KF51 Panther: a quick overview of the new tank from Rheinmetall
The international arms exhibition Eurosatory, held every two years in Paris, often surprises the world community and military experts with the latest models of military equipment. The opening of the new season, which took place on June 13, 2022, was also not without new products.
This time, the focus was on the new Panther main battle tank from the German company Rheinmetall. The exact characteristics of this machine are not disclosed, and it is in fact a technology demonstrator, but the available data already allows us to get some idea about it.
The concept of the new "Panther"
Demonstrating the brainchild of his company to numerous journalists, experts and the military, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said that the Panther is a kind of continuation of the family tanks "Leopard-2". This statement was made probably for two reasons.
Firstly, to take advantage of the reputation of already proven and commercially successful machines.
Secondly, judging by the appearance, the novelty clearly has “leopard” features, at least in terms of the chassis and turret. It is possible that the internal elements, including the units of the engine compartment, in one form or another migrated from the main German tank.
KF 51 Panther at Eurosatory 2022. Source: otvaga2004.mybb.ru
The connection of generations is, of course, good, but what about innovations? As you know, in order to sell a new product, you need to point out its clear advantages over the old one. In terms of tanks, their list is almost always divided into three categories: firepower, armor and electronics. In this regard, the Germans did not become original and indicated the following in the Panther's advertising booklet:
- high firepower, realizing the principle of complete dominance and destruction of targets on the battlefield thanks to the new gun, the use drones-kamikaze and remote-controlled machine gun installation;
- All-aspect security against all types of anti-tank ammunition with the help of active, reactive and passive protection;
– expanded opportunities for monitoring the battlefield due to the “transparent armor” system and reconnaissance drones;
– full digital control of all sensors and machine systems.
However, here you can also add the layout of the tank. No, the location of the main compartments has not changed: the control compartment is in the bow of the hull, the fighting compartment is in the middle and the engine compartment is in the stern. They simply removed the loader from the tower, seated the commander and gunner to the left and right of the gun, and next to the driver they organized another workplace, which is occupied by either the commander of a tank unit or the UAV operator.
In general, as Rheinmetall says, their product should become a completely new and rethought tool capable of performing both fire missions and reconnaissance, communicating in a “multi-domain” network of a tactical level and above.
In addition, the manufacturer claims that the Panther has a reserve for the future and may well be equipped with an uninhabited tower in the manner of the Armata, or even become unmanned.
In general, the list of advantages is amusing. It's time to take a closer look at some of them.
Tank security
Sometimes you can come across the assertion that composite armor finally cut off the connection between the mass of the car and its security, but in fact this is not so. The stronger the protection, especially against sub-caliber shells, the more it weighs, which is demonstrated by the significantly heavier latest modifications of the American Abrams and German Leopards-2. But the "Panther" with a mass of 59 tons looks "thinner" against the background of its counterparts. There is no need to talk about any specific numbers of resistance to damaging agents here, due to the lack of data, but the tonnage clearly hints that the level of passive armor of the new tank is unlikely to exceed the Leopard-2A7.
The manufacturer also claims that the new tank has reactive, and in our opinion - just dynamic, protection. However, the design features of the modules installed on the turret and hull - with large area covers - indicate that we are most likely talking about a non-explosive type of remote sensing, which was used in the Leopard-2A5 turret "beaks" and consisted of steel sheets and spacers between them made of rubber-like material. Progress, of course, does not stand still, and therefore some structural elements could be replaced with more efficient and energy-intensive ones.
Screenshot from the KF51 Panther presentation video. Source: mikeshouts.com
There is also active protection. In this case, Rheinmetall decided not to rely on third-party suppliers and used the AMAP (Advanced Modular Armor Protection) system, manufactured by ADS Gesellschaft für Aktive Schutzsysteme, a controlled company. This complex is a modular design weighing 600 kg, using fired ammunition with controlled detonation as a protective measure. Two groups of sensors are responsible for detecting attacking objects, which determine the trajectory, speed and type of projectile and transmit data to the on-board computer, which is already making a decision on firing counter-munitions. The reaction speed of the system is only 0,56 ms, which is quite enough to destroy not only anti-tank grenades and missiles, but also sub-caliber shells.
As homing roof-attacking anti-tank missiles become more common, the Panther is equipped with a system to detect and counter them. With opposition, everything is more or less clear: the Rheinmetall booklet talks about setting up an aerosol curtain that masks the tank in the upper hemisphere in the infrared range, but there are some questions about detection. However, most likely, we are talking about cameras operating in the infrared and ultraviolet ranges, capable of detecting a rocket by radiation from its engine.
The stern of the tank. A remote-controlled turret is visible. Source: otvaga2004.mybb.ru
Complementing this kind of "air defense" of the tank is the ability to destroy unmanned aerial vehicles using a remote-controlled machine gun mount of 7,62 mm caliber with 2 rounds of ammunition.
weaponry
Gun
One of the main features of the novelty is its cannon - a 130-mm L52 smoothbore gun. Here the manufacturer followed the path "neither ours nor yours." The fact is that Western tank builders have long been eyeing 140-mm guns, since the 120-mm tank guns in service have almost completely exhausted their modernization resource and can no longer provide a radical increase in muzzle energy, which directly affects the penetration ability of kinetic action shells .
View of the cannon and coaxial 12,7 mm machine gun. On the right are three types of shots for the new weapon. A launcher for kamikaze drones can be seen on the tower in the middle. Source: otvaga2004.mybb.ru
However, the installation of a barrel of a larger caliber is accompanied by a number of problems, among which the main ones are: the mass and dimensions of the entire gun system and the reduction of the ammunition load. Therefore, Rheinmetall decided to use the golden mean. In terms of mass and dimensions, the L52 is almost identical to its 120 mm predecessor, but at the same time it provides 50% more muzzle energy, which, coupled with a 10 mm larger barrel diameter, will make it possible to create more powerful ammunition for various purposes.
