Germany's new Panther KF51 tank

Not bad, Germany. Not bad at all.

Hopefully it has a better transmission than the first Panther! Though I am seeing a pretty severe shot trap under the front turret.

Bloomberg:

Rheinmetall AG unveiled a new main battle tank to replace the flagship Leopard 2 as demand for military equipment is poised to surge in the wake of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The KF51 Panther will be a “game changer on the battlefields of the future,” Rheinmetall said this week when presenting the 59-ton vehicle at the Eurosatory 2022 defense exhibition in Paris.

Asia Times:

The KF51 Panther boasts a 130-mm Future Gun System (FGS), which gives a 50% performance increase against 120-mm tank guns in Western service.

a reply to: gb540

I saw this a few days ago.
The bigger gun is ready for a much bigger punch but honestly I’m not sure that this tank will ever have an opponent to justify its production. The Russians performance in Ukraine has been pretty pathetic.

a reply to: gb540

Very nice new tank BUT the name makes me think of a chicken burger.

So that big gun interesting I wonder what range advantages this may give it and what kinds of new ammunition it is capable of firing.

The last Panther if I recall used the same chassis as the Abrams and so are arguably just an Abrams in disguise so I would assume this is an up to date modernised chassis.

Either way it looks stonking.

It sports the same legendary engine than the Leopard II.

A 12 cylinder in V configuration, intercooled bi-turbo diesel. 47.2L displacement done by a 170mm bore and stroke length 175mm. Capable of 1500hp and a mind blowing 4750 NM torque.

I am looking at the spec sheets currently, 800HP from the low RPM range on. It is built not far from here.

what with cheap man-operated missiles I wonder if tanks will be white elephants on future battlefields.

Russia apparently never deployed their new T-14 cuz its taking so long to make them.

www.19fortyfive.com...

The T-14 may not be in Ukraine, simply because Moscow doesn’t have enough to actually send. As previously reported, Russian tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod first said the T-14 would be delivered in 2018. Then the distribution of the first nine tanks would come in 2019. After this date came and went, the leadership said 20 would be tested and 80 would be ready by the end of 2021.

one of the biggest militaries on earth and they're talking about ten and twenty units

a reply to: ElGoobero

I think both tanks and ATGMs will become robotic units that engage targets autonomously. At that point, tanks won't have to be much more than a gun with enough structure around it to protect the weapons system from casual damage.

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

I think the KF51 was built with that in mind. It's fully automated, just that the controls still sit in the cabin. It's hard to find anything about it. I only got the info because I read it has the same engine.

So I dialed into my shop and downloaded the spec sheets for the engine that are public but still need to be requested with credentials. I can't post them here though do not want to loose access and the ID is watermarked on the spec sheet.

Rich future toys that will never see combat in any considerable numbers. Germany is going to sell these to other countries I guess? Germany isn't going to be fighting any wars anytime soon.

I wonder if all of the anti tank weapons that the west has supplied Ukraine with would be sufficient to take these out too for a fraction of the price.

I think the future of tank warfare is more like a RPG mounted on some small tracks with a battery and a smart phone controlling it. Drive up to the target with the video on your smart phone then click fire.

Remote controlled ground drones. Simpler and cheaper than building an automated system and controllable form anywhere.

Tanks but no tanks I guess.

a reply to: gb540

I like the new tank designs overall and I'm glad to see tanks still have a place on the Battle Field .

Tanks are vastly underestimated on the Modern Battle Field , If and when the Modern Tech starts to go down during WW3 i.e. Satellites , Drones , Guided ordinance etc etc etc .

Then a single tank could dominate a battle space , Just like the German Tigers during WW2.

The only thing I dis-like about modern tanks are the Auto-Loaders , I just don't trust them if it should go down the tank is literally a sitting duck.

a reply to: ElGoobero

Not really true and Russia is only using 10% of its force in Ukraine.
Unless they were facing a much capable nation not with "NATO" they likely would send more modernized vehicles.

Ukrainian has all the same military vehicles from the soviet union days.


Look at Yemeni conflict even if the Saudis have M1A1 tanks they still got managed to be destroyed by bare footed rebels of Yemeni rebel fighters.
The Saudis clearly lacked proper training clearly.

Having watched the devastation drones have caused to Armoured vehicles I’m so glad I chose the infantry I’d rather sit in a whole in the ground with a bayonet on my bondook any day.

I suppose the most important questions are what is the RP and SL cost when it hits War Thunder?

I think Leopard 2 looks better. All these new designs lack taste.