The Challenger 2 is the main tank in service with the British Army since 1994, having operated in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Iraq in the meantime; it also appears in Gaijin Entertainment's free online war game, War Thunder: War Thunder's wiki describes it as "a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield due to its superior firepower and armor," but it has a number of clear drawbacks that require a skilled commander to make the most of.

There is a considerable commitment to accuracy in the game: the "Simulator Battle" mode is committed to realistic vehicle and weapon physics, and players participate in lively and detailed discussions about the hardware on the War Thunder forums. For example, when the Challenger 2 tank was announced in 2019, this 319-page thread was started and continues to grow.

Earlier this week, however, things got out of hand when one player took his commitment to realism a little too far. The player, who claimed to be the commander of a real Challenger 2 tank and a former member of the British Army's Armored Test and Development Unit, complained that War Thunder's in-game model was drastically off the mark in that it left the game far more vulnerable to enemy fire than the real world, and To prove his point, he posted a classified image of the Challenger 2 Army Equipment Support Publication, which is essentially a user manual for tanks.

According to the UK Defense Journal, the images were heavily edited and had "UK Restricted" labels on them, but these were erased and stamped "Unclassified." Gaijn, of course, reacted with extreme caution, stating that "proof that the document has been declassified and where it was obtained from is required" before any action can be taken based on it.

Shortly thereafter, the senior technical moderator stated that the Foreign Office had contacted the British Ministry of Defense and informed them that the manual was indeed classified in writing.

"I can confirm that it looks like a genuine excerpt," a representative of MoD Abbey Wood Defense Equipment and Support told the site. "It certainly has not been previously published by DE&S under FOI or considered for redacting. We also do not recognize the "unclassified" stamp as having been used by DE&S.

"Continuing to disseminate this is a violation of the Official Secrets Act, as stated in the warning on the cover of this document, and is a crime that could result in a prison sentence of up to 14 years if prosecuted," the moderator wrote in response to the confidential posting.

"You are already aware of this. As a service person, you have signed a declaration that you understand this law and the actions it compels you to take. Every time you make this post, you put us (international representatives of Gaijin), especially British citizens, in a difficult position." The warning states that unauthorized retention of protected documents is a crime.

It remains unclear whether the player in question is actually a tank commander or a member of the British military, but as the British Defense Journal points out, Tidworth, Wiltshire, which they claim is the home of the Royal Tank Regiment, which operates Challenger 2. It is also possible that this is simply a declassification error rather than an act of treason in pursuit of a better video game experience.

But even if it was an honest mistake, the whole affair is fascinating. For one thing, it stems from a controversy regarding the size of the gap between the main turret structure and the hull. And apparently this is not the first time this has happened: community manager Smin1080p, in his initial response to this post, wrote, "The last time such a document was shared that was claimed to be "unclassified" was in fact still classified and should never have How many times have military secrets been shared on War Thunder forums?"

More likely, sharing classified Department of Defense documents on War Thunder's forums may be a violation of the Public Records Protection Act, but apparently it is not a prohibited offense: the account that posted the image is still active and, by all accounts, in good standing.

Unfortunately for the avid War Thunder player in question, their efforts to make Challenger 2 a tougher tank were in vain: the posted document may have been accurate, but because it is classified, it does not qualify as "valid source material", no changes will be made.

"We only use non-confidential documents when working on our games," Gaijin Entertainment explained in an email. 'If a user publishes a confidential document on the official War Thunder forums, we will remove it as soon as possible. We cannot know the true identity of the user who posted the Challenger 2 document, but with so many War Thunder players serving in their countries' armed forces, all manner of things are possible."