(Bloomberg) — Rheinmetall AG unveiled a new main battle tank to replace the flagship Leopard 2 as demand for military equipment is poised to surge in the wake of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The KF51 Panther will be a “game changer on the battlefields of the future,” Rheinmetall said this week when presenting the 59-ton vehicle at the Eurosatory 2022 defense exhibition in Paris.
“The main battle tank concept sets new standards in all areas — lethality, protection, reconnaissance, networking and mobility,” the company said in a statement.
The Panther would go head-to-head with a new model still being designed by KNDS, the consortium that includes French arms maker Nexter Systems SA and German producer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, which developed the Leopard 2 in the 1970s.
Rheinmetall makes the Leopard 2’s main gun and supplies ammunition and other systems.
The German arms maker expects revenue to surge by as much as 20% per year driven by growing demand for military equipment, according to Chief Executive Officer Armin Papperger.
Rheinmetall is boosting capacity and can at least triple ammunition production within the next twelve months, he told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag in an interview.
The company also is able to double military truck output “because a lot of Cold War infrastructure can be reactivated fairly quickly,” the CEO said.
Rheinmetall’s first modernized Marder light tanks are also ready for delivery, Papperger said, adding that when and where the vehicles get shipped depends on the German government.
Berlin has faced criticism for what some see as tepid commitments to deliver weapons to Ukraine.
Rheinmetall is currently updating 100 decommissioned Marder vehicles, 88 Leopard 1 tanks and additional Leopard 2 versions.
The vehicles could potentially be delivered to Ukraine or replace equipment dispatched by other countries.
(Updates with information on new tank in fourth paragraph.)
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