Challenger 1 entered service with the British Army in 1983 and production ceased in 1990 at a cost of around £2 million each. The Challenger was built by the Royal Ordnance Factories (ROF). Additionally, the hydropneumatic suspension provided outstanding cross-country performance through the long suspension arm travel and controlled bump and rebound behaviour offered. This armour was later adopted by other designs, including the American M1 Abrams. The most advanced aspect of the Challenger 1 design was its Chobham armour, which gave protection far superior to any monolithic Rolled Homogeneous Armour (RHA), then standard of western tank armour material. For a short time the tank was named "Cheviot" (the name of a hill range) before becoming "Challenger", a name reused from the Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger tank of World War II. With the fall of the Shah of Iran and the collapse of the UK MBT-80 project, the British Army became the customer and the tank was further developed by MVEE to meet Western European requirements. These were the Chieftain Mk5(P)- FV4030/1, FV4030/2 Shir (Lion) /3 Shir 2. The Challenger design by the former Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment (MVEE) near Chobham in Surrey originated in an Iranian order for an improved version of the Chieftain line of tanks in service around the world. Challenger 1 of the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards with IFOR markings. This vehicle was used for suspension testing. History Challenger 1 on display at The Tank Museum, Bovington. The Jordanian Challenger 1 fleet had been retired by January 2023. Known locally as Al-Hussein, these vehicles received various Jordanian modifications before being replaced by French-made Leclerc tanks from the UAE and ex-Italian B1 Centauro 8x8 wheeled tank destroyers. The majority of the Challenger 1 fleet was subsequently sold to Jordan where it remained in service with the Royal Jordanian Army until withdrawals were announced in 2018. The FV4030/4 Challenger 1 is a British main battle tank (MBT) used by the British Army from 1983 to 2001, when it was superseded by the Challenger 2.
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