Leopard 3

[Zander]

La France veut établir une coopération avec les Émirats arabes unis pour moderniser le char Leclerc
https://www.opex360.com/2023/09/19/la-france-veut-etablir-une-cooperation-avec-les-emirats-arabes-unis-pour-moderniser-le-char-leclerc/

Frankrijk wil een samenwerking aangaan met de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten om de Leclerc-tank te moderniseren

Als je van al je zakelijke partners vijanden hebt gemaakt......

[Huzaar1]

Lol

[Harald]

La France veut établir une coopération avec les Émirats arabes unis pour moderniser le char Leclerc
https://www.opex360.com/2023/09/19/la-france-veut-etablir-une-cooperation-avec-les-emirats-arabes-unis-pour-moderniser-le-char-leclerc/

Frankrijk wil een samenwerking aangaan met de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten om de Leclerc-tank te moderniseren

[pz]

Israeli Army Takes Delivery of 5th Generation Merkava Barak Main Battle Tanks

https://www.armyrecognition.com/defense_news_september_2023_global_security_army_industry/israel_unveils_5th_generation_merkava_barak_main_battle_tank.html




Via onderstaande link is een video van bijna 5 minuten te zien van deze Merkava 5, wel Hebreeuws. (Kan de video niet vertalen).

https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/s1kygkvja

Introducing the new 5th generation Merkava, nicknamed Barak, which has just been delivered to the Israeli army within the 52nd Armored Battalion. The Merkava is Israel's iconic tank, and the primary idea behind this family of tanks is the protection of its crew. The unveiling of a new version is always a small event. Let's take a look at what we know about this new Main Battle Tank.

The Barak tank is the result of a collaborative effort involving the Armored Vehicles Directorate of the Defense Ministry, the IDF's Ground Forces, and the Armored Corps, as well as several Israeli defense companies such as Elbit Systems, Rafael, and Israel Aerospace Industries' Elta subsidiary. The tank is equipped with sensors, providing a "wide infrastructure of reliable sensors" for target detection. These sensors are part of an integrated system that allows for real-time sharing of intelligence information between the tank and other military units, heralding what the Israeli Ministry calls "a real revolution on the battlefield."

Drawing on the expertise gained from the creation, refinement, and manufacturing of its predecessors—Merkava Mk 1, Mk 2, and Mk 3 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs)—Israel has unveiled the enhanced Merkava Mk 4. The Merkava 5 represents a further upgrade of the Merkava IV, incorporating advancements in armor protection and digital warfare capabilities.

In terms of design, the Merkava V closely mirrors its predecessor, the Merkava IV. The layout features the driver's seat situated on the hull's left side, the turret positioned at the hull's rear, and the engine located at the front. The tank is operated by a four-member crew, which includes a driver, commander, gunner, and loader.

When it comes to firepower, the Merkava V retains the same armament configuration as the Merkava IV. It is equipped with a 120mm smooth-bore cannon, developed by Israel Military Industries, capable of firing high-penetration rounds and guided munitions up to a distance of 4,000 meters. Additional weaponry includes a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, another 7.62 mm machine gun mounted on the turret's right side, and an internally housed 60 mm breech-loaded mortar.

One of the features of the Barak tank is the high-tech helmet developed by Elbit Systems, dubbed IronVision. Similar to a fighter jet pilot's helmet, IronVision provides the tank commander with a 360-degree view of the battlefield and displays relevant information in real time. The helmet employs artificial intelligence capabilities to assist in target identification and engagement.

The Barak tank is also equipped with an advanced missile defense system called Windbreaker, developed by Rafael. This system is capable of detecting incoming missiles and causing them to detonate away from the tank. The tank's firepower has also been improved. The fire control system, also developed by Elbit, allows for "accurate attacks while idle and while moving," both during the day and at night.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant emphasized the symbolic timing of the tank's unveiling, as Israel marks 50 years since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He stated that the Barak tank represents "an extraordinary leap forward" in the capabilities of the Armored Corps and will "guarantee the IDF's qualitative advantage every time, in defense and attack."

The Merkava has been the IDF's main battle tank since the 1980s, and the Barak is expected to eventually replace the older Merkava models, solidifying its role as the main battle tank for the IDF's Armored Corps.

