Trojan armoured engineer vehicle

The Trojan armoured engineer vehicle is a British combat engineering vehicle built on the chassis of the Challenger 2 tank and operated by the Royal Engineers, where it takes the role of the Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers that the Chieftain-based AVRE once held. In place of the turret it carries a large hydraulic excavator arm that digs, moves obstacles and deposits the fascine carried at its rear, and it is usually fitted with a plough on the front that detonates mines or pushes them aside to clear a safe channel for the vehicles behind. For self-defence it has only a 7.62 millimetre machine gun, and it can tow a trailer carrying the Python, a rocket-propelled explosive hose that clears a path 7 metres wide and 230 metres long. The Ministry of Defence awarded the contract in 2001 to Vickers Defence Systems, which BAE Systems bought in 2004, and the project was known as the Future Engineer Tank. Thirty-three were built at the Newcastle upon Tyne plant, the first exercise use came in May 2007 and the first operational deployment was to Afghanistan in 2009.