Army tests sending tanks through Channel Tunnel in case of Eastern Europe crisis

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The Army has sent a tank and armoured vehicles through the Channel Tunnel for the first time as it looks at ways to dispatch heavy armour quickly to eastern Europe in the event of a crisis with Russia.

Five armoured vehicles loaded on wagons were sent through to France soon after midnight on Wednesday as part of the logistics exercise. They completed the 40 minute return journey a few hours later.

The drill came as the Army looks for new ways to deploy armour from the UK once it closes its bases in Germany. When the bases are closed at the end of the decade, the Army will have to deploy armoured vehicles from the UK if they are needed by Nato's rapid reaction force to bolster defences in eastern Europe.

Around 800 British soldiers will deploy to Estonia later this year

The Army regularly held exercises transporting tanks on Europe’s rail network during the Cold War, but the skill has been lost as operations have focused on Afghanistan and Iraq. The Forces still use the Channel tunnel to transport containers of supplies and equipment, but they have never transported armoured vehicles.

A Warrior armoured fighting vehicle was loaded at the Army’s rail head at Ludgershall, Wiltshire. A Warrior recovery vehicle along with a Challenger tank, matching recovery vehicle and a reconnaissance vehicle was loaded at Folkestone, Kent. 

The Army’s rail transport specialists have long been dropped in defence cuts, apart from a small number of reservists, and the latest drill was carried out with civilian logistics contractors.

The Ministry of Defence said the Army can also transport tanks by ferry and by airlift if needed.

Britain is preparing to send 800 soldiers along with a small number of tanks, armoured vehicles and drones to Estonia in the spring in a Nato effort to reassure the Baltic states over Russian aggression.

Those tanks will travel from Germany, not from the UK.

An MOD spokesman said: “The Army successfully conducted an exercise to test the viability of using the Channel tunnel to move vehicles and equipment to mainland Europe, adding to the existing range of options available and increasing the agility of our Armed Forces.”