I’d just like to manage expectations a little. There certainly is the possibility that they fix a lot. But - and that is a big but - the question is if they are willing to follow up with many reports if the Leclerc is doing fine stat-wise. The message this conveys is that the vehicle is capable as it is and it does not require any attention, giving it a low priority on the development list.
Yes, this is all problematic in regards to statistics again, as it does not account for a smaller, more competent playerbase and considering you have to play the Leclerc (and other french tanks and planes) with a lot more “rat-factor”, if you are capable of adapting your playstyle, you’ll certainly make it work. Possibly even on equal grounds with the Leopard 2A5/6/7/PSO based on kills. Yet, honeslty, pretty much any tank will work like that. The biggest advantage I see Leopards having is that they are rediculously forgiving. With spall liners and great coverage with impenetrable turret armor, even at the side from some conservative angles, they have an insurmountable level of reaction potential when a shot alarms them and with the best round in the game, they have an incredibly effective retaliation potential, not requiring careful aiming, avoiding armor or (necessarily) spall liners - because they do not exist on many other machines.
https://warthunder.com/en/tournament/replay/172369651909389331
Got my second nuke in top tier, gotta say that Lerclerc has potential, but I think if I am using A7V or bvm, I would definitly do better since they wouldn’t even pen me in the first place.
They basically took a universal truck base used on other new gen infantry armored vehicles and made it into a scout vehicle. You must remember that every vehicle is made to lower the logistics chain by using standard parts. French doctrine is interesting: light mobile vehicles that can travel far with a low logistical footprint, thus can be brought anywhere in the world to fight fast asymmetric wars. If a well equipped nation attacks French territory it is explicitly said in public strategic documents that France will use nuclear weapons as warning shots towards military targets before any major battles take place on French soil, if the enemy pushes on: the rest of the nukes come out to eliminate enemy cities. It a cold defense plan but it works unlike nations cough cough… that threaten nuclear war on twitter to stop its enemy. All of that said, the French army should focus only on being light and well equipped for foreign deployment in zones like Africa or the Middle East. So yeah, ugly but it works very well in practice, a bit like the amx10 rc: a light scout « tank » on wheels to go fast, be easy to maintain, simple to use with a lower logistical footprint.
I don’t believe the UAE ever received the SXXI package.
This is a photo of an S2. The gunner side armour looks thicker than what is shown in your photo:
The S2 received upgraded armour (which the S1OP would be retrofitted with) which saw the gunner side armour slightly increase:
(Ignore how a different armour is represented on the sides of the autoloader for the S1 and S2 - there’s no evidence this occured as this diagram otherwise suggests).
The problem is that the UAE occasionally shoddily fitted the armour in some cases which means they could be misidentified for an S2 by the gunner side armour (like in this image). But the scale model next to it shows it is indeed the S1 armour.
In this image you can see a UAE Leclerc which obviously has the S1 armour. So just because a few photos appear to show the extra protruding gunner side armour (which would be indicative of an S2) this is not the case. Hope that makes sense.
Also, the UAE Leclerc orders were all based on 1993 contractual agreeements according to Al Jazeera. The armour package the French used wouldn’t come for a few more years (partly why Leclercs didn’t enter service until November 1998).
This can't be seen with the UAE Leclerc from 2021:
A Leclerc S1 for reference (which didn't receive upgraded armour):
If there’s ever an Arab TT, they may as well receive the UAE Leclerc. The UAE Leclerc also only has 1st gen thermals (albeit a CITV) and worse mobility with the German drivetrain.
On the other hand, French top-tier should look like (if devs weren’t morons):
Leclerc S1: original armour package [same as on UAE Leclerc
Leclerc S1OP: upgraded armour with Gen 2 gunner thermals
Leclerc S2: same armour as S1OP but with Gen 3 thermals
Leclerc SXXI: armour upgrade over the S1OP/S2 and Gen 3 commander and gunner thermals
AZUR should be a mod for S2 and SXXI. It’s stupid that it’s its own vehicle.
There’s not really a need for a UAE Leclerc in the French TT. Pre-production Leclercs would be better for a premium and/or squadron vehicles - they would all be worse than a UAE Leclerc which would result in worse statistics.
Also, this poster states the UAE Leclerc weighs either 54.3t or 56.3t (can't tell which)
UAE Leclercs would weigh wore than an S1 since the chassis is 20cm longer and there is additional side armour. The S2 (which has upgraded armour) weighs ~57t. So its impossible for the UAE Leclerc to weigh less than the S2 whilst having the same armour as it.
It’s embarrassing that nothing after the AMX-30s has been modelled correctly except the ITO-90M (go figure). Even then AMX-30 and its derivatives somehow all have different engine HP despite having the same drivetrain - although the B2s did receive improved engines IRL.
The closest thing to what the French use is the Systematic SitaWare which is on the Leopard 2 and Abrams and used by over 45 different countries. So you can communicate with friendlies the positions of enemies IRL but you can already do this in-game.
With French systems this process is automatic and with the Leclerc S2 and onwards it became possible to automatically scan the surroundings, detect an enemy and then automatically relay this info. I doubt this exists with the SitaWare since I couldn’t find any info on this and also it would require the system be compatible with various different systems and technologies from different countries.
