The phrase "designed to take on" is perfectly correct and usable in written English.
You can use this phrase when you want to express that something has been made or developed with the purpose of facing a certain challenge or obstacle. For example: "The new model of car is designed to take on the harsh terrain of the mountains."
It's more like a rugged four-by-four, designed to take on the Taliban," Levey said.
Spending on big weapons systems designed to take on an aggressive rival superpower looks increasingly irrelevant and is being cut.
As a backup, roads were built below grade and designed to take on excess water when storm drains overflow.
But now that organization, forged in the fire of an epidemic and designed to take on the establishment, is firmly a part of that establishment.
But the hole has been shored up, and the fairway is now designed to take on water so the green does not become inundated.
The exception to the non-anthropomorphic, however, was the iPal, a child-size robot designed to take on distinctly adult responsibilities.
Corel once had designs to take on Microsoft in the world of software.
Come summer Intel will debut a whole line of similarly low-power chips based on the Centrino laptop design to take on Opteron in all server categories.
It may seem like folly for Asus to challenge mighty Apple, but for the past three years the electronics maker has been polishing its brand and enhancing its design to take on better-known competitors.
A new set of clothes — a uniform — is forced on you, designed to take away one more marker of your identity.
Unfortunately, you just know that there will be producers pitching ideas designed to take Katie on some kind of vision quest, probably via some terrible shit-out-of-water format in which she's confronted with her prejudices and encouraged to grow.
