Parisian armor in a special operation: French Leclerc tanks may end up in Ukraine
About all these cases with the transfer of a trial batch tanks Western-made, perhaps, everyone has heard. Germany and the United States have tuned in, and the Poles and the British are already preparing their combat vehicles for shipment to Ukraine. However, with all this informational hysteria about the German Leopards 2, the British Challengers 2 and even the American Abrams, which are also predicted the unenviable fate of participating in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the French somehow completely hushed up.
And they, it seems, will soon also be able to turn on the heat by providing Kyiv with AMX-56 Leclerc tanks. The issue of the possibility of transferring such a gift to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is being conducted by the French government. At the same time, according to Politico, the final decision will be made regardless of the position of Washington. They can, of course, go into complete denial, or they can share it with Ukraine.
But the situation is strange - the characteristics of the machines are extremely interesting, but where to determine them and what to do with them?
Expensively rich
To be honest, we love - although not only here - a comparison of the dry characteristics of this or that armored vehicle and its foreign counterparts. Especially now, when Western tanks will soon fall into the zone of a special military operation in Ukraine. But we will not delve into these matters - the problems there are much more mundane, and we will talk about them a little later.
However, it is also impossible to pass by some features of the French Leclercs, simply because one of the most expensive tanks in the world risks taking part in the battles in Ukraine.
The French poured a lot of money into the tank: everyone is somehow used to operating with numbers in the region of 6 to 8 million euros, depending on the modification and years of production. However, the total cost, which includes associated costs for production, infrastructure, provision of spare parts, etc., is in the region of 16 million euros per unit.
Recall that 406 Leclerc tanks were produced for the French Armed Forces, of which 222 vehicles are now in service - the rest are in storage.
In general, Leclerc was widely promoted thanks to its electronics. In short, almost all systems of this machine are "planted" on a single 32-channel data exchange bus, at the head of which is a dual-processor computing unit. Engine and automatic transmission control, monitoring of the condition of components and assemblies, navigation and communications, sighting system, fuel and ammunition consumption monitoring - this is not a complete list of what is under the control of the "electronic brains" of the tank.
All this really seriously simplifies and improves the operation of the tank, but what about the specifics?
By modern standards, "Leclerc" is a very "big-eyed" car, so everything is in order with the sighting system. The gunner has at his disposal a sight coupled with a laser rangefinder with two channels: daytime with variable magnification and nighttime with a thermal imaging camera that allows you to detect targets at a distance of up to 5 km and clearly identify them at a distance of 2 to 2,5 km. As for the commander, everything is according to the standard: a panoramic sight-surveillance device that has similar characteristics to the gunner's sight - also a day channel, a thermal imager and a rangefinder.
Tank gunner's sight
Commander's panoramic sight-surveillance device
However, the main armament in the face of the 120-mm CN120-26 smoothbore gun with a conveyor automatic loader, providing a rate of fire of 10-12 rounds per minute, will match the sights.
However, here the French showed their originality: this gun differs from the standard 120-mm NATO “smooth-bore” in some features, including a completely non-standard barrel length of 52 calibers and a system of forced barrel blowing with compressed air instead of classic ejectors.
Nevertheless, in terms of shells, the unification of the gun is complete. Both native French ammunition, as well as German, American and others, can be used.
Also among the advantages of "Leclerc" is the presence of a combat information and control system SIT ICONE. It, based on the readings of satellite and inertial navigation systems, as well as the exchange of data between vehicles and neighboring units, gives the tank commander information in real time, both about his own location and about the positions of friendly troops, including the enemy, if any. explored.
The layout of the Leclerc tank. The crew consists of three people: a driver, located in the bow of the hull on the left; commander - in the left half of the tower and gunner - in the right. A conveyor automatic loader for 22 unitary shots is installed in the rear of the turret.
Do not forget about the power plant based on a 1500-horsepower V8X-1500 diesel engine equipped with a Hyperbar turbocharger with a separate drive from a gas turbine engine. Thanks to this tandem, the Leclerc, whose mass, depending on the modification, ranges from 54,6 to 57,4 tons, is considered one of the most mobile modern tanks in the world. In practice, the engine makes it possible to accelerate very quickly to 70 km / h on the highway (extreme sportsmen accelerated up to 80 km / h), and off-road - up to 50-55 km / h.
Questions here, perhaps, can only arise when booking a French car.
Firstly, the frontal projection of the tank is far from evenly covered by the combined armor, including due to the huge “hole” in the face of the gun mantlet. You can see this in more detail in the image below.
