Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to reduce the army's total number of Challenger 2 main battle tanks.

The Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank remains a key capability for the British Army in the Government's Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 and Joint Force 2025 plans, which will see the Army structured for a war-fighting division drawn from two Armoured Infantry Brigades and two Strike Brigades. As such the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is investing £53 million in the assessment phase of a Life Extension Programme with further funding allocated for a demonstration and manufacture phase. This will ensure that the Challenger 2 remains amongst the most capable Main Battle tanks in operation with any Army in the world until at least 2035. At this stage these plans do not include a replacement for the main armament but the MOD is open to innovative and affordable proposals that could improve the current capability.