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The Kampfpanzer Leopard is a main battle tank designed by Porsche and manufactured by Krauss-Maffei in West Germany, first entering service in 1965. Developed in an era when HEAT warheads were thought to make conventional heavy armour of limited value, the Leopard design focused on effective firepower and mobility instead of heavy protection. It featured moderate armour, only effective against low caliber autocannons and heavy machine guns, giving it a high power-to-weight ratio. This, coupled with a modern suspension and drivetrain, gave the Leopard superior mobility and cross-country performance compared to most other main battle tanks of the era, only being rivaled by the French AMX-30 and Swedish Strv 103. The main armament of the Leopard consisted of a German license-built version of the British Royal Ordnance L7 105 mm rifled gun, one of the most effective and widespread tank guns of the era.
The Leclerc is a third-generation French main battle tank developed and manufactured by Nexter Systems. It was named in honour of Marshal Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, a commander of the Free French Forces, who led the 2nd Armoured Division in World War II.
KNDS France is a French government-owned weapons manufacturer, based in Versailles. The company was wholly government-owned as GIAT from 1991 to 2006 and as Nexter from 2006 to 2015, when it merged with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) to form KNDS: a single company jointly owned, via holding companies, by the French state and the private owners of KMW. In 2024, Nexter was renamed KNDS France.
The Leopard 2 is a third generation German main battle tank (MBT). Developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s, the tank entered service in 1979 and replaced the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West German army. Various iterations of the Leopard 2 continue to be operated by the armed forces of Germany, as well as 13 other European countries, and several non-European countries, including Canada, Chile, Indonesia, and Singapore. Some operating countries have licensed the Leopard 2 design for local production and domestic development.
The Black Eagle tank or Object 640 was a presumed prototype main battle tank based upon the T-80UM-2, developed by the KBTM design bureau of Omsktransmash in the late 1990s for the Russian Federation. The Black Eagle was cancelled, with all production and development halted in 2009.
The Rheinmetall Rh-120 is a 120 mm smoothbore tank gun designed and produced in former West Germany by the Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH company. It was developed in response to Soviet advances in armour technology and development of new armoured threats. Production began in 1974, with the first version of the gun, known as the L/44 as it was 44 calibres long, used on the German Leopard 2 tank and soon produced under license for the American M1A1 Abrams and other tanks. The 120-millimetre (4.7 in) gun has a length of 5.28 metres (17.3 ft), and the gun system weighs approximately 3,317 kilograms (7,313 lb).
Stridsvagn 122 is a Swedish main battle tank that, like the German Leopard 2A5, is based on the German Leopard 2 Improved variant utilizing such newer technology as command, control, and fire-control systems, reinforced armour, and long-term combat capacity. Externally, the vehicle is distinguished from the Leopard 2A5 by the French GALIX smoke dispensers, different storage bins, and the thicker crew hatches.
Eurosatory is the largest international exhibition for the land and air-land defence and security industry. It is held every two years in the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre, Paris, France. In 2022, it gathered over 1,700 exhibitors and approximately 62,000 visitors from 150 countries. It is organised by COGES Events, a subsidiary of GICAT.
Object 187, was a Soviet experimental main battle tank developed between the late 1980s and middle 1990s. It remains a relatively unpublicized development because of high levels of secrecy surrounding the project.
The post–Cold War era is the period in world history from the collapse of the Soviet Union on December 27, 1991 to the present. During the Cold War, the Soviet domination of the Warsaw Pact led to effective standardization on a few tank designs. In comparison, France, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom had previously developed their own tank designs, but now tried to standardize their designs, while the smaller nations of NATO purchased or adapted these designs.
KNDS, formerly KMW+Nexter Defense Systems, is a European defence industry holding company, which is the result of a merger between Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter Systems. The joint holding company is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The FV4601 MBT-80 was a British experimental third-generation main battle tank, designed in the late 1970s to replace the Chieftain tank. It was eventually cancelled in favour of the Challenger 1, itself an evolution of the Chieftain design.
The Engin Blindé de Reconnaissance et de Combat Jaguar or EBRC Jaguar is a six-wheel armoured fighting vehicle developed and manufactured by KNDS France, Arquus and Thales. It is intended to succeed three reconnaissance and/or fire support vehicles in French service—the AMX-10 RC, ERC 90 Sagaie and VAB HOT—and entered service in 2022 after twelve years of development.
The Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) is a project launched in 2017 by Germany and France, aiming to replace their current Leopard 2 and Leclerc main battle tanks. Coordinated by Germany, in contrast to the other major Franco-German program launched in 2018, the MGCS will not be a single armoured fighting vehicle, but a series of systems conceived around said vehicle.
Challenger 3 (CR3) is a British fourth-generation main battle tank in development for the British Army. It will be produced by the conversion of existing Challenger 2 tanks by the British/German Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land joint venture.
The Panther KF51 is a German fourth-generation main battle tank (MBT) that is under development by Rheinmetall Landsysteme. It was unveiled publicly at the Eurosatory defence exhibition on 13 June 2022.
The Leclerc XLR is a French fourth-generation main battle tank (MBT) developed and manufactured by the Nexter division of KMW+Nexter Defense Systems (KNDS). It is a modernization of the third-generation Leclerc tank with the addition of a turret-mounted remotely-operated 7.62mm caliber machine gun manufactured by Belgian company FN Herstal, additional modular armour on the turret and hull, and rear wire cage armour to protect the engine compartment against rocket propelled grenades.
The Autoloaded and SCALable Outperforming guN or ASCALON is a French smoothbore 140 mm tank gun of 50 calibers designed by Nexter. This gun is currently mounted on the latest prototype of the EMBT, the Leclerc Evolution prototype and is proposed for the MGCS project.
EMBT is a French-German prototype of the enhanced fourth-generation main battle tank (MBT) developed and manufactured by the KMW+Nexter Defense Systems (KNDS). The tank was presented during the Eurosatory 2018, and 2022. The new version was presented during the Eurosatory 2024.
References
- 1 2 3 4 defensemagazine.com. "France's Leclerc XLR, Leclerc Evolution and EMBT-ADT 140 at Eurosatory 2024".