[Harald]

Dus in feite een KF51 met diesel elektrische aandrijving? Want de KF51 heeft al een Leopard 2 onderstel

Dan had ik gelijk alwel gezegd dat het een KF51 zal worden .. 

Vanuit Duitse zijde bekeken ;
KMW => vernieuwd onderstel
RM => vernieuwde toren, ala KF51

Leopard 2AX eerst met 120mm of zouden ze wel de 130mm gaan invoeren ?
ik denk zelf : de 120mm

Laat NL dan ook maar aansluiten bij deze ontwikkeling, de FR/DU samenwerking/ontwikkeling is zo goed als dood. Veel over en weer achterdocht en verwijten. Is geen samenwerking, maar eerder tegenwerking.

[Benji87]

  Leopard 2AX .. => Leopard 2 onderstel (incl verbeterde motor Diesel/Electric) + KF51 toren + RWS 30mm

Dus in feite een KF51 met diesel elektrische aandrijving? Want de KF51 heeft al een Leopard 2 onderstel

[Harald]

   Leopard 2AX .. => Leopard 2 onderstel (incl verbeterde motor Diesel/Electric) + KF51 toren + RWS 30mm

[pz]

Main Battle Tanks: Just How Many Plan Bs Does Europe Need?
Sep. 18, 2023
Source: Defense-Aerospace.com; posted Sept. 18, 2023

https://www.defense-aerospace.com/main-battle-tanks-just-how-many-plan-bs-does-europe-need/

The number of Main Battle programs "made in Europe" is rising. This trend is equally driven by the new geopolitical context, as well as national and private interests. Germany is at the forefront of this industry's dynamics.

Some say there is room for everyone, while others claim that new projects and alliances driven by German players will derail the troubled Franco-German flagship MGCS program. Let's look at the requirements and current timeline.

Recent revelations in the liberal German newspaper Handelsblatt set the cat among the pigeons last week: already struggling to get its head above water six years after being announced, the MGCS, the tank program between Germany and France, now has a possible new challenger (no pun intended): the EU-funded Future Main Battle Tank (FMBT).

Under the call for projects, several consortia can be funded, with current FMBT-related R&T likely to end up either on the MGCS' desk or as a foundation to develop its competitor. There's no fire yet, just smoke, but as the saying goes, one follows the other.

Indeed, KMW and Rheinmetall - Nexter's partners in the development of the MGCS - have signed agreements with Spanish, Swedish and Italian partners to supervise the development and the production of a new tank, possibly the next Leopard tank – called Leopard AX – with R&D resources coming from the European Defense Fund. Given that the MGCS's two other European competitors, the Leopard 2A8 and Rheinmetall's KF51 Panther, were developed by none other than the same two German manufacturers, that makes no less than three tanks competing with the "tank of the future", yet produced by the very same partners... Unless, that is, the studies launched in the end come together, on a single future long-term project.

The announcement of the FMBT deal comes, in fact, only two months after the defense ministers of the two countries attempted to find a political solution to the many stumbling blocks, with another meeting scheduled on the 22nd of September. An alarmed and appalled French press has largely covered the topic, however the reports about the death of the program are now mainly coming from Germany. Whether they are "largely exaggerated" remains to be seen.0

How the reveal stirred the German nest

While the Handelsblatt report mentioned that the expenses related to the MGCS have produced little results, other German newspapers are highlighting the fact that it is, after all, already the third joint tank program between Berlin and Paris that could be failing since the 50's. Andreas Schwarz - from the SPD currently in power - and member of the finance and defense committees of the Bundestag, castigated on social networks the investment made in the MGCS, and called for Germany to continue with the Leopard program.

On the other side, the German European representative David McAllister - of the CDU – is defending the principle of seeing the program through to the end. But his defense of the program showed its critical points: the solution to the MGCS's survival can only be political, because its very creation and justification are mainly political.

The German Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, had to intervene stating that "both projects are complementary" as the FMBT is more short-term focused and remains (for now) a quite small EU-funded project of €30 million. Regarding the MGCS program, trying to be reassuring, the German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit simply declared: "Hope always dies last". Does it mean that everything else is dead?

