Challenger II

Who's up for a challenge?

59 (Elite)

79 (Heroic)

178 (Heroic)

Can crush infantry

* Battlefield Mechanic Drone
* Scout Drone
* Hellfire Drone
* Jet Sniper Drone
* Stinger Drone

## Introduction

The British **FV4034 Challenger II** is General Ironside's main battle tank unit.

## Overview

Imported from the United Kingdom, Ironside chose the Challenger II to be the backbone of his ramrod division for its famous reliability and durability. Its advanced Chobham armor provides decent protection against direct fire weapons. Ironside also opted to install composite armor blocks on his Challengers, further increasing their durability.

The Challenger II is armed with a powerful and very accurate 120 mm rifled gun. Its gun is rifled as opposed to smoothbore guns used by all other modern MBTs.

Despite its conventional looks and the fact it's a tier 1 tank, the Challenger II is quite a powerful tank. In fact it is the third most powerful tier 1 MBT in the game, beaten only by Tank General Kwai's War Master and Super Weapon General Alexander's Centurion. Any general who doesn't set up proper anti-armor defense will soon come to regret it.

Like most other USA combatant vehicles, the Challenger II can equip a variety of drones to increases its battle efficiency.

## Upgrades

**Composite Armor**:

* Increase the durability of the Challenger II. Available at the Strategy Center at Rank 3.

### Drones

Rank 1:

* **Battlefield Mechanic**: Repairs the Challenger II on the field.
* **Scout Drone**: Detects stealth units, does not detects mines and traps.

Rank 3:

* **Jet Sniper Drone**: Anti-infantry drone, armed with dual sniper rifles.
* **Stinger Drone**: Anti-air drone, armed with a stinger missile launcher.
* **Hellfire Drone**: Anti-armor drone, armed with a hellfire missile launcher.

## Assessment

Pros:

* The third most powerful tier 1 tank in Contra.
* Very effective against structures and vehicles.
* Can crush infantry and fire on the move.
* Decent durability, can be further increased with Composite Armor upgrade.
* Can be upgraded with drones to increase combat effectiveness.

Cons:

* Expensive for a tier 1 tank ($900).
* Ineffective against infantry, especially against anti-armor infantries, without the Jet Sniper Drone.
* Helpless against aircraft without the Stinger Drone upgrade.

## Quotes

Since Patch 2, the Challenger Tank has been given a custom voice with a British accent. Prior to that, the Challenger II simply reused the Laser Paladin's voice lines.

### When Selected

* Reporting, sir!
* What's the plan today, sir?
* The elite of the Royal Armor, sir!
* British Challenger tank responding, sir.
* Happy to help our allies, sir.

### When Ordered to Move

* We'll seek out the enemy.
* Let's not waste any more time, then.
* Moving to checkpoint.
* Moving out.
* Let's go for it.

### When Ordered to Attack

* On my mark, attack!
* Huzzah!
* Crush them!
* Come on lads, let's get them!
* Starting assault on the enemy.

## Gallery

A group of Challenger II tanks.Challenger II with Composite Armor upgrade. Note the extra ERA blocks on the track skirts.The Challenger II in real-life.
## Trivia

* The Challenger uses the Crusader Tank's unit ID, thus if any custom map where Crusader Tanks will spawn is opened in Contra, Challenger II tanks will replace them. However, the Challenger II is more powerful than the Crusader since according the game files it has the Paladin Tank's main cannon.
* The Challenger uses the Marauder Tank's firing sound.
* While the model of the Challenger II includes smoke screen launchers and a coaxial machine gun, these weapons are cosmetic only and have no in-game effects.

## See also

* **Centurion**
* **Laser Crusader**
* **Coyote**