After Ukrainian journalist Roman Bochkala announced that Challenger 1 tanks are being repaired and restored for Ukraine but used a photo and videos with Chieftain tanks, it caused a question of which one of them will actually go to Ukraine.
If it was only about choosing the wrong tank to film on camera but the real tanks prepared for transfer are Challenger 1s, then the Armed Forces of Ukraine can expect a tank from the 1980s that despite its age still meets the requirements of the modern battlefield and is one of the best options among decommissioned tanks.
Read more: Ukraine Will Get Challenger 1 Tanks From Great Britain: What Kind of Vehicle It Is and How Many Expected
The provision of Challenger to Ukraine 1 was the topic since the beginning of this year, as there was already a source – about 400 Jordan's tanks withdrawn from service, and a company to take up the repair works – Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land.
However, there is also a possibility that instead of Challenger 1, Ukrainian forces would get Chieftain. It would be one generation back in military history, for the Chieftain entered service in 1965 while the Challenger 1 joined in 1983.
After all, even with the latest modernization within the Totem Pole program, Chieftain received an updated fire control system integrated with a thermal sight and laser rangefinder, better mobility and armor but remained a tank of the 1960s' design.
Combat capability will also depend on the exact modification of the tank and the source country. Almost 1,900 of the total number of produced vehicles were commissioned to the British Army, the rest were sold for export. In Great Britain, the last tank of this type was withdrawn from service in 1995. The issue is how many of them left, considering that the United Kingdom already surpassed the Challenger 1 generation, fully equipped itself with Challenger 2, and started to switch over to Challenger 3.
The second operator of Chieftain was iran who procured about 1,000 units before the revolution of 1979. Approximately a hundred vehicles are still in service, their engines replaced with V-84 from the Soviet T-72 tank.
Next, there was Jordan but according to The Military Balance, all of the Chieftains were decommissioned. Quite expected, given that this country has already put out Challenger 1 as well, officially they got discarded at the beginning of 2023. Jordan used to have 274 Chieftain tanks in the Khalid version plus 90 iranian Chieftains that had been seized by Iraqi forces and bought by Jordan. Also, Kuwait operated this tank: there was a fleet of 175 tanks, partly lost in the war against Iraq and decommissioned in the 1990s.
That said, it is hard to find a source of enough Chieftains to make at least a single fully equipped tank unit. And even if they do arrive in Ukraine, it would improve the quantity but not the quality of equipment used in the frontline of the russo-Ukrainian War.
Chieftain is comparable to Leopard 1, although the British tank has better armor, and the 120mm gun is better than the 105mm. On the flip side, due to the coil spring suspension, problematic L60 engine, and outdated fire control system (laser rangefinder can be present or not based on version), it deserves no higher standing.
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