Hitler’s generals hoped the Panther would reverse the increasingly dire situation on the Eastern Front following the Battle of Stalingrad. With its new main gun, the tank can lob shells up to 6,000-7,000 meters – double that of the Leopard 2’s 3,000-4,000-meter range.Spiritual Successor to a WWII DesignThe German habit of naming tanks after big cats goes back to the World War II, with the Panther’s KF51 WWII-era namesake, the Panzerkampfwagen V Panther, designed specifically to engage Soviet T-34 and KV-1s – which outclassed German medium tanks like the Panzer III and Panzer IV in terms of armor protection. Rheinmetall estimates that the eight percent increase in the caliber of the new gun will double the kinetic energy produced by the weapon, meaning shells – which weigh over 30 kg and measure over 1.3 meters long, will pack significantly more of a punch against enemy tanks, vehicles, buildings, and other targets. Rheinmetall chairman Armin Papperger told German media last week that his company is already “talking to Kiev” about the possible delivery of the company’s latest heavy tank - the Panther KF51, with production possible in as little as 15-18 months from now, pending approval from the German government.The Panther is one of about a dozen next-gen main battle tanks produced or in development by arms makers around the world, with a technology demonstrator unveiled just last June at the Eurosatory arms expo outside Paris.The tank’s main advertised feature is its massive 130mm main gun – a major upgrade to the Rheinmetall Rh-120, a 120 mm smoothbore fitted aboard the Leopard 2, the US M1 Abrams, Japan’s Type 90, and South Korea’s K1A1.
0 kommentar(er)