The competition between the two programs

It is not clear why France isn't part of the FMBT. The French website La Tribune says that Paris refused to be part of it, while the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung said that it is Berlin that vetoed the participation of Thales. The FMBT could only be a small project, making the French appear scared of their own shadow. It could also be a formal insult to Paris, creating a terrestrial equivalent of the AUKUS submarine affront. And there is, actually, enough to justify the launch of the FMBT project.

In industrial and military terms, it's hard to deny that Germany is closer to its new partners, often preferring a heavier tank, and all of them already members of the "LEO User Club," whereas France has been historically more focused on mobility for its armored vehicles.

Time to market also leaves little room for a new tank: the Leopard 2A8 will occupy the market for at least another 10 years, with a backlog already stretched until 2032. The Leopards produced will then have a lifespan of 30 to 40 years. The MGCS could therefore arrive too late on a European market that will no longer exist.




The worry is that France needs a replacement for its Leclerc fleet by 2035, whereas the best commercial timetable for the MGCS would be either in the coming five to ten year at the latest, or twenty years later. Speaking in front of French MPs in April, the Bundeswehr's Inspector General, General Carsten Breuer, stated: "We have to be able to provide short-term solutions, because the threat is there today, and there's no point in having great solutions fifteen years from now."

The FMBT announcement therefore possibly started a race between the MGCS and the Leopard AX, with the first mover taking the wind out of the sails of the other.

Is a happy ending still possible?

Honestly? Unlikely... Unless, perhaps, KMW and Rheinmetall want to have it both ways, developing a heavy tank with Sweden, Italy and Spain, as well as a lighter tank with France? This could be the ideal way forward for the MGCS project: the European market is large enough for two tank models – an heavy one for Berlin and a lighter one for Paris – while the creation of a second, heavier version would help the French side in their workshare negotiations, as KMW and Rheinmetall would have less pressure to get as much as possible of what would then be the unique tank in Europe for decades.

Having two tanks would also help bypass a major stumbling block, as Nexter is pushing for its 140mn canon while Rheinmetall advocates its 130mn one. To summarize, a second tank could release some pressure, as long as it would be forming part of a two-variants MGCS program...

But Paris is getting more suspicious, as Berlin successively and unilaterally postponed the common long-range artillery program, cancelled both the Tiger III combat helicopter and the MAWS maritime patrol aircraft, and created the European Sky Shield air-defense program with 19 countries excluding France, not to mention the continuing difficulties of the SCAF program...

Germans officials will have to be quite persuasive in forthcoming meetings with their French counterparts if they want to convince them that the MGCS isn't a vile deception. The MGCS program could well be the next casualty in the tense Franco-German defense relationship, with the ability to drag the SCAF/FCAS program in its fall.

In this regard, the forthcoming meeting of the French and German sides in Evreux on September the 22nd will be crucial.

[Huzaar1]

Ik zag hem voorbij komen. Frankrijk krijgt eindelijk eens wat het verdient.

[Benji87]

[Harald]

Army Axes M1A2 SEPv4 Abrams, Bets Big On Next-Gen "M1E3"

The service has elected to ditch development of the M1A2 SEPv4 in favor of a lighter, smarter, more survivable M1 Abrams main battle tank.

The U.S. Army is pushing ahead with plans for a next-generation M1 Abrams main battle tank, which the service is calling "M1E3," having now decided to axe development of the M1A2 System Enhanced Package Version 4 (SEPv4).

According to the service, the move away from SEPv4 relates to the need for tanks with increased mobility and survivability, in light of the war in Ukraine, with lighter-weight, more adaptable systems required on the battlefields of 2040 and beyond. It's unclear at present how the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) light tank initiative factors into this decision, if at all.

The Army announced its intention to pursue a more ambitious modernization strategy for the M1 earlier this week. "The new approach balances costs with the Army's needs and invests in the nation's defense industrial base," it said. Initial operational capability (IOC) of the M1E3 is anticipated by the early 2030s. Despite the designation having been used by the service to describe various future 'modernized' Abrams concepts since at least 2010, it notes that "the M1E3 Abrams nomenclature is a return to the Army's standard use of its type classification and nomenclature system for our combat vehicle fleet." The 'E' especially is used to illustrate the significant engineering changes involved compared to the previous system, and the type's prototype status, per the service.

"The development of the M1E3 Abrams will include the best features of the M1A2 SEPv4 and will comply with the latest modular open systems architecture standards, allowing quicker technology upgrades and requiring fewer resources," the Army says.

