Synopsis

British and French soldiers who are part of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup in Estonia pitted their respective tanks, the UK Challenger 2 and the French Leclerc, against each other in a test of accuracy and speed of destruction at Adazi Training Base in Latvia. The competition was part of a training exercise that saw soldiers from different nations come together to practise their skills and interoperability. Although the competition was carried out in a friendly spirit, it was highly competitive. Footage includes various shots of British and French soldiers training with their tanks at Adazi Training Base in Latvia and various shots of the tanks firing.

Teaser

British and French soldiers from NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup Estonia pit the Challenger 2 tank against the Leclerc. Although carried out in a friendly spirit, it got competitive.

Transcript

--SOUNDBITE— (FRENCH W/ ENG SUBS) Lieutenant ‘Marc’, French Army “We’ve just had a little tank competition, to compare our different working methods in a friendly spirit. The firing competition was about accuracy and speed.” —SOUNDBITE—(ENGLISH) Lieutenant Seb, British Army “As soon as you put competition in front of any soldier from any nation, everybody rises to the challenge and wants to come out on top.” --SOUNDBITE— (FRENCH W/ ENG SUBS) Lieutenant ‘Marc’ “The Leclerc has an automatic loading mechanism that the Challenger doesn’t have. And the Leclerc can also be faster and quieter. But the Challenger is still a very good tank, which means we can be strong together.” —SOUNDBITE—(ENGLISH) Lieutenant Seb, British Army “It’s important to be able to work together and come together as an Alliance.” --SOUNDBITE— (FRENCH W/ ENG SUBS) Lieutenant ‘Marc’ “And that allows us to have different vehicles, different doctrines and different methods.” —SOUNDBITE—(ENGLISH) Lieutenant Seb, British Army “Obviously I’m going to say the Challenger 2 comes out on top.” --SOUNDBITE— (FRENCH W/ ENG SUBS) Lieutenant ‘Marc’ “The French won of course.” —SOUNDBITE—(ENGLISH) Lieutenant Seb, British Army “It was a pretty close-run thing. I think we actually came out as a draw.”