How do you move a 62.5 tonne Challenger 2 tank?

Getting the UK's heavy armour from A to B takes a handful of specialists and kit.

Heavy equipment transporter (HET) vehicles and their seven-axle trailers are used for transporting armoured vehicles, like the Challenger 2 tank, which weighs 62.5 tonnes (75.0 tonnes when combat ready with add-on armour modules).

Ten chains, following a strict tiedown scheme, are used to hold the tank in place on the trailer before it is raised up using a hydraulics system.

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After final checks, it is piggybacked onto civilian roads.

Corporal Jason McQuinn from 19 Tank Transporter Squadron explained to Forces News about the speed restrictions they must follow.

"We drive at 40mph on motorways, 35 on dual carriageways and 30 on single carriageways," he says. "Anybody stuck behind us, sorry – that's as fast as we may go.

But, he adds: "You get some idiots. 'Oh you're a big truck, I'll try and squeeze past you because you're only driving slow'. OK, well done, we'll carry on."

Dealing with impatient motorists is a peacetime problem but this heavyweight job is one that will still be required in conflict zones.