The British Army recently released a video on Tuesday showing off its new concept for the Challenger 2 main battle tank designed for urban operations.
Named Streetfighter II, the blocky camouflage scheme of brown-white and bluish gray appears similar to the old school tanks stationed in Berlin in the final days of the Cold War, building on prototypes the British Army unveiled just over a year ago.
Soldiers @RoyalTankRegt have been empowerment to improve their equipment’s capabilities. Project STREETFIGHTER tests innovative concepts on a Challenger 2 Tank to enhance its proficiency both on the battlefield and in urban environments. #FearNaught pic.twitter.com/GR4Cu8jqG8
— British Army (@BritishArmy) December 28, 2019
"One of the primary goals of Streetfighter is to identify capability gaps between ourselves and potential enemies and then to recommend technical solutions for those areas of possible tactic overmatch," a member of the Royal Tank Regiment, who identified himself as Captain Quant, said in the official video presentation.
"These are in areas like lethality, survivability, [and] situational awareness", he added.
The new vehicle includes an Israeli-constructed IronVision system - first released in 2018 by Israeli defense contractor Elbit - which gives the tank crew the ability to see in all directions even when inside the body with the hatches entirely closed, and a mock-up of a Brimstone anti-tank missile launched on top of the turret.
Ebit has been working alongside the British Army to bring IronVision to the Streetfighter II vehicle since January 2019, Jane's 360 revealed.
IronVision consists of a camera on top of the vehicle which eliminates all blind spots and offers a total 360 situational awareness for the turret crew inside the tank through a specialised helmet-mounted display.
The original concept for Streetfighter did include a 360-degree camera on top of a mast protruding from the turret, but this only permitted fixed fields of view rather than the natural freedom to observe all surroundings.
Brimstone is already being used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and will be included in Armament options on soon to be released AH-64E Apache attack helicopters for the British Army.
The weapon is quickly increasingly in popularity globally as an option for surface-launchers, including for ground vehicles and boats.
