European Main Battle Tank (EMBT) unveiled at Eurosatory 2018

European Main Battle Tank (EMBT) unveiled at Eurosatory 2018.
France-Germany come together in challenge to Russian tanks
EMBT combines the body of German Leopard 2A7 with turret of French Leclerc

At Eurosatory 2018 in Paris on 11 June KNDS – the Franco-German joint venture formed from France’s Nexter and Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann – provided an exclusive public viewing of its first joint product, the EMBT.

The hull, engine and entire chassis comes from the LEOPARD 2 A7 and were modified to host the compact and light turret with automatic loading from the LECLERC.

The benefit of the hybrid machine lies in the Leopard 2′s very-high capability chassis, which can carry up to 68 tons, and merging it with the lightness of the Leclerc’s turret, which needs only a crew of two to operate.

Composed of proven and tested technologies, the EMBT appears to be intended by the company as a short-term response to the operational need of the market for high-intensity battle tanks. By assembling a chassis, which is already certified to MLC70, and a light turret operated by only two crew members instead of three, via EMBT potential customers get 10 percent of the weight, or 6 tons, to install additional kit on the tanks as they see fit.

This innovative integration of KNDS, makes the joint venture a strong industrial contender for two future Franco-German programmes: the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) – a replacement for LEOPARD and LECLERC tanks, and the Common Indirect Fire System (CIFS), an artillery piece with a 40-60km range. bracket.

Image : EMBT (Credits : Krauss-Maffei Wegmann)