Red zones - combined armor of the frontal projection of the tank
Secondly, the latest modification of the "Leclerc" under the index SXXI, of which less than a hundred units were produced, according to various sources, has quite tolerable protection within 600–700 mm from sub-caliber and about 1 mm from cumulative shells.
But the tanks of the early batches, and most of them, cannot boast of such durability - all their protection as a whole corresponds to the shells of the 80s. The modernization of the “oldies”, of course, has already been planned and seems to have begun in 2022, but this is not a quick thing and will take more than one year, or even five.
It seems to be - why not ideal?
If you look at what is called, on the bottom line of the advantages and characteristics, then it seems that the machine is quite suitable for use in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the conditions of a special operation - in Ukrainian mechanized formations, there is still nothing better or even close comparable.
The tank, unlike those available in the troops, has a thermal imaging sight and a panoramic device / sight of the commander that practically does not differ in characteristics. They are needed in any conflict. Especially in the course of hostilities in Ukraine, combining battles both in a conditional open field and in buildings, such fruits of technological progress come in handy. The first to see - the first and struck, as they say.
And the range of ammunition used is impressive. There is only one French - native - ammunition will solve most of the tasks. Full-fledged high-explosive fragmentation shells, shotgun shots in the style of the American Canister with more than a thousand metal balls that turn a tank gun into a giant shotgun.
And to this, there are also cumulative and, importantly, very “biting” sub-caliber shells, which only in tungsten version (more than 20 years old samples) can penetrate about 560 mm of steel armor from 2 kilometers. What can we say about newer and especially uranium ones, although things are strict with uranium - they are unlikely to give it.
And we have not touched on the American and German arsenals, although there is enough native here for the eyes.
The transportable ammunition of the tank consists of 40 rounds. Of these, 18 are stored in non-mechanized stacking drums. Just such a drum is shown in the photo.
In addition, one should not lose sight of the presence of a satellite navigation system and the very SIT ICONE, which can bring the coordination and interaction of tank units to a completely different level, previously inaccessible to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
With armor, of course, things are muddy, but, again, at least the level of the Leopard-2A4 is precisely matched by French vehicles - it is doubtful that the most recent modifications of the Leclerc will be sent, and obviously without additional protection like AZUR for urban combat.
But, in general, it’s far from a bad option even in the standard version, given the really good mobility of the tank, which can still prove itself in the Ukrainian black earth trough, rapid rushes to take advantageous positions and roll back if these positions could not be held.
Tank "Leclerc" with a set for urban combat AZUR
The only question is where to put this "Frenchman"?
To the same place as the "Germans"
In one of the previous articles, when we discussed the supply of the American Stryker armored personnel carrier to Ukraine, an interesting topic was raised regarding the distribution of Western equipment in the Ukrainian troops. Namely: it is practically impossible to “spray” the same tanks over military units where there is an acute shortage of them.
Even if the command of the Ukrainian armed forces decides to take such a step, then the conditional tank companies, in which, in addition to the already familiar Soviet-style tanks, there will be a couple of French vehicles, will become a real headache and for the most part neutralize all the advantages of even the Leclerc, even the same "Leopard-2" - the effect will be similar.
Completely zero unification between Soviet and Western tanks, both in spare parts, and in shells, and repair kits, the need to have specially trained personnel for specific vehicles in the repair teams, the impossibility of complete synchronization of communications in the unit (for example, T-64BV and SET ICON in " Leclerc" do not match) is just the tip of the iceberg.
In addition, it will be very interesting to find out how Ukrainians will solve the problem of requesting the necessary spare parts and consumables in such a “zoo” of tanks - the request will be able to reach, but through what bunch of intermediaries and links?
Therefore, the conclusion here is obvious: under the "Frenchman", as well as under any other Western-style tank, you will have to create new or redo existing units. Each - with lining up around the corresponding model of the tank. Only in this way will it be possible to establish an effective supply, avoid confusion with personnel and ensure a clear coordination of actions through combat information and control systems. It all takes time, a lot of investments and rearrangements, but the output can be quite effective battle groups, largely adjusted to NATO standards.
Now this does not threaten us on a large scale, since combat vehicles will be sent in relatively small batches, which will not fundamentally change the situation, although they can do things on the ground.
But who will guarantee that tomorrow NATO will not decide to drag many hundreds of tanks to Ukraine? We must take this into account, although it has been said so many times.
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