When confronted with the Canadian Plains for the first time you are immediately struck with one word - vast.
British Army Training Unit Suffield, or BATUS for short, is located in the South Western corner of ALberta. It is here that the Heavy Armour Regiments come to let their soldiers cut their teeth on large scale exercises and for good reason.
BATUS is the only training area large enough for the Challenger 2 to be able to take part in 360 degree live firing and battlegroup level manoeuvres. In scale it roughly equals the size of Staffordshire
Most other training areas have specific limitations and usually, for firing main armament, require crews to fire out to sea with limited scope for firing on the move.
This is essential training for armoured crews to face the challenges of operational deployments where tanks are likely to be used such as in Iraq - 2003, and more recently, NATO joint exercise Black Eagle in Poland.
Challenger 2 (CR2) is the British Army's main battle tank. CR2 is based on the Challenger 1 tank, which served with distinction on operations in the Gulf War and the Balkans.
Only five percent of Challenger 2 components are interchangeable with its predecessor, which has had more than 150 major modifications including a completely new turret, L30 CHARM 120mm gun and second generation Chobham armour.
Challenger 2's thermal observation and gunnery displays a magnified image for the commander and gunner. The commander has a gyro-stabilised fully panoramic sight with laser range finder and thermal imager.
The gunner is equipped with a gyro-stabilised primary sight with a laser range finder and coaxially mounted auxiliary sight. The driver's position has an image-intensifying day and night periscope, and the loader has a day sight.
Batus
POLAND: eXERCISE bLACK eAGLE
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