The French Ministry of the Armed Forces has placed an order for an additional 50 refurbished Leclerc tanks as part of the modernization of 200 middle-aged vehicles, industrialist Nexter announced on Thursday. The General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) notified the contract on December 29, says the heir to Industrias Giat in a press release. The amount of the contract was not specified.
A first order for 50 Leclerc XLR tanks was placed in 2021. The first 18 copies of the series will be delivered to the Army this year, and a first prototype tank has been delivered to the DGA in late 2022, according to Nexter. A 56-ton main battle tank for the French Army, the Leclerc has a gun with a range of 4,000 meters and can fire up to six rounds per minute while rolling.
Ready for “collaborative combat”
Ukraine has expressed the wish, so far not granted, to receive them to face the Russian invasion, as have other machines in the same category, in particular the German Leopard 2 or the American Abrams.
In service since 1993, the Leclerc has not been manufactured since 2008. It has been deployed in recent years in Lebanon, Estonia and Lithuania. Thirteen examples have been in Romania since November to reinforce the defense of NATO’s eastern flank. It is also in service with the armies of the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
The modernization of the Leclerc includes the treatment of the obsolescence of its engine, the reinforcement of its protection by additional armoring of its floor against explosive devices and its sides or the incorporation of “a 7.62 mm remote-controlled canopy”, that is, a machine gun controlled from inside the tank.
It will also be equipped with a new Scorpion combat information system and a high-speed radio system that will allow its integration into a “collaborative combat” system, where all soldiers and equipment are networked to multiply their force. .
Source: BFM TV
