The Leclerc was first introduced to War Thunder in the 1.89 “Imperial Navy” update in 2019. Over the past seven years, other nations have continuously received newer and more capable MBTs, while France is still relying on vehicles with a level of performance that is largely comparable to the Leclerc S1 from seven years ago.
At this point, the Leclerc is struggling to remain competitive at top tier. Its weaknesses in protection are extremely significant and, in many situations, unavoidable. Although its mobility statistics are relatively good on paper, its steering and maneuverability feel excessively sluggish, making it difficult to take full advantage of its mobility. Its firepower is still decent, but it cannot compensate for its major disadvantages in other areas.
I hope Gaijin can consider improving the Leclerc, either by giving it access to a more modern APFSDS round and addressing its steering/maneuverability issues, or by introducing a newer French MBT to properly address France’s current disadvantage in top-tier ground forces.
France has been waiting for a truly competitive top-tier MBT for a long time, and I hope this situation can finally be addressed.
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Something France doesn’t have until next gen mbts/large caliber mbts
Leclerc main battle tank is the kind of tanks that can’t be improved in-game because they’re not improved in real life. I personally think that Leclerc main battle tank is fine, still to understand the reason to add the Leopard 2s but whatever—mega filler. Leclerc XLR (latest modification of the main battle tank) won’t improve a whole lot until KNDS France presents an active protection system for the platform, the protection will only rely on explosive reactive and modular armor. If only, the Leopard 2A8 would be the best option to put France again on the “top tier Meta” as you say. Vehicle being bad for the most part is a subjective topic, I personally find the Leclerc main battle tank good because mobility and firerate is the primary advantage of this vehicle. A Jane’s Magazine publication indicated that Dutch secretary of defence signed an agreement on ±40 Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks.
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yes, but thats only for the future.
until they actualy get them handed over they wont be added
Please don’t remind me…
We used to have 800+ Leopard tanks.
We reduced it to 100 or less, then sold those few remaining tanks off to mainly Canada for next to nothing, instead of just keeping them in storage for a fraction of the cost of purchasing new-built Leopard 2A8’s.
Now we’re of course spending billions on said 2A8’s, and we’re only getting enough of them to last about 2-4 weeks of high intensity combat…
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Leclerc XLR with proper Hyperbar system modeling, turret armor, and SHARD Mk 1