On June 13 2022 Rheinmetall officially presented their latest tank at the Eurosatory 2022 show. I bring a new Turret on a heavily modified Leopard 2A4 hull chassis. With the latest gun being the Rh-130 L/51 130mm Cannon.
Due to this being a new Prototype. Not much is known about the KF51. The tank showcases it’s abillity to uprade old Leopard 2 hulls from the ground up to the very latest standards of Main Battle Tanks. The tank has a new Turret able to carry the 130 mm L/51 is showcased to be loaded by an autoloader. However the amount of Crew is still 4 with a Driver, Gunner, Comander and a Drone/Radio operator.
The Armor is completly classified. But from my guesstimation. It seems to be a significant uprade to the Current Leopard 2A7 currently in service with the German military. Using what appears to be Composite Side skirts and Turret cheecks simular to the Leopard 2A4 Revolution.
After the showcase. It is believed to be one of the main contenders for Germany’s next tank acquisition alongside the Franco/German EMBT program.
One of the main interresting features of this tank is it’s abilities is it’s Drone launcher on top of the Turret. It is able to use to both for reconnaissance and kamakazi strikes simular to the US Switchblades.
While the both the Armor layout and NERA elements of the turret is currently unknown. The best speculation that could be brought for the turret is that it would most likely be better than the Leopard 2A7 variants. And guessing from the pictures I would argue that the turret front is aprotimatly 1000mm of RHA and the turret sides being diffirent. And there is also the possibility that the turret are using armored screens like the ingame Leopard 2A5 both in the Front and Side turret.
As for the main hull armor. It is believed to be identical to the standard Leopard 2A4.
In War Thunder i believe this tank could be perfect for an end of the line German Ground Tree Vehicle. When we eventually get to the most modern vehicles currently in service. And i guess this would be a great vehicle at a future BR of over 12.0.
Endnote
Hope you like the Suggestion. And if i made any errors please feel free to respond. And i will see you in Battle.
The tank I’m most looking forward to, although also others in the German branch such as Leopard 2 A8 (Trophy), A7V, A7+, A6EX, Sp. Luchs A2, GTK Boxer Lance, skyranger and KF-41 would be amazing!
-1 I think that this tank is currently too advanced for WT. Good armor, mobility, 130mm with rockets? Other nations should get fixed and get a lot more vehicles before stuff like this should enter WT. I think we should have more advanced tanks, yes, but currently no.
If they add it it will have protection levels of leopard 2A4 because (nO sOuRcEs oF aRmOr iMpRoVmEnT)
It will still not penetrate russian op tanks
It will be even slower than 2A7V
It will have the same pen as 2A6
Basically its not worth it because german tanks will get artificially nerfed until they are no longer fun to play just like american and british tanks
Meanwhile T-80s drift around corners onetapping everything not getting any damage while getting shot to the side
The T-90M currently suffers from two bugs: the first one is that the spall liners don’t work, and the second is the fuel tank explosion. The overpowered tanks currently are the Leo2A7V and Strv 122B+. In any location you shoot from either of these two tanks, they will automatically turn the turret and shoot back at you, likely killing you if they hit a weak point.
2A7V is a slower 2A5 with slightly better armor… The armor is still worse than on any russian mbt…
Look at protection analasys and you will see how easy it is to oneshot them…
But… You would have to aim… Do russian mains know what that is?
Isn’t it a bug? So, do all NATO fuel tanks have to explode like the T-90M? Especially considering that the fuel tanks in the T-90M are the same as those in NATO
You can shoot at the lower plate of any Russian tank, and it will easily explode, weak point on the turret, easy to take out a crew, unlike the Leopard 2A7, which has the strongest turret in the game.
Should I say that the Leopard 2A7V is more effective as a support tank? Or rather, it’s a versatile tank that can both use the terrain to its advantage and rush, and still come out alive. I’m aware of the weaknesses of the Leo 2A7V, but the hangar test doesn’t work in practice; a Leo 2A7 rarely gets one-hit killed.