.../...

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/army-axes-m1a2-sepv4-abrams-bets-big-on-next-gen-m1e3

[Benji87]

Het feit dat het eindelijk gelukt is om die turbine eruit te trappen is al een heel stap voorwaarts voor de Abrams. Ik ben heel benieuwd hoe die nieuwe diesel elektrische aandrijving uitpakt.

[Harald]

America's next tank: Army greenlights more aggressive M1 Abrams upgrade

The Army plans to "to design a more survivable, lighter tank that will be more effective on the battlefield at initial fielding, and more easy to upgrade in the future," the service announced tonight.

The Army will pursue a more ambitious upgrade to its M1 Abrams main battle tank than previously planned — and could have soldiers inside it by early 2030, service officials announced today.

"The Abrams tank can no longer grow its capabilities without adding weight, and we need to reduce its logistical footprint," said Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, Program Executive Officer for Ground Combat Systems said in a press release. "The war in Ukraine has highlighted a critical need for integrated protections for soldiers, built from within instead of adding on."

"We appreciate that future battlefields pose new challenges to the tank as we study recent and ongoing conflicts" wrote Brig. Gen. Geoffrey Norman, director of the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Cross Functional Team. "We must optimize the Abrams' mobility and survivability to allow the tank to continue to close with and destroy the enemy as the apex predator on future battlefields."

General Dynamics Land Systems and the Army have been eyeing various paths ahead for the current tank fleet for several years. Existing plans called for an Abrams System Enhancement Package version 4 (SEPv4) but there was also consideration of a new overall design or more aggressive upgrade. Service leaders ultimately settled on closing out the SEPv4 program, giving the development announced today the title of M1E3 Abrams which will include improvements to sustain the fleet in 2040 and beyond.

As for the new path ahead, the service explained that the "E" designation represents an engineering change that is "more significant than a minor modification" and will serve as a designation for a prototype. Although the Army did not detail how that engineering change will play out, it noted that it plans to take the "best features" of the M1A2 SEPv4 and combine it with the latest modular open systems architecture standards. If done successfully, it will enable industry to quickly add in new technologies over time for "a more survivable, lighter tank."

Last year, GDLS unveiled a lighter 59-ton Abrams X technology demonstrator to show the Army what an alternative path then the one it is on for the SEPv4. While that demonstrator will not be the final version the M1E3 takes, it did showcase options for a revamped tank — and likely ones the Army will consider with the final new design.

"[The Army has] been concerned about the weight class of the Abrams SEPv3... that is pushing 76 to 78 tons combat loaded," Scott Taylor, the company's director for US business development, told Breaking Defense during a March 21 interview. He noted that the new technologies for the SEPv4 will push that weight "slightly higher."

"What 76 and 78 [ton] tanks do to the military is challenge its logistical supplies, its ability to get across bridging in many of the countries that we might be called upon to fight and, so, specifically [the] Abrams X was meant to stimulate the conversation about what the zone of the possible would be to lighten the tank, integrate hybrid-electric drive capability and technology to produce silent mobility and silent watch capability, substantially increasing the ... lethality of that platform," Taylor said.

https://breakingdefense.com/2023/09/americas-next-tank-army-greenlights-more-aggressive-m1-abrams-upgrade/

[Harald]

TROPHY APS SELECTED AS THE BASELINE APS OF THE NEW LEOPARD 2 A8 MBT CONFIGURATION WITH FIRST CONTRACTS AWARDED FOR GERMANY AND NORWAY

https://euro-trophy.de/news/trophy-aps-selected-as-the-baseline-aps-of-the-new-leopard-2-a8-mbtconfiguration-with-first-contracts-awarded-for-germany-and-norway/

[pz]

US Army scraps Abrams tank upgrade, unveils new modernization plan

Ontwikkeling zal meer richting Abrams X gaan denk ik. Bemanning in de romp 3 x, autolader, minder gewicht, APS etc.  Addendum, gezien de vorige artikelen lijkt de kans groot dat Abrams en Leopard beiden een evolutionaire opvolging krijgen als MGCS op de fles gaat (voor de Leo in dit geval). 

