Will Germany’s New Panther Tank Outperform the M1 Abrams?

Laser weapons to incinerate enemy helicopters, synthetic intelligence (AI)-enabled computing to establish targets in milliseconds, guided munitions to decimate obscured shifting targets, lively safety methods (APS) to “take out” incoming anti-tank weapons, and a capability to launch “mini-attack-drones” are all fast-unfolding ideas of operation informing the way forward for tank warfare. 

What about future tanks? Actually, questions on composite supplies, heavy armor, and mobility persist because the U.S. Military contemplates its strategy to future armored platforms. In the mean time, the service appears deeply immersed in a two-pronged strategy, which means it’s each sustaining and upgrading its closely armored platforms such because the Abrams tank whereas additionally exploring ideas for lighter-weight, extra cellular, and expeditionary armored assault automobiles. There’ll probably be a spot for each, as militaries all over the world search to attain the optimum steadiness. 

The query is now getting a flurry of recent consideration following Rheinmetall’s launch of its new KF51 Panther tank, a brand new automobile intentionally named after the well-known WWII German Panzers. The brand new tank, unveiled lately on the well-known Eurosatory army commerce present in France, contains a host of applied sciences now producing consideration comparable to a bigger 130mm cannon, the power to launch drones, top-down safety, and 360-degree sensors. The automobile is reported to be lighter than the seventy-ton Abrams tank at fifty-nine tons and incorporates a crew of three with an autoloader for ammunition.  

An fascinating write-up in Fashionable Mechanics particulars most of the applied sciences constructed into the brand new Panther, which additionally incorporates a brand new era of digital computing, lively safety methods, and composite supplies. The Fashionable Mechanics article says the turret is “edgier” and extra angled however that the principle chassis is analogous in configuration to the legacy German Leopard 2 tank. 

Naturally, many are more likely to evaluate the fashionable Panther with essentially the most present variants of the Abrams tank such because the M1A2 SEP v3 and v4. Does the brand new German Panther signify a paradigm-changing enchancment above upgraded tanks such because the Abrams? 

The Abrams may very well be known as an “natural” platform, which means as an alternative of being static in a sure technological place, the platform can repeatedly be upgraded. In the present day, the Abrams is sort of a wholly new automobile when in comparison with the unique design which emerged within the Nineteen Eighties. Just like the German Panther, the Abrams does have an autoloader for ammunition and, Basic Dynamics Land Programs (GDLS) builders say, future upgrades to the Abrams can be engineered with the power to swap out or alternate its 120mm cannon for a 130mm cannon, making it comparable in capability to the Panther. 

“We might hold the Abrams ceaselessly,” Mai. Gen. Ross Coffman, director, Subsequent Era Fight Car, Military Futures Command, informed The Nationwide Curiosity about ongoing upgrades to the Abrams. The platform has confirmed each fight succesful and upgradeable. 

It’s not clear but that the brand new German KF51 Panther would out-perform the U.S. Military’s M1A2 SEP v3 or rising v4 variant. The M1A2 SEP v4 builds upon a few of the improvements woven into the v3, together with a third-generation forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor, upgraded thermal sights, meteorological sensors, and superior navigational know-how comparable to mapping, sensing, and multi-node networking which have improved the tank’s capability to maneuver in city environments. Ought to a bridge or slim space current restrictions for an Abrams, superior networking, location information, and mapping may rapidly calculate new different transport routes. The Abrams v3 is now operational with ahead Military items, senior service leaders say. 

Public paperwork and feedback from senior U.S. Military weapons builders clarify that the next-generation Abrams tank incorporates a number of paradigm-changing applied sciences. For instance, U.S. Military and Basic Dynamics Land Programs weapons builders don’t say a lot about what sort of top-down safety the fashionable Abrams has for safety causes, but its technical composition is such that it could possibly combine cutting-edge lively safety methods and launch drones. The know-how for a “hemispheric” 360-APS system existed years in the past and was explored for Future Fight Programs, so it appears unrealistic that an equal wouldn’t exist right this moment. Improvements associated to APS have been ongoing for a few years and the Protection Superior Analysis Tasks Company. One previous system, known as QuickKill developed for the U.S. Military’s FCS, integrated 360-degree or hemispheric protections. This system didn’t proceed, but the purpose is the technical capability to combine “encompass” intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance has been right here for years and is after all basic to the F-35 stealth fighter’s Distributed Aperture System. 

General, the sorts of know-how used for APS have been on the Abrams for a few years, as GDLS builders had been in a position to combine the Trophy APS system into the Abrams community. This was made attainable by widespread requirements and open structure engineering, a development that GDLS engineers have continued by means of the most recent v4 Abrams variant. AI-enabled sensing, fireplace management, and intercept know-how are a few of the few technical areas which have progressed in a short time. 

Kris Osborn is the Protection Editor for the Nationwide Curiosity. Osborn beforehand served on the Pentagon as a Extremely Certified Professional with the Workplace of the Assistant Secretary of the Military—Acquisition, Logistics & Expertise. Osborn has additionally labored as an anchor and on-air army specialist at nationwide TV networks. He has appeared as a visitor army professional on Fox Information, MSNBC, The Navy Channel, and The Historical past Channel. He additionally has a Grasp’s Diploma in Comparative Literature from Columbia College.

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