Nevertheless, even the "intermediate" caliber of the "Panther" led to an increase in the mass of unitary shots to about 30 kg, so the loader - a man, in this tank was replaced by an automatic loader with a capacity of 20 shots. Ten more are in non-mechanized laying.
Kamikaze drones
In an effort to make a universal combat vehicle out of their offspring, German designers decided to equip the Panther with a launcher for HERO-120 kamikaze drones from the Israeli company UVision. It is located in the roof of the tower and allows you to alternately launch up to four drones. Any member of the crew can operate them.
HERO-120 is a loitering munition weighing 12,5 kg with cruciform plumage. With the help of a small electric motor and a propeller in the stern, this device is capable of flying at a distance of up to 40 kilometers day and night due to the thermal imaging channel. In principle, the capabilities of the HERO-120 allow it to be used as a reconnaissance aircraft, but its main purpose is to destroy enemy equipment and stationary objects using a 3,5-kg HEAT or high-explosive warhead to choose from.
HERO-120 kamikaze drone in flight. Source: weaponscollection.com
Sights and observation of the battlefield
The gunner of the Panther has a multi-channel sight, which is actually installed in the frontal part of the tower, like the Leopard-2. Rheinmetall does not give exact and even approximate characteristics for it, but we can say with confidence that a standard set in the form of a telethermal imaging channel, an automatic target tracking machine and a laser rangefinder is present in it.
Approximately the same "stuffed" commander's panoramic observation device with a circular rotation of 360 degrees. With its help, the tank commander can monitor the area, detect and identify targets, fire at them from a cannon and a coaxial machine gun. The "hunter-shooter" principle is also implemented, when the commander marks the target, and the gunner hits it.
In general, there is nothing fundamentally new here. The only question is that behind the panorama there is a remote-controlled machine gun installation, which blocks a large part of the view in the aft projection.
Source: otvaga2004.mybb.ru
Additional visibility is provided by the "transparent armor" system, consisting of cameras installed in all projections of the tank. The image from them goes to the displays of all crew members, therefore, not only the commander or gunner, but also the driver can find out what is happening outside - just select the appropriate option on the screen.
Separately, it is worth noting that the HERO drones mentioned above are not the only ones in the Panther. Yes, in the roof of the tower, closer to the sides, there are niches for two quadrocopters used for reconnaissance at short distances from the tank. They will not be able to accompany the car for a long time - the batteries are unlikely to be enough for more than half an hour of flight, and it is not at all clear whether they are disposable or not, but the option, in principle, is useful.
Reconnaissance quadcopter. Source: otvaga2004.mybb.ru
NGVA
The fact that the tank can be made unmanned or even turned into Robot with artificial intelligence, they say for a long time. To some extent, this is already becoming bad manners and smacks of cheap advertising. Rheinmetall decided to pick up this trend not only in words, but also in deeds.
According to the assurances of the developers, the Panther is one of the few examples of military equipment that is fully adapted to the standards of the NGVA (NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture). That is, the vast majority of tank systems are connected to a single data exchange bus through special interfaces and are controlled by a central on-board computer. This means that any member of the crew has access to all incoming information (for example, the driver can turn on the image from the drone on his display) and can even partially perform the functions of another tanker without getting up from his workplace.
In addition, NGVA expands the ability to integrate new systems into the tank, working on a "plug and play" principle. As for the future, this standard may well be used to create an unmanned vehicle, because the on-board computer can be controlled remotely. Although it looks more realistic to introduce some software elements such as automatic target recognition, etc., which make life easier for the crew.
Conclusion
What can be said about the "Panther"? Probably, the fact that this is just a modified Leopard-2, which does not at all attract revolutionary design. Of course, there are no questions about electronics, a gun and good visibility. But, looking at other aspects, it may seem that the designers first made the right decision, and then contradicting it.
The advertising booklet says that the tank is perfectly protected from all types of projectiles on the battlefield. And this is largely due to active defense - the bet was made correctly. The experience of many military conflicts directly says that military equipment needs all-round protection, at least from missiles and grenades, not to mention sub-caliber shells. But this should not be done at the expense of passive armor. What do we see in the "Panther"? With, in general, dimensions similar to the Leopard, it weighs 59 tons, that is, most likely, they simply did not deal with a radical improvement (weighting) of the reservation.
No less strange is the formal reduction in the number of crew to three people. On the one hand, Rheinmetall seems to be proud of this and directly says that their tank is with an eye on the future, and now they can reduce the number of tankers by automating systems. On the other hand, as if by chance, one moment slips by: just in case of a fire, we left a place for a fourth person in the control department next to the driver - in fact, it is for the commander of a tank unit, but in fact it will be occupied by a special operator who controls a whole horde of drones. At the same time, the combat value of these HERO-120s as part of tank armament is very doubtful.
In general, of course, the "Panther" leaves an ambivalent impression of itself. All these innovations in the form of a new gun, electronics, active protection and other things are really necessary. But the feeling that the seller is trying to sell the old product in a new wrapper is still present.
The fact that this tank, most likely, will not be adopted, is also said in the pro-government structures of Germany. So, one of the foreign newspapers published an article that Rheinmetall was simply trying to undermine cooperation between Germany and France in the field of creating a single tank, thus claiming a part of the budget money. Considering that a record 100 billion euros were recently announced for the modernization of the German army, this statement looks quite realistic.
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