Yes, they explode like any other fuel tank. Leaving aside the RNG, the multipliers to each tank and the chance of killing a tank with fuel tanks explosions (wich all are lower in russian tanks)
Look closely and you would notice ALL the fuels tank from the T-64´s to the T-90´s are inside the tank and if im not wrong the T-90M lacks about isolation panels. When in the 2A7V the side fuel tanks are outside the tank and only 2 are at the back of the tank. Even if you think these are at the back of the crew this is not true because from the first Leopard 2 (the Leo 2A4) they are COMPLETELY separated and isolated from the crew compartment by a 40mm+ laminated plate (in the game it says it is an 8mm but it is incorrect). Even you can see the visual difference in thickness with the 35mm laminated side armor that insulates the fuel tank.
Not all times. Like when you shoot them at the side and hit 2 charges of ammo and the tank doesnt explode. It is called RNG (Random Number Generator) wich in russian tanks have less chance of “exploding” than a Leclerc for example. From 10 shots ONLY at the fuel tank (without touching nothing more insided the tank) of any Leclerc variant i kill them 8 of these 10 shot. However on an T-80XXX series or T-90A/M tank from the same 10 shots to the fuel tank AND AMMO CHARGES they die 7 of these 10 shots where logically the probability is higer and they should die 10 of these 10 shots but they manage to die 7 of these 10 shots
I strongly disagree. The 2A7V have a strong turret but are the “weakest” of all the Leopard 2 family (after the 2A4 and the PL of course). And its because a “”“bad modeling”“” issue, artificial armor holes and the artificial nerfs applied to this tank (where the armor are taked from a Leopard 2A4 with B-tech inside the hull and D-tech for addon armor but thats other topic)
The Leopard 2 tanks (From the 2A5 to the lastest 2A8 [aka 2A7A1]) like any other nato tank are made to be strong (wich in the game they really arent at the real level. “I dont know why”) and to offer the maximum survivability to the crew
Yes it is a versatile tank but the Leopard 2 tanks are made more to “defend” than attack or “rush” like you said. IRL rarely you´re going to see any Leo 2 rushing alone to enemy lines, unless that the army commanders know these positions are clear of enemy infantry or almost clear (even if they´re at the open field). However if there´s no chance to do other thing than “rush” they won´t do it like unheaded chickens. Or in other cases where the army have a bad strategy or they´re used to other vehicles/tanks and they just use incorrectly these tanks. Sadly in game they do it (and now with these sh*t CQC maps even more) when IRL they wouldn’t. And for me this is a issue, not knowing a tank is a really BIG issue for the game, matchs and teams
Sadly like I said before in the game have more weaknesses than IRL. And if you struggle to kill one 2A7V sorry to say but it is a skill issue. I killed a lot of 2A7V hitting them right under the cannon, or the driver hatch, even if they are “angling” with one shot. And if you see them flanking from the side you need shot them at almost the top of the hull where the second non-composited side skirt start “EXAMPLE” and voilà you one-shot a 2A7V from the side (no matter if are the right or left side because the spall liner on this tank let pass more spall than a BVM without them). However the STRV 122 (beside the better armor [wich IRL the 2A7V have better armor] and the non nerfed/“”“bad modeled”“” holed armor) are more “difficult” to kill. And i noticed that playing both tanks a lot. I noticed the 122 have more chance of “ricochet” at a 0º angle in the UFP area (trying to hit the driver hatch) than the 2A7V (2A7V having better armor) and the gun mantlet of the 122 are more difficult to penetrate too. IRL the gun mantlet have at least 600mm or more of armor in all Leo 2 after the 2A4 (without having in mind the addon armor in top of the cannon and the arrowhead addon at the turret cheeks). So yes the gun mantlet of all the Leo 2 (except the 2A4) are artificial weakspots
The “funniest” part is when you get shot at the side fuel tank in the 2A7V and you turn your turret leaving 1 second the turret ammo at the top of the fire and it explodes (being at the 100% of “life”) or when you´re at CQC and a enemy with a 7.62 coaxial mg can penetrate the back side of the 2A7V and hit the radiators and the engine. The 2A7V is the first in need of a good rework of armor and damage model and leave aside once for all the artificial nerfs that have been added to these Leo 2 since the 2A5 (and all the nerf to other western tanks aswell). You can tell they rushed the Leo 2A7V after the Leo 2 PSO fiasco.
