Ultra rare British CRARRV armoured recovery vehicle annihilated in Kursk

In the Sudzha district of Russia's Kursk region, Russian forces have destroyed a CRARRV (Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle) – a British-made armoured recovery vehicle supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Simon Q from United Kingdom, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Бронированная ремонтно-эвакуационная машина

This vehicle is considered rare and unique, as Ukraine reportedly received only two units of the CRARRV. The UK itself has a limited number of them.

The exact date, location, and details of the vehicle's destruction remain unknown.

CRARRV's Role in Battlefield Tank Repairs

The AFU received two CRARRVs in 2023; one was filmed in use in January 2024.

The CRARRV operates alongside Challenger 2 tanks and is one of the few vehicles capable of repairing and recovering these tanks in the field.

Key features of the CRARRV:

• Equipped with two winches and a hydraulic crane capable of lifting and transporting Challenger 2 tanks;
• Armed with a 7.62mm machine gun and smoke grenade launchers;
• Developed by Vickers Defence in 1985, based on the Challenger 1 chassis, and produced since 1988;
• Dimensions: 9.61m (length), 3.62m (width);
• Crew: Three operators, with space for two additional personnel.

CRARRV's Combat History: Gulf War, Kosovo, Iraq

The CRARRV first saw combat in the 1991 Gulf War during Operation Granby, supporting British Challenger tanks. It was also deployed in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq, as well as Afghanistan.

In 2020, a CRARRV was used in Scotland to assist in the aftermath of a passenger train derailment.

The UK military currently operates 80 CRARRVs, while four have been supplied to Oman.

Details

Relations between Ukraine and the United Kingdom have existed since Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The two countries enjoy close political, military, social and economic co-operation. The UK has the sixth largest Ukrainian migrant population in Europe, with approximately 200,000 Ukrainian refugees. Since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War, and especially following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations have been extremely strong as the UK has provided large amounts of military, humanitarian, financial and intelligence aid to Ukraine. Ukraine and the UK, along with Poland, agreed to form a trilateral security pact in early 2022.