Editing Challenger 2 (section)

===Prototypes===
Vickers received a £90&nbsp;million contract for a demonstrator vehicle to be delivered by September 1990. Part of this proof-of-concept phase was the demonstration that a [[depleted uranium]] projectile and more powerful gunpowder charge could be developed for the updated "CHARM" 120&nbsp;mm gun developed at Royal Ordinance, which would give it capability against the latest Soviet designs.<ref name="Simon Dunstan page 5">{{cite book |last1=Dunstan |first1=Simon |last2=Bryan |first2=Tony |title=Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank 1987–2006 |page=5}}</ref><ref name="Abrams evaluation"/> The demonstration phase had three milestones for progress, with dates of September 1989, March 1990, and September 1990. At the last of these milestones, Vickers was to have met 11 key criteria for the tank's design.<ref name="Simon Dunstan page 5"/>

The demonstration phase was generally successful; the major design was completed by August 1989, and production of a series of nine prototypes began. These were largely complete August 1990, and the program as a whole considered successfully completed on time in September. By this point, the [[Gulf War]] had started and Challenger 1 was sent to [[Iraq]], where it performed far better than its initial showing would suggest, including performing several very long range kills against Iraqi armor, including one at over {{convert|5|km}} range. This performance bolstered the MoD's confidence in British armour.<ref name="leclerc"/>