The nations of Poland, Germany and Russia have all three been working on new types of tanks or are planning to design new tanks for their future arsenals. The Polish PL-01, the Russian T-14 Armata and the German “Leopard III” concept are the new tanks that will join these armed forces in the next decade. It seems like these three nations are making firm commitments to modernise their armies.
PL-01
The PL-01 will be the new main battle tank (MBT) of Poland. The tank is jointly developed by OBRUM and BAE Systems. The main armament of this tank is still undecided as both 105mm or 120mm are rumoured to be the main gun. The turret is unmanned and an autoloader with 16 shots has a rate of fire of 6 rounds per minute. The remaining 29 rounds are carried in the chassis of the tank.
The total weight of the PL-01 is estimated to end up around 39 tons. It speed is projected to be 70km on roads and 50km in rough terrain. It can overcome trenches up to 2,6m wide and inclinations up to 30 degrees.
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| PL-01 concept vehicle |
The main topic of this tank is stealth. The goal is to have a low as possible infrared, radar and visual signature. Temperature controlled wafers on the exterior are installed to make sure that this tank matches the infrared signature of its surroundings, thus making it invisible for infrared based weapons. At the same time it can also create a false infrared image of itself and disguises itself as another vehicle. This would make the PL-01 a fearsome opponent for engagements at night.
At the same time the tank is covered in radar absorbing material to reduce its radar signature. This gives the PL-01 the advantage to deal with battlefield observation radars that are becoming part in most armies. It will also help the PL-01 to avoid detection by radar systems of ground attack aircraft.
A prototype is expected to be ready by 2016 and mass production should start in 2018. It is clear however that the PL-01 is designed to participate in high intensity conflicts where its advanced technology will allow it to successfully engage larger amounts of enemy forces that are on a lower technological level.
T-14 Armata
The T-14 (object 149) MBT has been developed since 2009 but is only recently been put in production. Details about this tank are being kept secret but recently enough information over this tank has become available. The cannon of this tank is the new 125mm 2Z82-1M smoothbore cannon. The muzzle energy of this cannon is stated to be more powerful than the Leopard 2 120mm gun.
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| T-14 Armata tank |
The turret will be remotely operated leaving a crew protected in the chassis surrounded by an armoured capsule. This capsule consists of multi-layered armour and composite materials.
The turret can house 32 shells as well as laser-guided missiles with a range of 5.000 metres. The secondary armament is installed at the side of the turret and consists of a 30mm cannon and a 12.7mm machine gun.
The T-14 is based on the Armata platform and this platform will also be the chassis for Russia’s new armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) and self-propelled guns. If possible the Armata can even mount a 152mm gun on its chassis.
Leopard III
Germany already starts to look for a new generation of tank although this project has not yet named, aside from the “Leopard III” in news articles. Having just completed the Leopard 2A7 modernisation it is logic that Germany keeps looking for new ways to modernise its tanks in the future.
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| Concept drawing of the Leopard III |
The creation of a new tank chassis makes sense as one can only keep updating an existing platform for so many times. The new tank program is part of the medium-term military planning and seems to be a regular event. Still, the announcement of the development of a Leopard III tank comes at the same time as Poland and Russia are designing and producing their new tanks. It can thus be expected that the Leopard III will form Germany’s answer to the new tank generations by its neighbour Poland and its rival Russia.
As the Leopard III is just a concept at the moment there are no details known about what the tank will be and what it characteristics will be. All that is known is that the Leopard III will be developed by Germany and France and that it will become operational around 2030. As for the meanwhile, Germany’s Leopard 2A7 will be the answer to Poland's PL-01 and Russia’s T-14 Armata tanks.
