Cruiser Tank Challenger
The Cruiser Tank Challenger was an attempt to mount the 17-pounder gun on the Cromwell tank chassis. In order to accomodate the large weapon, the hull had to be enlarged, the armor had to be reduced and the hull machine gun had to be removed. It proved inferior to the Sherman Firefly though, and production was limited to only about 200 units. The Challenger's designation was A30.
The Avenger was a variant of the Challenger with an open turret to help reduce weight, but it never got past the prototype stage.
The Challenger was not a complete waste though, as lessons learned from it aided in the design of the Comet.
An exemplar still survives at the Overloon War Museum in The Netherlands.
