caid’s suggestion #123
I will suggest a brand new tank for France, the Leclerc Evolution
the Leclerc Evolution is a complete review of Leclerc MBT bringing up the tank to the next generation. the tank features a new turret with more advanced armament and improved situation awareness and also an improved hull with more protection. the tank was revealed in 2024 during EuroSatory 2024 and is still currently in development. it is a redesigned and improved Leclerc chassis with a new turret and new gun.
the purpose of this tank is unclear. this might be an export venture like the KF-51 or an alternative to the EMBT for France. The turret is the same as the EMBT 2022 only with new lotering ammunition showing a direct relation between this tank and the EMBT. it is probably related to the proposition to export the Leclerc to India. Firepower
the main armament is the 120mm Ascalon gun. the information of this gun is a bit limited. we know it can fire Shard APFSDS and is a caliber L/58. we do not exactly know the performance of the gun, it is known to have a lower recoil and pressure than the regular 120mm while being compatible with all NATO standard 120mm rounds. the Shard Mk.1 in particular is known to be used for this gun. the 120mm gun is paired with an autoloader carrying 22 rounds. the turret also features a 30mm ARX30 in an auxiliary turret. this gun is intended to provide close defense and anti-UAV defense. 150 rounds are carried in this turret who also have a decent selection of rounds effective against soft targets. additionally, 3x loitering anti-tank ammunition is carried on the top of the turret. i am still looking for more details about those loitering ammunition. the tank features a laser rangefinder, Thermal vision of the latest generation, and night vision as well as a two-plane stabilizer
Mobility
the tank is based on the Leclerc tank. the engine was stated to be 1500 hp the weight was about 62 tonnes and the top speed was 68 km/h. all together allow us to guess it didn’t have any significant improvement on the Leclerc comportment which appears to be similar. the engine is likely the V8X-1500 and the transmission the ESM 500. the engine provides 1500 hp and the transmission has 5 forward and 2 backward gear with a torque converter. amounts of the modern MBT, this tank will feel rather mobile. a bit less than the Leclerc but still pretty good.
Protection
the protection is unknown but we do know the tank is based on the Leclerc and the hull has an Azure kit. this allows us to base the armor to be at least as strong as the Leclerc for the chassis. the protection was said to be improved and modular. the turret armor is unknown but since it’s much smaller, giving it the same armor as the Leclerc’s turret will still improve his protection. the tank also features an extra system to protect it. it is equipped with a laser warning system, hunter-killer acoustic system, Trophy active protection system, and a Galix grenade launcher system. The crew of 4 men includes 2 men in the chassis and 2 in the turret. the extra man is there to reduce the workload of the commander.
The funny thing, there is a high possibility this tank was developed for the Indian market specifically
In May-June 2023, India launched a competition for the replacement of the T-72. a extremely juicy contract for 2000 tanks.
the favorite candidate was announced to be the Leclerc Mk.2. this tank was unknown and described as a Leclerc with incorporating the elements from the EMBT.
the Leclerc Évolution is not from yesterday. it was revealed 2 weeks ago but it was in development for the past few years. if India was aware this tank was in development it was surely because they were negotiating the order/license of this tank.
there is negotiations for the Leclerc in India for several years. those things are complicated. as France currently no longer produces the Leclerc. the new variants are built from the existing tanks. but India needs a huge number of tanks, five times more than all the Leclercs build. no way they give secondhand tanks, France needs tanks too. the negotiation is surely about local production, the reopening of the French Leclerc production, the spreading technology, and the price. such a large number is going to be a big deal.
if India orders this tank, they will not get it before a few years.
like the Ariete AMV?
there are a lot of tanks that a lot in unknown. that does not stop them from being in the game. almost every single modern MBT has fictional armor in-game. almost all the info except the speed and the gun is guesswork.
and this suggestion was written a bit before the tank was revealed officially. i was waiting for the pictures.
it was posted in the hours following the revelation.
Well on the hull side there is pretty much no unknown as the additionnal armore on UFP is basically derivated from 2A7 add armor and engine is known as it’s used on UAE Leclercs. The real shadow zone pretty much lies on the following subjects : Autoloader rack position; Composite armor layout of the turret (Even though it is not hard to figure where there would be composite if there was some), Presence or not of spall liners in the tank or not.
