The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence DE&S (Defence Equipment & Support) organization has chosen BAE Systems and Rheinmetall Defence as preferred bidders for the assessment phase for the life extension project of British Army’s Challenger 2 main battle tank.

Germany’s Rheinmetall Defence is teaming with BMT, Pearson Engineering, Supacat and Thales UK. British firm BAE Systems is heading a consortium that also includes other companies such as Safran Electronics & Defense, Moog, General Dynamics UK, Leonardo and Qinetiq.

The project is aimed at upgrade up to 227 of the combat vehicle.