Innovation

Since its origins in breaking the stalemate of WW1, the Royal Tank Regiment has lead the field in battlefield innovation, from the first Tanks that rolled across No Man’s Land to the development of the Sherman Firefly in WW2, which finally gave the Allies a Tank to defeat the infamous German Tiger. After over a century, the Regiment is still operating at the cutting edge of technical and tactical capability, and the RTR’s WAR MACHINE project is one of the most advanced unit-level innovation ventures in the British Army.

First Tank Trials

Popularly known as Mother or Big Willie, but officially His Majesty’s Land Ship Centipede, the prototype Mark I was built in Lincoln in December 1915. It moved for the first time under its own power on 13 January 1916 and did its initial driving, obstacle crossing and firing trials in Burton Park, Lincoln.

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War Machine

WAR MACHINE’s goal is to demonstrate how we can enhance CR2’s lethality, survivability and mobility prior to CR3’s in-service date. The project involves trialling capabilities that offer maximum benefit with minimal work required to integrate them. The modifications have been chosen to bolster CR2’s capabilities in light of the experience of other tanks in recent examples of peer-warfighting (e.g. in Syria, Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh). The goal is to provide a portfolio of upgrades (provided by industry) that significantly enhance the operational effectiveness of CR2. The project’s industry partners have all offered equipment and assistance plus ‘in-theatre’ support for maintaining new capabilities. Using these modular capabilities that can be fitted in a few hours or included in the vehicles standard equipment, WAR MACHINE aims to bring CR2 up to a new operating standard for modern warfare.

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