Otherwise most hull parameters are somewhat known and side additionnal armor is basec on Leclerc XLR composite side armor blocks. Overall a good what if tank for future top tier of France i Gaijin wants to keep adding modern tanks.
Frankly one of the prototypes i’d want to see in game the most as it would finally offer a true top tier MBT to France. The additionnal armore and Trophy system could really help compensating for the low pen of OFL 120 F1 and current Leclercs lack of armor.
Honestly that’s almost depressing to think a 2024 demonstrator is needed to compensate for Gaijin refusal of buffing Leclercs to realistic levels of performance…
the penetration here is the minimal value. the gun has the minimal velocity of the CN-120-26 F1 from the Leclerc, otherwise, it would not be worth changing the gun.
The CN-120-26-F1 is a caliber L/52 while the Ascalon is a L/58. this should give a significant improvement in velocity. easily get around 1850 m/sec but this is unknown. so as the placeholder, I give the CN-120-26 F1’s performance. like this we would not be disappointed when we correct the gun’s performance. it would be improved and not nerfed.
And the logistical nightmare that is the Indian Army continues. T-90 Bhishma with a 125mm smoothbore, Arjun with a 120mm rifle, and now Lerclerc with a 120mm smoothbore. Along with “standard” infantry rifles in 7.62x51, 5.56x45 and 7.62x39.
I believe you got the reload wrong though : the Leclerc has had a 5 seconds reloads for a few months now.
As for the rounds used by the ARX30, albeit we don’t know much about it yet, you could add the proxy HE rounds that are being designed to destroy drones.
As for the other ammo type, you should have added the regular Tiger helicopters’ 30mm SAPHEI belt (there is no such thing as API, SAP or HEI rounds for this weapon system, only SAPHEI, training rounds, and in the future, the proxy-HE round for anti-drone warfare).
That sure is one pretty big baby, would make for a nice addition to the french tree. I’d like to point a few things out though :
1# Germany has NO CLAIM WHASTOEVER on this tank. KNDS designed another vehicle (namely the Leopard 2 A-RC 3.0) as an equivalent for german forces. It was indeed sitting right next to the Leclerc Evolution at Eurosatory.
2# Regarding the ammo, the turret is still using a 22-round autoloader. HOWEVER, the ammo storage at the front was permanently removed to free up space for the 4th crew member
3# though the turret looks is indeed less bulky than the one from the previous Leclerc-variants, they confirmed that it was nonetheless better protected : armor-scheme has been reworked through and through, hence the funny look.
Didn’t check the values, but rest of provided information looks valid.
I am aware of it. it’s some of the German main who made a huge drama over it a couple of days ago. they are so affray the Leopard 2 A-RC 3.0 would end up in the French tech-tree, they force my hand to get the mention added in the suggestion in the Leclerc Evolution.
KNDS designed both Leclerc Evolution and Leopard 2 A-RC 3.0. Nexter does not exist as his entity anymore.
for the rest, the absence of proper sources makes me without good information. it was said to be well protected, but this does not give us any clue to which extent. the Leclerc is famous for being one of the most protected MBT and suffered no loss over the 30 years of service. it did see combat and was hits yet it was never disabled of destroyed. The service and test show better protection than the Abram and Leopard 2. it was one of the reasons UAE ordered this tank. but in the game, the armor is weak. the main reason it fails many of its competition is the Expensive cost and expensive maintenance which makes it the most expensive standard MBT in service. (the M1 and Leopard 2 are way cheaper)
since the ingame protection of the Leclerc is know to be wrong, it’s hard to tell what would be the proper protection for this tank even if they say “better than the Leclerc”
Or you know, you could have just removed the frenchs claim over it.
We have proven to you that the french side in fact had no involvement in the leopard and that nexter and kmw still interact seperately.
But you are clinging to this concept.
The leclerc evolution turret from the embt is in fact co designed by germany as well its not a modified leclerc turret but designed from ground up. But every german is perfectly fine with making it france exclusive and to share the embt series.
Its realy only you making a problem out of the whole thing
see what I am talking about? They never quit and kept coming back about things that were clear for everyone from this start out by fear of losing ground
