- Prominent German defense company Rheinmetall is supplying Ukraine with new Panther Kf51 tanks.
- The Kf51 will jump over other old Western tanks being sent to Ukraine.
- The Kf51 has advanced features, but its newness can cause more headaches for Ukrainians.
Ukraine is waiting for old Abrams and Leopard tanks promised by the US and European nations, but it may have the opportunity to buy cutting-edge German tanks.
Acquiring the next-generation Panther Kf51 would give Ukraine a chance to leapfrog the old tanks Western donors are sending and the mostly Cold War era tanks Ukraine is already using, but it is an unproven vehicle. adoption could further burden the Ukrainian Armed Forces. I’m having a hard time incorporating old western tank models.
Rheinmetall, a prominent German arms company, Kf51, seems confident that the idea will work. Its CEO, Armin Papperger, told German Business. newspaper handelsblatt The Panther could be handed over to Ukraine in “15-18 months”.
“We are in talks with Kiev about exporting Panthers,” Papperger said. Interestingly, Papperger said Ukraine is also interested in his Rheinmetall next generation. Lynx infantry fighting vehicle.
It is an illustration of Rheinmetall’s Panther KF51.
Rheinmetall Defense
Rheinmetall reportedly negotiated with Ukraine to tank factory It is not clear whether it will produce Panther or older Leopard 2 tanks there.
The Kf51 Panther is a new tank with old features. Its hull is based on his 1979 debut Leopard 2. future gun systemis a 130mm smoothbore gun that replaces the standard 120mm gun found on Western tanks such as the M1 Abrams, Leopard 2, and Challenger 2.
The Panther also has advanced features such as a launcher for the HERO 120 prowling ammunition that provides tank-mounted kamikaze drone functionality. Sophisticated networking capabilities allow it to be integrated into the detection and fire kill chain and to control “wingman” unmanned ground vehicles that provide capabilities “such as platoon-level air defense and drone defense.” As a “true software-defined tank”.
According to Handelsblatt, Rheinmetall unveiled the Panther at its Paris trade fair last summer, “promoting it as the most powerful tank in the world.”
German Leopard 2 tank in Münster in May 2019.
Photo Alliance for Christophe Gato/Getty Images
Two aspects of the Kf51 stand out. One is an autoloader that replaces the crew member who loads the shells into the main gun, allowing him to have a crew of three instead of the four normally found in Western tanks. (Russian tanks also use a 3-crew autoloader.)
Like the next-generation Abrams tank, the Panther’s turret is unmanned, with a crew operating the vehicle behind the thick armor of the tank’s hull.
Perhaps not coincidentally, unmanned turrets and on-board drones are also features of Russia’s next generation. T-14 Armata tank, first appeared in 2014. The Russian military has purchased only a few T-14s. This is probably due to the high price and problems with production and machinery. The Kremlin also appears reluctant to commit his T-14s to combat in Ukraine.
It is also worth noting that the Panther has a combat weight of only 59 tons. This is lighter than the latest Leopard 2A7 to be delivered to Ukraine at 67 tons and Abrams and Challenger at 70-80 tons. Lighter vehicles can more easily cross bridges and muddy terrain, important considerations on the Ukrainian battlefield.
It is an illustration of Panther KF51.
Rheinmetall Defense
But tank design is a trade-off, especially when it comes to weight.
One reason the Kf51 is slim is because, like the Leopard 2, it doesn’t have as much armor as the Abrams and Challenger. Instead of bulky armor plates, the Panther relies on active and passive defense systems such as jammers, smokescreens and projectiles to destroy incoming anti-tank rockets.
There is no doubt that Ukraine needs more tanks. Russia has lost nearly 2,000 of her tanks since the war began a year ago, according to open source tallies. ORIXbut Ukraine lost almost 500 tanks.
Ukraine was able to make up for its losses by deploying more than 500 captured Russian tanks, but it still had some destroyed or worn out Soviet-era designs it had before the war. You will need a foreign vehicle.
That said, one consideration for Ukraine and the foreign donors subsidizing its purchase is that no military has bought the Kf51 yet.
Even the best new weapons have teething problems. If Ukraine deploys the Panther first, it will be the first to deal with the inevitable bugs. Given all the challenges Ukraine already faces, it’s a gamble.
Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds a master’s degree in political science.follow him twitter and LinkedIn.