Inside modern army tank8/23/2023 Due to financial cuts, only 254 tanks were fully operational in 2011. By 2007, 355 tanks were to have been operational, 320 of them incorporated in four regiments, each with 80 Leclercs.Īs of 2010, after a French defence review, each of the four regiments operated 60 Leclerc tanks for a total of 240 in operational units with a further 100 in combat ready reserve. This was the beginning of the 96-unit third series. In 2004, Batch 10 was presented, incorporating a new armor package and information systems that could share the location of enemy and friendly units with all vehicles on the battlefield. Īll previous Leclerc batches were to be modernised to Batch 9 standards as of 2005. But price tags seemed to be a determining factor and the Greek Army selected the Leopard. The Leclerc achieved a 500 km range, higher than the others. Both the Leclerc and Leopard sustained a nine-round-per-minute firing rate, higher than those of the other tanks. Its hunter-kill test performance was weaker, with the Leclerc scoring 13 out of 20, compared with 17 for the Leopard. The Leclerc received a perfect score at the firing range, with 20 rounds fired from 1500 and at 2000 m away. In 2003, the Greek army sought to acquire a new tank and tested the T-80U, T-84, Leclerc, M1A2 Abrams, Challenger 2E and Leopard 2A5. Batch 8 units had a modernised electronic system, and Batch 9 replaced the ATHOS thermal imaging with a SAGEM Iris providing better resolution. It also incorporated minor improvements in the visor. Batch 7 introduced a transmission system to the command vehicle, and a data system giving instantaneous vision of the state of all battle tanks and acquired targets. The second series started with Batch 6, with an added climate control system in the right rear of the turret. Batches 4 and 5 were better built, eliminating recurring powerplant problems, and are still in service after having been refitted in the late 1990s. Batch 3 followed with further improvements and used to define the doctrine of use as well as instruction. ![]() The 17 units of Batch 2 shipped with turret and hull armour improvements, but were diagnosed with engine and suspension problems and quickly retired. Mass production started in 1990 with the four-unit Batch 1, used mainly for comparative tests in foreign countries. In 1986, the project was started under the name "Leclerc", and six prototypes were swiftly built. Partnership with a foreign state was sought to limit unit cost, and found when the UAE ordered 436 vehicles, adding to the 426 units already planned for the French Army. The gunner's position, looking down from the turret roof The higher level of protection would also protect against shaped charges. Nevertheless, it was a stated design goal to achieve at least double the protection against KE-penetrators in comparison to the level attained in then-current MBTs of the fifty-ton weight class, the latter indicated at about 400 mm RHA equivalency. Mobility for evading enemy fire and fire control systems were given particular attention. In contrast to most Western programmes of the time, more emphasis was placed on active than passive protection to limit overall vehicle mass. The importation of foreign equipment, like the M1 Abrams, the Leopard 2, or the Merkava, had been studied and rejected. It was announced that a purely French battle tank would be developed, called "EPC" ( Engin Principal de Combat). Fundamental disagreements about its desired configuration led to a failure of this cooperation in December 1982. In February 1980 however, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with West Germany involving the joint development of a MBT, called the Napoléon I in France and Kampfpanzer III in Germany. ![]() In 1975, a working committee was created, and in 1977 it agreed on a list of specifications. In 1971, in view of the inferiority of the AMX-30 in comparison to the new generation of Soviet tanks about to be introduced, the Direction des Armements Terrestres ordered the beginning of the Char Futur project. In 1964, studies were initiated about a possible replacement vehicle for the AMX-30 main battle tank: the Engin Principal Prospectif. ![]() Of the units in French service, 200 will be upgraded to the Leclerc XLR standard with deliveries expected to begin in 2022. With production now complete, the French operate 222 Leclercs (with 184 more in storage, for a total of 406), while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) possesses 388. In production since 1991, the Leclerc entered French service in 1992, replacing the AMX-30 as the country's main armoured platform. The Leclerc is in service with the French Army, Jordanian Army and the United Arab Emirates Army. It was named in honor of Marshal Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, a commander of the Free French Forces, who led the 2nd Armoured Division in World War II. The Leclerc is a third-generation French main battle tank developed and manufactured by Nexter Systems.
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