Tanks for the memories... Britain ends tank production after 93 years - and future models will have GERMAN guns

They have fought alongside British soldiers for generations, playing heroic roles on historic battlefields such as the Somme, Cambrai and El Alamein. They have carried famous names such as Centurion, Churchill, Cromwell and Crusader.

But now, nearly a century after inventing the first armoured warhorse - to storm through German lines in the First World War - Britain is to stop building its own tanks.

In the week British troops formally ended their military operations in Iraq, BAe Systems, which makes the Army's Challenger 2 tanks, revealed it was closing its tank-making operation at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

It is also shutting its armour business at Telford in Shropshire and at other locations because it sees no prospect of new Government orders.

The closures could result in 500 job losses and means the Army is likely to go into battle in future with tanks using German guns and Swedish chassis.

The last squadron of British Challengers began returning to the UK from Iraq this weekend, with little chance of them being sent to Afghanistan because of the difficult terrain there.

Defence Secretary John Hutton has declared 'a rebalancing of investment in technology, equipment and people to meet the challenge of irregular warfare'.

He said he planned to strengthen and enlarge Special Forces but gave no hint of even a medium-weight tank in the Army's future.

But General Patrick Cordingley, Commander of the Desert Rats in the first Gulf War, warned: 'I think we have got ourselves into a real tangle here. If you look at the economic troubles of the 1930s, it ended in a terrible war.

'Are we saying it could never happen again, that we will not be drawn into a war where we will need a full range of forces and equipment?'

The Army has 250 Challenger 2 tanks and they are among the best in the world. They withstood the best Soviet-made tanks used by the Iraqi army in both Gulf wars.

Experts insist that modern warfare require smaller, faster armoured vehicles. Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a former infantry commander, said: 'The tank is not as relevant to today's form of battle.'

The British tanks 'Little Willie' and 'Big Willie' - built in 1915 - were the world's first. One of the most famous battles involving British tanks was in 1917, when the Tank Corps took 476 into action at Cambrai, breaching 12 miles of the German front.

An MoD spokesman said: 'BAe remains a highly valued partner in many equipment programmes and we very much hope that this is not the end for tank-building in the UK.'
Daily Mail