1229544911 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

58-650: A testbed vehicle on the Challenger 2 chassis, with a brand new turret, autoloading system and a powerful 130 mm smoothbore gun, the Rheinmetall Rh-130 L/51 . The 130 mm L/51 is 500 kilograms heavier than existing 120 mm L/44 or L/55 cannons and would require a larger turret to work on the Challenger 3. In October 2020, the MOD argued against buying a new main battle tank from overseas instead of pursuing

87-460: A computerised fire-control system . In October 2020 it was reported that Babcock DSG was involved in the bid for the C2 LEP, as the contract "has been split into different strands to ease the funding through HM Treasury ". In 18 March 2021, Rheinmetall announced that the company had won the C2 LEP contract, and believed to be worth €750 million. It had previously been stated that if selected for

116-425: A laser warning system and an active protection system. In January 2019, Rheinmetall unveiled its proposal which included the development of a completely new turret with fully digital electronic architecture, day and night sights for the commander and gunner, and a Rheinmetall L55 120   mm smoothbore gun. Whilst a more substantial upgrade than Black Night, the turret was developed on Rheinmetall's initiative and

145-484: A new support agreement to provide spares, maintenance, and training for the vehicles. The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment awarded Rheinmetall a contract for delivery of a Mission Master XT to the Norwegian Army . In August 2023 the armys intelligence battalion received a unit for testing. Challenger 3 Challenger 3 ( CR3 ) is a British fourth-generation main battle tank in development for

174-609: A tonne of supplies, tactical kit, or medical equipment and come complete with two stretchers that can be easily attached in just 60 seconds to carry wounded personnel. In October 2020, RBSL was awarded a £16 million contract by the UK‘s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation to upgrade and sustain the British Army’s fleet of Rheinmetall-supplied TPz Fuchs armoured reconnaissance vehicles. Work will be conducted from RBSL’s Telford facility. The contract includes

203-583: Is clearly totally unacceptable. Nevertheless, it is symptomatic of the extremely weak management of Army equipment programmes, by both Defence Equipment and Support and the Army Board itself, in recent years." On 22 March 2021, Ben Wallace presented the command paper , Defence in a Competitive Age to Parliament, which confirmed the British Army's plans to upgrade 148 Challenger 2 tanks for "around £1.3bn" and designate them Challenger 3. The MOD confirmed

232-472: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land The RBSL joint venture business consists of BAE Systems Land UK, the UK land systems business segment of BAE Systems, and Germany’s Rheinmetall AG’s defence arm. To create the joint-venture, BAE Systems sold a 55% share of BAE Systems Land UK to Rheinmetall AG. The RBSL joint venture

261-446: Is to be developed in conjunction with Rheinmetall AG, with a new kinetic energy round being developed for Challenger 3 and Leopard 2. The entry into service of the Challenger 3 has been brought forward to 2025, not 2027 as originally planned. The first units are to be delivered to the British Army in 2025. A total of 148 tanks are to be produced, with costs estimated at 906.89 million British pounds sterling (1.17 billion US dollars). By

290-625: The British Army . It will be produced by the conversion of existing Challenger 2 tanks by the British/German Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land joint venture. Improvements to Challenger 2 began in 2005 as the Capability And Sustainment Programme (CSP) to keep the Challenger 2 competitive until the 2030s. Lack of funding meant that it was not until 2014 that the programme was formally reorganised into

319-690: The Isle of Wight . A drawback of the adoption of the L55A1 smoothbore gun is that it is incompatible with the depleted uranium ammunition currently used by Challenger 2; the NATO standard tungsten ammunition being less effective. On 27 April 2024, the Ministry of Defence announced that a statement of intent had been signed with Germany for the development of an Enhanced Kinetic Energy (EKE) armour-piercing round for both Challenger 3 and Leopard 2 tanks. Background: History of

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348-449: The "Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme" (LEP). In response to the LEP programme, two prototypes were submitted for evaluation; one from BAE Systems in 2018 and the other from Rheinmetall in 2019. Later that year BAE and Rheinmetall merged their British operations into Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL), effectively leaving Rheinmetall's proposal the only option available without replacing

377-486: The ARTEC consortium, jointly owned by Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegman (KMW), announced that it had awarded two separate subcontracts to RBSL and WFEL respectively for the local production and assembly of over 500 Boxer armoured vehicle for the UK. The contract with RBSL is worth around £860 million. Delivery of the vehicles is expected to start from 2023. The original intention of the Challenger 2 Life Extension Project

406-624: The British Army, who will use the vehicles in the UK’s Robotic Platoon Vehicle experimentation programme. The aim of this programme is to help determine the extent to which UGVs can enhance the British Army’s combat capabilities and effectiveness, especially for dismounted troops at platoon level. To reduce the load carried by foot soldiers, the Army has received four cargo variants of the Mission Master, these each able to carry up to half

435-543: The C2 LEP, the vehicle would be manufactured by RBSL in Telford. On 22 March 2021 the C2 LEP was renamed the Challenger 3 . In May 2020, RBSL secured a training and maintenance contract with Rheinmetall Canada to support the delivery of Rheinmetall's Mission Master unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to the UK Ministry of Defence . Under the terms of the contract RBSL will provide training for operators and maintenance support for

464-467: The Challenger 2 LEP, stating that an upgraded Challenger 2 would "be comparable—and in certain areas superior—to Leopard 2 or M1 Abrams ". The management of the C2 LEP was scathingly criticized by the Defence Select Committee on 15 March 2021. They said in a report entitled "Obsolescent and outgunned: the British Army's armoured vehicle capability", that "Despite having spent around 50% of

