The German company Rheinmetall revealed at the Eurosatory defense fair in France, the new combat vehicle KF51 Panther, created from scratch as a European battle tank proposal for the coming decades.
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The main armament of the battle tank is the 130 mm Rheinmetall Future Gun System cannon, featuring an automatic loading system and up to 50% more effectiveness in long-range combat compared to 120 mm cannons.
A 12.7 mm machine gun complements the main armament and can be supplemented with another remotely controlled machine gun of 7.62 mm caliber, for defense against close targets and drones.
With a standard crew of three (driver, commander, and gunner), the Panther can carry an additional person for the control of supplementary armaments or a company or battalion commander.
The electronics are fully integrated, and the protection systems consist of active, passive, and reactive elements.
Weighing 59 tons, the KF51 Panther is four tons heavier than the Russian T-14 Armata.
However, it’s lighter than the German Leopard 2 (66.5 tons) and the American M1 Abrams (66.8 tons). According to the manufacturer, the operational range is estimated at 500 kilometers.