Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank 1987–2006 (New Vanguard)

I have several other Vanguard books by Simon Dunstan, and he does a great job of briefly but comprehensively explaining the development history, deployment, and combat performance of the Challenger 2 tank (CR2). What I enjoyed reading most of all was the detailed description of the logistical challenges in deploying the CR2 in Oman and Iraq and the combat performance of the CR2 in Iraq in Operation "Telic", where the CR2 distinguished itself in urban fighting and encounters with T55 tanks. Dunstan goes into detail in describing the combat operations of the CR2 in battles such as the assault on Az Zubayr and the Battle of Basra. It was interesting to find out how the lack of availability of spare parts greatly hindered the performance of the CR2, both in the deployment exercises and in combat. The CR2 is one of the few battle-proven new generation tanks along with the Challenger 1, the M1 Abrams, and the Merkava. (Other new generation tanks such as the Leopard 2, Leclerc, and the Ariete have not been tested in combat)Dunstan does an excellent job of covering so much information in 48 pages. The only info that I wished he could have covered was how the CR2 compared performance-wise with rivals such as the M1 Abrams, the Leopard 2, the Leclerc, and the Ariete. I highly recommend this book for military history/weapons enthusiasts, tank buffs and modelers.

This is probably the best Challenger 2 book out there. However, just because it's the best, it doesn't mean that it's fantastic. Dunstan (who I am a great fan of), talks about the developmental history excellently. The rest of the book seems to be primarily of combat histories. Many people seem to be expecting a technical reference, and you're not exactly going to find that anywhere because this tank is so secret.I would still recommend this book because I think its contents are good to know if you're interested on the Challenger 2.

This book is a good read with some useful information in it. There's a sense of national pride that comes out of it all, which isn't present in for example the Abrams manual.

The book is great for a quick reference book on the Challenger 2 tank. Would recommend if you are for a reference book.

Simon Dunstan has written some outstanding books for Osprey including 1973 Sinai Campaign , but he defintely falls way short here.I have most of the Osprey books on New vanguard Series and some like Zaloga's have been excellent . However much to my disappointment Dunstan focus is mostly on the Iraqi battle performance to the detriment of and completely devoid of any technical descriptions or details on the Challenger II except for the centre cut-away.Dunstan probably wants us to look at other books for basic technical details on the Challenger and this is most disappointing as even 1 page is not there - tip avoid it if u are looking for tech details synonymous with previous Osprey Titles.A more apt title would have been "Challenger at war"

Good info in book, like author.

nice book great service from seller

Like all Vanguard series, this follows the traditional pattern of history, development and deployment of armored vehicles. 40 pages long, it is mostly narrative, but there are clear B&W photos, line drawings, color diagrams showing the camoflague patterns used by the British.Simon Dunston is a well reknown British Armor expert, a good read and if you read verrrryyy carefully, you can see he does capture the flaws of the Challenger tank. Most of these books avoid controversy. The Challenger not as reliable or good of a weapon platform as the M-1 or Leopard 2.I like the book overall. Vanguard tries to hype the color 'cut-away" in the book to show the inside of the tank, but as always, it's too small and many details are hidden.I have not seen a definitive work on the Challenger, in the mean time, this is OK to add to one's collection.

This book continues where the Challenger 1 book left off. As to be expected there is a slight over lap with both books (Challenger 1 looks towards Challenger 2). This is not a straight forward "cut and paste" but specific points about the development of Chally 2. Again, the usual high quality description of the Challenger 2 and its history is accompanied by excellent images of the beast itself. A must have to accompany Challenger 1.

Very interesting book on this subject.Contains a lot of info on the combat record of C2

Another excellent product from this publisher. 'Challenger' is of course 'a work in progress', so this study is necessarily incomplete.

Great reference book, more colour pics however would be nice !

Great reference source