In June 1985, it was announced that Vickers Defence Systems of Newcastle-upon-Tyne had been awarded a contract for the development and initial production of 30 Challenger Armoured Repairand Recovery Vehicles for the British Army.

The first of six preproduction CR ARRVs was completed in August 1987 and all six were completed by 1988. Of these, two were used for trials by the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and the other four were retained by Vickers Defence Systems.

Late in 1989, an additional 47 CR ARRVs were ordered from Vickers Defence Systems and in 1990, a further three were ordered, bringing the total order for the British Army to 80 vehicles. Of these, 32 were built at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the remaining 48 at Leeds.

Production was undertaken at both Newcastle-upon-Tyne ancl Leeds and the first production vehicles were completed at Newcastle-upon-Tyne in April 1990 with the first vehicles being completed at Leeds in November 1990. In total, 12 Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicles were deployed to Saudi Arabia in late 1990 and used in Operation Desert Storm.

Standard equipment on the vehicle includes a 52 tonne hydraulic winch, an independent auxiliary winch, a hydraulically operated crane that can lift a complete Challenger 1 or 2 power pack and a front-mounted multipurpose blade which can be used as an earth anchor, dozer blade or crane stabiliser.