It seemed that the star of the tanks was diminishing due to asymmetric warfare, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine has once again demonstrated its importance.<\/p>\n
EMBT: a fusion of the German Leopard 2 and the French Leclerc<\/big><\/p>\n In this scenario, new models are being presented that could replace the generation of battle tanks that entered service in the 1980s<\/strong> (M1 Abrams, Leopard 2, AMX-56 Leclerc, Challenger and Merkava). While the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel continue to choose to improve their respective tanks with the most recent versions of the Abrams, the Challenger 3 and the Merkava Mark 4 Barak<\/strong>, Germany and France seem to opt for new solutions to replace their already veteran tanks. In June we saw the presentation of the German Panther KF51<\/a>, and now comes a project that has been talked about for years: the EMBT (European Main Battle Tank)<\/strong>, a project also known as the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS).<\/p>\n Germany and France started talking about this project in 2012 to replace the Leopard 2 and the Leclerc. The first conceptual designs appeared in 2016<\/a>, in what roughly looked like a main battle tank that took advantage of the barge of the Leopard 2 and the turret of the Leclerc, modernizing them. In fact, some dubbed the new project \"Leo-clerc\".<\/strong> Three other countries have become interested in the project: Italy<\/strong> (to replace their Ariete tanks), Poland<\/strong> (which was looking for a replacement for its already old T-72 and PT-91, but has finally opted for the South Korean K2 Panther<\/a>), Belgium<\/strong>, Netherlands<\/strong> and Spain<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The possible replacement for the future Spanish Leopard 2E Plus<\/big><\/p>\n In 2019, in a document about its \"Fuerza 35\" project, the Spanish Army showed its interest in this project (see PDF, pages 66 and 67)<\/a> to replace its Leopardo 2E, the national version of the German Leopard 2A6, produced between 2003 and 2008. The forecast is that the EMBT will be active in 2035<\/strong>, at which time it will be necessary to start thinking about a substitute for the current Spanish battle tanks. Until then, the forecast is to modernize the current vehicles to the Leopard 2E Plus version<\/strong>, with improvements in fire control systems, optronics and ammunition.<\/p>\n This is the EMBT presented by Nexter Systems<\/big><\/p>\n This Monday, Nexter Systems, the French partner of the EMBT consortium<\/strong> (also made up of the German companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall) presented in a video the first prototype of the new battle tank<\/a>, already shown in June at the Eurosatory 2022 fair:<\/p>\n
\n