Rheinmetall pitches Panther battle tank as heir to the Leopard

PARIS — Germany’s Rheinmetall on Monday unveiled its Panther main battle tank at the Eurosatory exhibition here, adding a new angle to the discussion in Europe about a next-generation tank for the continent.

The Panther is the product of the company’s own, years-long development, a risk that appears to have previously paid off with its lighter brother — the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle, which has become a serious contender in acquisition races worldwide.

Weighing in at 59 tons, the fully-digitized Panther features a 130 mm cannon, compared with a 120 mm weapon on the Leopard 2, the German Army’s go-to tank since the 1980s. The larger, heavier projectiles would deliver “over 50% greater effectiveness at significantly longer ranges,” the company said in a statement.

Crewed by three, but with space for a fourth, it also boasts a drone-launching pod as well as launchers for loitering munitions, a type of hovering rocket that can be programmed to wait in the air before swooping down, warhead first, on its target.

Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger positioned the new tank as coming at a time when a war of heavy weapon s has returned to Europe. “We have seen over the past couple of months what could happen, and what happened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” he said, referring to a battle dynamic in which the tanks fleets of both sides are doing damage and sustaining losses at the same time.

To increase survivability, Rheinmetall built into the Panther its suite of passive, active and top-attack protection systems. Its smaller footprint means the vehicle can pass through tight tunnels while loaded on rail cars, a feat that requires advance preparation for larger tank types, according to the company.

Rheinmetall’s Panther push comes as the German-French defense partnership, entrusted with producing next-generation European weaponry for air and land warfare, is treading water.

For Germany, progress on the Future Combat Air System is inextricably linked to progress on the Main Ground Battle Tank, a futuristic battle tank developed by the partnership of Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and France’s Nexter, with Rheinmetall as something of a junior partner.

But the FCAS program is awaiting government intervention to unstick differences on workshare and intellectual property handling between its national industry leaders, Dassault and Airbus Defense.

Should that program fail, experts expect a domino effect that would likely sink the common tank program, which is languishing in the study phase, its concepts still PowerPoint-deep at best.

Papperger, who didn’t take questions at the unveiling ceremony, didn’t say how the Panther would fit into the future European tank market or MGCS plans. But executives at the company’s booth said the new product, and especially the gun technology, could well find its way into the French-German effort as something of the centerpiece for grouping unmanned assets and other weaponry comprising the larger effort.

The FCAS program features a similar approach, called “system of systems” in military parlance, with Dassault claiming ownership of the manned fighter jet at the core.

In addition, company officials said, the Panther could be an attractive option for Leopard-using armies not involved, or interested, in MGCS.

According to Papperger, serial production could begin in two and a half years.

Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany.

巴黎——德国莱茵金属公司周一在巴黎举行的欧洲防务展上推出了其“黑豹”主战坦克，为欧洲关于下一代坦克的讨论增添了一个新的视角。

Panther 是该公司多年自主研发的成果，而此前的尝试似乎已经取得了成功，其更轻便的兄弟车型——Lynx 步兵战车——已成为全球采购竞争中的有力竞争者。

这款全数字化“黑豹”坦克重达59吨，配备一门130毫米火炮，而自20世纪80年代以来一直是德国陆军主力坦克的“豹2”坦克则配备的是120毫米火炮。该公司在一份声明中表示，更大更重的炮弹将“在更远的射程内带来超过50%的更高效能”。

该机由三名机组人员操作，但可容纳第四名机组人员，还配备了无人机发射舱以及巡飞弹发射器。巡飞弹是一种悬停火箭，可以编程使其在空中等待，然后以弹头朝前的方式俯冲攻击目标。

莱茵金属公司首席执行官阿明·帕佩格尔表示，这款新型坦克的推出正值欧洲重燃重型武器战争之际。“过去几个月，我们已经目睹了可能发生的情况，以及俄罗斯和乌克兰之间的冲突所造成的后果，”他说道，指的是双方坦克部队在交战中同时造成损失和造成破坏的局面。

为了提高生存能力，莱茵金属公司为“黑豹”坦克配备了一系列被动、主动和顶部攻击防护系统。该公司表示，由于其占地面积较小，该坦克在装载于铁路货车上时可以穿过狭窄的隧道，而对于大型坦克来说，这需要事先进行准备。

莱茵金属公司大力推进“黑豹”坦克项目之际，负责为欧洲生产下一代空地作战武器的德法防务伙伴关系正处于停滞不前的状态。

对于德国而言，未来作战空中系统的进展与主战坦克的进展密不可分。主战坦克是由德国克劳斯-玛菲·韦格曼公司和法国奈克斯特公司合作开发的未来战车，莱茵金属公司则作为辅助合作伙伴参与其中。

但FCAS项目正等待政府介入，以解决其国家行业领导者达索和空客防务公司在工作分工和知识产权处理方面的分歧。

如果该计划失败，专家预计会产生多米诺骨牌效应，很可能会导致共同坦克计划失败。该计划目前仍处于研究阶段，其概念充其量还停留在 PowerPoint 的层面。

在发布会上，帕佩格尔没有接受提问，也没有说明“黑豹”坦克将如何融入未来的欧洲坦克市场或MGCS计划。但该公司展位上的高管表示，这款新产品，尤其是其火炮技术，很可能被纳入法德联合研发计划，成为整合无人装备和其他武器装备的核心部件。

FCAS 项目采用了类似的方法，在军事术语中称为“系统之系统”，达索公司声称拥有其核心的有人驾驶战斗机。

此外，公司官员表示，对于没有参与或对MGCS不感兴趣的、使用豹式坦克的军队来说，黑豹坦克可能是一个有吸引力的选择。

据帕珀格称，批量生产可能在两年半后开始。

塞巴斯蒂安·斯普伦格是《防务新闻》欧洲版副主编，负责报道该地区的防务市场状况，以及美欧在防务和全球安全领域的合作和多国投资。此前，他曾担任《防务新闻》执行主编。他现居德国科隆。