Panther KF51
| Panther KF51 | |
|---|---|
Rheinmetall Panther KF51 | |
| Type | Main battle tank |
| Place of origin | Germany |
| Service history | |
| In service | Not yet in service |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Rheinmetall (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann) |
| Designed | Commenced 2016 |
| Specifications (Hull) | |
| Mass | 59 tonnes |
| Length | 7.8 m (10 m with tank gun) |
| Width | 3.7 m |
| Height | 2.5 m |
| Crew | 3–4
|
| Armour | Armour plating (with spaced armour), reactive armour, active protection (StrikeShield) |
Main armament | Rh-130 L/52 130 mm smoothbore cannon (up to 20 rounds) |
Secondary armament | 12.7 mm coaxial machine gun (250 rounds), 7.62 mm 'Natter' RCWS (2,500 rounds) |
| Engine | MTU MB 873 Ka-501 V-12 water-cooled diesel 1 500 PS |
| Power/weight | 25.4 PS/t |
| Transmission | Renk HSWL 354 |
| Suspension | Torsion bar |
| Fuel capacity | 1,100 L (242 imp gal; 291 US gal) |
The Panther KF51 (KF is short for German "Kettenfahrzeug" lit. 'tracked vehicle') is a German fourth-generation 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.
The KF51 is based on the hull of the Leopard 2A4, but with a new turret mounting an autoloaded 130 mm main gun. On 5 December 2022, Rheinmetall announced its plans to target mostly existing Leopard 2 operators with the KF51.