one could argue the the new SEP V3 is as it has a better round being heavier do way more spall for a little less pen and has better mobility and better reload
in a average players hands it can be just as good
Even V1 would be better than 2A8/2A7V. Abrams just have outright more potential. 2A7V was pure bs pre-basket, but post, while still insanely good, doesnt bridge the gap enough between it and the Abrams.
Also, spall is determined by residual penetration past 76mm calibre, not weight.
That is DM63A1 or DM73, basic DM63 is designed to be less sensitive to extreme temperature changes. This makes it marginally less likely to burn catastrophically but still possible to occur.
DM63A1 and later are the ones that are all but impossible to make explode as proper insensitive munitions.
DM 63 A1 is just the EU REACH compliant version of DM 63.
Link: Press-Release
DM 63 already features the insensitive TIPS/SCBD propellant
Basically;
DM 53 = Standard LKE II (non-IM, V0 = 1750m/s in L/55)
Ingame-Penetration:
653mm at 10m, 0°
377mm at 10m, 60° (754mm LOS)
DM 53 A1 = Old DM 53 shells that were upgraded by swapping the propellant to TIPS/SCBD
(IM, V0 = 1720m/s in L/55, less barrel wear, lower pressure and V0 variation resulting in better dispersion)
Ingame-Penetration: (Using ingame DM 53 values; 685x23mm)
642mm at 0m, 0°
375mm at 0m, 60° (750mm LOS)
DM 63 = Newly produced shells with TIPS/SCBD propellant
(IM, V0 = 1720m/s in L/55, less barrel wear, lower pressure and V0 variation resulting in better dispersion)
Ingame-Penetration: (Using ingame DM 53 values; 685x23mm)
642mm at 0m, 0°
375mm at 0m, 60° (750mm LOS)
DM 63 A1 = Same as DM 63 but EU REACH compliant
(IM, see: DM 63 for data)
DM 73 = High pressure version of TIPS/SCBD propellant
(IM, same benefits as DM 63, possibly without the significant improvement in barrel wear idk, V0 = 1780m/s in L/55, only usable in high pressure versions of 120mm guns, i.e. L55A1 [possibly L44A1 aswell as it is the High-Pressure version of L44 but the Rheinmetall Ammo brochure predates it finishing development so I am not certain])
Ingame-Penetration: (Using ingame DM 53 values; 685x23mm)
663mm at 0m, 0°
387mm at 0m, 60° (774mm LOS)
I think I need to clear up a few misconceptions here. First of all, regarding the designation: just because the letter ‘V’ comes after ‘A’ in the alphabet, it doesn’t automatically mean it represents a superior version. The Leopard 2A7A1 shares the same technological standard as the Leo 2A7V but adds the Trophy system. Logically, this means the 2A7A1 cannot be inferior to the 2A7V. The naming choice was simply made to avoid even worse alphanumeric chaos. Of course, they could have named the tank the 2A7VA1, but designations would only have become more unwieldy from that point on.
Uh what?
Germany operates/operated Leopard 2 A7 and 2 A7V, which both differ.
Leopard 2 A7A1 is based on modified Leopard 2 A6MA3 brought up to Leopard 2 A7 standard, yet lacks the duel-protection (front addon armour; basically like Leopard 2 PSO) on the ufp, which is what makes 2 A7V (together with TVD ig) viable over Leopard 2A6 in the first place.
Leopard 2 A6MA3
In that sense, you essentially get a Leopard 2A7V without the ufp addon but with the APS instead, plus additional weight;
Leopard 2A7V is 66.5t with mine-protection, Leopard 2A7 is “only” 63.9t - 64.0t with mine-protection yet has roughly 4t worth of Trophy added (that is the weight on the M1A2 SEPv2 Trophy addon btw), thus ~67.9t full-mass.
Remove the mine-protection (2.4t) and you end up with 66.5t weight, i.e. the same as ingame Leopard 2A7V if you keep the mine-protection on it.
So to get an APS that may or may not break in the first week of DEV (and will then remain unfixed for 4-5months, like Boxer CRV) you lose even more mobility and get point & clicked by anything in the hull again.
However, since it’s based on Leopard 2 A6MA3, you retain the 3rd generation thermal-imagers for both crew.
They could in theory also add one of the demonstrators that does feature the duel-addon instead, such as the one shown at Eurosatory 2022, but that essentially already gets us to Leopard 2 A8.