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2023/09/06/us-army-scraps-abrams-tank-upgrade-unveils-new-modernization-plan/

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is scrapping its current upgrade plans for the Abrams main battle tank and pursuing a more significant modernization effort to increase its mobility and survivability on the battlefield, the service announced in a statement Wednesday.

The Army will end its M1A2 System Enhancement Package version 4 program, and instead develop the M1E3 Abrams focused on challenges the tank is likely to face on the battlefield of 2040 and beyond, the service said. The service was supposed to receive the M1A2 SEPv4 version this past spring.

The SEPv4 will not go into production as planned, Army Under Secretary Gabe Camarillo told Defense News in a Sept. 6 interview at the Defense News Conference in Arlington, Virginia. "We're essentially going to invest those resources into the [research and] development on this new upgraded Abrams," he said. "t's really threat-based, it's everything that we're seeing right now, even recently in Ukraine in terms of a native active protection system, lighter weight, more survivability, and of course reduced logistical burdens as well for the Army."

The Abrams tank "can no longer grow its capabilities without adding weight, and we need to reduce its logistical footprint," Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, the Army's program executive officer for ground combat systems, said in the statement. "The war in Ukraine has highlighted a critical need for integrated protections for soldiers, built from within instead of adding on."

Ukraine's military will have the chance to put the M1 Abrams to the test when it receives the tanks later this month. The country is fighting off a Russian invasion that began nearly two years ago.

The M1E3 Abrams will "include the best features" of the M1A2 SEPv4 and will be compliant with modular open-systems architecture standards, according to the statement, which will allow for faster and more efficient technology upgrades. "This will enable the Army and its commercial partners to design a more survivable, lighter tank that will be more effective on the battlefield at initial fielding and more easy to upgrade in the future."

"We appreciate that future battlefields pose new challenges to the tank as we study recent and ongoing conflicts," said Brig. Gen. Geoffrey Norman, director of the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team. "We must optimize the Abrams' mobility and survivability to allow the tank to continue to close with and destroy the enemy as the apex predator on future battlefields."

Norman, who took over the team last fall, spent seven months prior to his current job in Poland with the 1st Infantry Division. He told Defense News last year that the division worked with Poles, Lithuanians and other European partners on the eastern flank to observe happenings in Ukraine.

Weight is a major inhibitor of mobility, Norman said last fall. "We are consistently looking at ways to drive down the main battle tank's weight to increase our operational mobility and ensure we can present multiple dilemmas to the adversary by being unpredictable in where we can go and how we can get there."

General Dynamic Land Systems, which manufactures the Abrams tank, brought what it called AbramsX to the Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference in October 2022. AbramsX is a technology demonstrator with reduced weight and the same range as the current tank with 50% less fuel consumption, the American firm told Defense News ahead of the show.

The AbramsX has a hybrid power pack that enables a silent watch capability and "some silent mobility," which means it can run certain systems on the vehicle without running loud engines.

The tank also has an embedded artificial intelligence capability that enables "lethality, survivability, mobility and manned/unmanned teaming," GDLS said.

The Army did not detail what the new version might include, but GDLS is using AbramsX to define what is possible in terms of weight reduction, improved survivability and a more efficient logistics tail.

The Army awarded GDLS a contract in August 2017 to develop the SEPv4 version of the tank with a plan then to make a production decision in fiscal 2023, followed by fielding to the first brigade in fiscal 2025.

The keystone technology of the SEPv4 version consisted of a third-generation forward-looking infrared camera and a full-site upgrade including improved target discrimination.

"I think the investment in subsystem technologies in the v4 will actually carry over into the upgraded ECP [Engineering Change Proposal] program for Abrams," Camarillo said. "However, the plan is to have robust competition at the subsystem level for a lot of what the new ECP will call for, so we're going to look for best-of-breed tech in a lot of different areas," such as active protection systems and lighter weight materials.

For instance, the Army has kitted out the tank with Trophy active protection systems as an interim solution to increase survivability. The Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems develops the Trophy. But since the system is not integrated into the design of the vehicle, it adds significant weight, sacrificing mobility.

The Army plans to produce the M1A2 SEPv3 at a reduced rate until it can transition the M1E3 into production.

The M1E3 is expected to reach initial operational capability in the early 2030s, the Army said. "As longer-range threats increase in both lethality and survivability, the M1E3 Abrams will be able to defeat those threats," the statement said.