Syd Gould is a sales manager for Thales Optronics and Vehicle Sights business who was recently involved in securing a £90m contract to upgrade the UK’s Challenger 3 main battle tank (MBT).  Providing new sights, state of the art video tracking, and Wide Area Search and Detection (WASAD) capability for both the vehicle commander and gunner Thales’ contribution to this £800m upgrade programme led by RBSL will increase the range and visual detail available to the crew, providing more accurate target identification and firing ranges in all conditions, night and day. The Challenger 3 upgrade programme will make significant enhancements to the vehicle and provide the British Army with world-class capability. 

However a little over 15 years ago Syd was commanding a Challenger 2 tank in the Queen’s Royal Lancers, and is now one of nearly 400 veterans employed by Thales in the UK and who play a vital role in delivering relevant, new technology to the Armed Forces which they used to serve. We asked Syd what it meant to him to be involved in this programme.

Tell us about your experiences with the Challenger 2 tank whilst serving with the Queen’s Royal Lancers?

I served as a Challenger 2 Crew Commander and Tank Crewman on operational tours in Iraq and Bosnia and did overseas training in Canada, Denmark, Germany, and Poland. This was over a 10 – 15 year period over mixed deployments in different environments, but for me the most important thing was to be part of an effective crew, understanding our mission capabilities and limitations of firepower, mobility, and protection. 

You know what it is like to command a MBT, what will these upgrades mean to the soldiers serving in a MBT regiment today?  

A Tank Commander or indeed a Tank Crewman’s purpose is to understand, deliver and execute a mission with lethal effect. At the centre of this new contract Thales will help those serving soldiers today to embrace technology when they use our new sighting systems, sensors and mission systems. A Tank crew has a critical role for the new Brigade Combat Team, which I am sure the Royal Armoured Corps will be proud of.

How do you think your experience serving as a soldier, and specifically as tank crew, has helped you deliver new capabilities to the British Army?

Having experienced many different challenges whilst commanding or being part of a tank crew I feel I can advise and provide subject matter expertise for our team that may not have that insight meaning that we provide better, user-focused capabilities. I believe combining technology with user expertise allows Thales to meet and understand requirements. Thales has a history of providing best in class sensors and sighting systems for the British army so providing a personnel insight will no doubt continue to help the team in the future. 

What does it mean to you to be able to deliver new capability to the Challenger 3?

I am proud to be part of the winning Thales Team who, through RBSL, will deliver this to the Army and other nations looking for a best in class capability. The Royal Armoured Corps has a proud history of providing the punch when asked for.  I hope that this role in the future will not change but improve using the technology that we create in Thales. I might not command a tank anymore but now it’s my job to source and encourage the adoption of new capabilities for those that follow in my footsteps in the Royal Armoured Corps. I hope that my training and experience will mean that I stay focused in order to deliver the punch that the Army needs. I’m still really excited to be part of the team, no matter how broad that team now is – I’m right there in the turret with my fellow soldiers.   

What’s next?  What new capabilities can you see on the horizon for the soldiers of the British Army’s Royal Armoured Corps?

Tank Warfare as I knew it will change. Technology and new ammunition for the UK Armoured Regiments will provide much needed accuracy and lethality upgrades for serving soldiers.  But also new Active Protection Systems (APS) will keep them safer and upgraded mission systems will introduce AI based ‘digital crew’ members to help relieve the cognitive burden on soldiers utilising multi-sensor capabilities. I even see a future where there might not even be a crewman like me inside the tank … but maybe not yet.  Either way I think the MBTs of tomorrow will still pack a punch.

^{Challenger 3 image (top) © RBSL}