493-569: The Challenger 2 fleet with foreign models. The Challenger 3 has an all-new turret with an improved hull. The most significant change from Challenger 2 to Challenger 3 is the replacement of the Challenger's main armament from a 120 mm L30A1 rifled main gun to the 120 mm L55A1 smoothbore gun (which itself is an upgraded version of the L55 fitted to the Leopard 2A6/A7 family of main battle tanks) giving commonality with other NATO members. Ammunition

522-540: The Challenger 2, including MUSS and Rheinmetall's ROSY Rapid Obscurant System. In August 2016, the MOD awarded assessment phase contracts to several companies for the Life Extension Programme. These included Team Challenger 2 (a consortium led by BAE Systems and including General Dynamics UK ), CMI Defence and Ricardo plc , Rheinmetall and Lockheed Martin UK . In November, the MOD shortlisted two teams led by BAE Systems and Rheinmetall to compete for

551-522: The LEP which was then estimated to be worth £650 million ($ 802 million). In October 2018, BAE Systems unveiled its proposed Challenger 2 LEP technology demonstrator, the "Black Night". The new improvements included a Safran PASEO commander’s sight, Leonardo thermal imager for the gunner and Leonardo DNVS 4 night sight. The turret also received modifications to improve the speed of traverse and to provide greater space as well as regenerative braking to generate and store power. Other enhancements included

580-409: The allocated budget (£800 million), the programme has yet to place a manufacturing contract. The programme has a current in-service date of 2024 (originally planned for 2017) and is some £227 million over budget. After a decade of effort, this abject failure to deliver against both cost, (with an overrun now totalling over a quarter of a billion pounds of public money) and timescale (ISD seven years late)

609-604: The contract with RBSL had been signed, valued at £800 million (USD$ 1 billion), on 7 May 2021. Rheinmetall's more extensive upgrade proposal, including the new 120 mm smoothbore gun, had been accepted. The initial operating capability for the upgraded tanks is expected by 2027, with full operation capability expected to be declared by 2030. It was announced on 23 January 2024 that the first pre-production Challenger 3 had been delivered, with trials commencing in Germany in February and

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638-526: The early 1980s to the mid-1990s when it was succeeded by the Challenger 2 which saw action during the Iraq War in 2003. In 2005, the MOD recognised a need for a Capability Sustainment Programme (CSP) to extend the service life of the Challenger 2 into the mid-2030s and upgrade its mobility, lethality and survivability. The CSP was planned to be complete by 2020 and was to combine all the upgrades from CLIP (Challenger Lethality Improvement Programme), including

667-701: The first live-firing of the main armament in April. On 18 April 2024, the Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps , attended the rollout of the last of eight pre-production models at the RBSL factory in Telford . A Ministry of Defence statement claimed that nearly 300 jobs would be created at the RBSL plant, with a further 450 jobs around the UK in a supply chain of companies based in the West Midlands , Glasgow , Newcastle upon Tyne and

696-551: The fitting of a 120 mm smoothbore gun. By 2014, the CSP programme had been replaced by the Life Extension Programme (LEP) which shared a similar scope of replacing obsolete components and extending the tank's service life from 2025 to 2035, however the 120 mm smoothbore gun had seemingly been abandoned. In 2015, the British Army provided an insight into the scope of the LEP, dividing it into four key areas, namely: The MOD also began assessing active protection systems (APS) on

725-621: The proposed joint venture. In addition to managing and growing the existing combat vehicle support business, the stated intent for the JV was to play a major role in the delivery of the British Army ’s new Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) and other strategic combat vehicle programmes, including the upgrade of the Challenger 2 main battle tank fleet. While initially focused on these major UK programmes, RBSL would also form an integral part of Rheinmetall’s Vehicle Systems Division and participate in military vehicle contracts globally. In November 2020,

754-659: The spring of 2024, eight pre-production tanks had been delivered and trials had commenced in Germany. The Challenger 3 will be the fourth tank of this name, the first being the World War II Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger , which was developed from the Cromwell tank chassis and armed with a Ordnance QF 17-pounder . The second was the Gulf War -era Challenger 1 , which was the British army's main battle tank (MBT) from

783-564: Was formally announced on 21 January 2019, with the cost of Rheinmetall’s 55% share of BAE Systems’ Land UK business being £28.6 million. The acquisition did not include Land UK’s munitions and technology interests, or the CTA International (CTAI) JV BAE Systems has with Nexter Systems , the latter a medium-calibre weapon system that is designed for fighting vehicles. On 13 June 2019, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approved

812-474: Was not funded by the UK MOD, nor was it part of the MOD's LEP requirements. In June 2019, BAE Systems and Rheinmetall formed a joint venture company, based in the UK, named Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL). Despite the merger, the company was still expected to present two separate proposals for the LEP contract. At DSEI 2019, RBSL first showed the 120mm proposal. In July 2020, Rheinmetall Defence showed

841-426: Was to replace obsolete systems in the turret to extend the British Army 's Challenger 2 tank’s service life to 2035. Rheinmetall and BAE Systems had been competing as separate entities for the C2 LEP. In September 2019, a single C2 LEP proposal was unveiled under RBSL. It comprised a refurnished Challenger 2 hull fitted with a new all-welded turret armed with a Rheinmetall Rh-120 L55A1 smoothbore gun supported by

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