British defense chiefs have outlined plans to deactivate the Army’s Challenger 2 main battle tanks and Warrior armored fighting vehicles (AFV), as the costs of maintaining them have skyrocketed, the Times newspaper has reported.
Costs aside, the armored fleet – which currently consists of 227 Challengers and 388 Warriors – has reportedly been deemed “obsolete.” Some in the military have argued that 21st-century warfare will rely on cyber capabilities, along with space-related and other cutting-edge warfighting technologies.
“The future is about manned/unmanned autonomous things [personnel remotely controlling or deploying unmanned equipment],” General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander of Joint Forces Command, told the Times. Spending money “on a small number of manned platforms” would put the UK “another generation behind.”