Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) has awarded a circa £25m supplier contract to Pearson Engineering to fabricate the turret structures for the British Army’s CHALLENGER 3 MBT. The two companies marked the announcement with a steel cutting ceremony at Pearson Engineering’s facility, Armstrong Works, in Newcastle.
The ceremony was attended by Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin MP and British Army Director Programmes, Major General Simon Hamilton, plus colleagues from:
- DE&S
- Army HQ
- RBSL
- Pearson Engineering
The group received an update on the CHALLENGER 3 programme and addressed members of the Pearson Engineering workforce at the historic Newcastle site, before cutting the first piece of steel for the CHALLENGER 3 turret structures using a water-jet cutter.
The steel structures will house the turret subsystems which are to ensure CHALLENGER 3 is a network-enabled, digital MBT with state-of-the-art lethality, upgraded survivability, plus superior surveillance and target acquisition capabilities.
JH
