Panther KF51

The Panther KF51 (KF is short for German "Kettenfahrzeug" lit. 'tracked vehicle') is a German main battle tank (MBT) that is under development by Rheinmetall Landsysteme (part of Rheinmetall's Vehicle Systems division). It was unveiled publicly at the Eurosatory defence exhibition on 13 June 2022.

For the German tank in World War II, see Panther tank.
For For the modern South Korean Main Battle Tank, see, see K2 Black Panther.
Panther KF51
Rheinmetall Panther KF51
TypeMain battle tank
Place of originGermany, Hungary
Production history
DesignerRheinmetall (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann)
DesignedCommenced 2016
Specifications
Mass59 t (65 short tons; 58 long tons)
Crew3–4
  • Commander (turret)
  • Gunner (turret)
  • Driver (hull)
  • Additional crew member (hull)
(Each workstation can hand over and take over tasks and roles from others with no reduction of functionality)
Main
armament
Rh-130 L/52 130 mm smoothbore gun (up to 20 ready rounds)
Secondary
armament
12.7 mm coaxial machine gun (250 ready rounds), 7.62 mm NATTER RCWS (2,500 rounds) and optional HERO 120 loitering ammunitions
EngineMTU MB 873 Ka-501 V-12 water-cooled diesel
1103 kW at 2600 rpm
Power/weight25 hp/t
TransmissionRenk HSWL 354
SuspensionTorsion bar
Fuel capacity1,100 L (242 imp gal; 291 US gal)

The KF51 is based on the hull of the Leopard 2A4, but with a new turret mounting an autoloaded 130 mm calibre main gun. On 5 December 2022, Rheinmetall announced its plans to target mostly existing Leopard 2 operators with the KF51.

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