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| Science & Technology |
| 'Reincarnation of the Third Reich': a new 'Panther' |
| 2024-06-22 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Now with a 130mm main gun. And drones. The Russian equivalent of the Dems crying "racism." [RIA] The hottest new items were brought to the Eurosatory Paris arms exhibition. One of the main exhibits was the development of the German Rheinmetall - Panther KF51. Read about what a new generation of military equipment could be like in RIA Novosti's material. "Panther" debuted two years ago - in 2022, all at the same Eurosatory. Then the car made a lot of noise not only because of its combat capabilities, but also because of the race in the European arms market. Since 2017, France and Germany have been working on the creation of a new MGCS (Main Ground Combat System) platform, which could serve as a main battle tank for EU member countries. However, during this period they did not achieve much success. Only in the summer of 2023, the head of the German Ministry of Defense Boris Pistorius and his French colleague Sebastien Lecornu announced that they were ready to return to the project. The reason for such a step is the failure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive using European heavy equipment: even the newest 2A6 Leopards did not become a breakthrough weapon, as the West had hoped. In rare - for modern conflicts in general and this in particular - tank duels, Russian T-90M Proryv, according to the military, demonstrate superiority over German vehicles. However, even if there is political will, the creation of a “tank of the future” is questionable, because the process may take many years. As a result, potential MGCS developers from both countries presented separate projects that they are currently working on. And the new “Panther” is among them. THE END OF A LONG ARGUMENT? The Panther KF51, named after one of the most popular and famous tanks of the Third Reich, is an evolution of the Leopard. The Wehrmacht's Panther arguably was the best tank of WWII. The vehicle is significantly smaller and lighter than the latest modifications of the Leopard 2A7 - by almost ten tons, which makes the MBT more mobile. From its predecessor, the Panther inherited a power plant - a V12 MTU MB 873 Ka-501 diesel engine with a power reserve of 500 kilometers. At the same time, the Panther will receive a more powerful weapon - the 130-mm L52 cannon. German designers proceeded from the fact that 120-mm guns, even with armor-piercing sabot shells, do not meet the needs of modern conflicts, and it is no longer possible to modernize them. This entailed the weighting of the gun itself and the turret. However, due to this, the tank has a 50 percent greater effective firing range compared to its predecessor. It is expected that the Panther will fire two types of unitary ammunition - armor-piercing sub-caliber and high-explosive fragmentation with a programmed detonation in the air. The main weapon is complemented by a 12.7 caliber coaxial machine gun. There are other innovations as well. For a long time, one of the main “features” of Western tank building was the absence of an automatic loader: a separate crew member had to deal with feeding shells into the barrel. It was believed that the lag in rate of fire was compensated by survivability. However, the increase in calibers and, apparently, the experience of military operations in Ukraine have shown the ineffectiveness of this approach. Therefore, the method of Soviet designers was taken as a basis. The crew was reduced to three people, and the tower became uninhabited. The tank will receive an SEOSS 2 panoramic optical sensor and an EMES main aiming device, which will allow the commander and gunner to independently observe targets and fire both day and night. In addition, displays in the fighting compartment provide a 360-degree view around the vehicle. YOUR OWN DRONES The new development will also receive more advanced protection from three systems compared to the Leopards: passive, dynamic and active. Moreover, the latter (TAPS), if you believe Rheinmetall’s statements, even protects against hitting a target in the upper projection. The tank will also be equipped with a remote-controlled Natter RCWS turret for protection against drones. It will be complemented by a fully automated 7.62 mm RMG machine gun with 2,500 rounds of ammunition. They also intend to equip the vehicle with an installation for four reconnaissance UAVs and Hero-120 kamikaze drones. However, so far the tank exists only in the form of experimental models - neither Germany nor other European countries have adopted it for service. Moreover, the timing of the series release is unknown. It is quite possible - taking into account all the problems of the military-industrial complex - this will take decades. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #2 When interviewed after he was captured the Panther commander said he didn't fire because he thought the Pershing was a German tank because he had never seen a Pershing. He who fires first wins. |
| Posted by: Deacon+Blues 2024-06-22 10:17 |
| #1 ..Panther vs Pershing. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2024-06-22 07:04 |