THE Russians have launched their newest tank - the Armata - said to be the most sophisticated tank designed to date.

The Turkish Army is due to commence production of its newest tank the Atlay and plans to buy 1,000 to be produced in the next few years.

Even Germany has announced designs for the Leopard 3.

Although India, China and Pakistan have produced their own tanks they have shown a keen interest in buying the Armata.

It's time Britain built it's own tank factory. The Army could buy the Leopard for the British Army but I would not like to see that happen.

The UK has still produced some of the best tanks, including the Challenger 2. The Challenger is still an impressive tank and improvements and upgrades could be made.

New batches of Challenger tanks could roll off the production lines with a more powerful engine reaching maximum speeds of 45mph. At present the Challenger can do 37 mph. The question is where would the new site be situated and could the equipment be provided?

The UK still has best engineers in the world.

Alistair Rutter,

Bishop Auckland.