France's Army Beast: LECLERC tank never participated in the wars, it is being renewed and left for a long time

According to journalists, the main battle French tank Leclerc was developed in the 1980s. General understanding of the time: any Soviet territorial action will depend largely on the tank corps, which was confirmed during the invasion of Ukraine, the main battle tank Leclerc was considered the cornerstone of the French army for 30 years and will continue to serve after future modernization. The National Interest writes about it.

The system was developed during the Cold War for a potential reflection of Soviet armored vehicles. According to Slash Gear, this development is considered one of the most expensive in the world. As of 2022, the price of one unit was estimated at about $ 17. 3 million. This tank is considered the basis of France's armed forces. It has served for 30 years and a new version of the fourth generation - Leclerc XLR - should appear over the current decade. It was developed from 1983 to 1989.

In fact, it is a product of the time when Western Europe was concerned about a potential offensive from the East. The general understanding of the time, which, by the way, was confirmed during the invasion of Ukraine, was that any Soviet territorial action would greatly depend on the tank corps. Therefore, the French needed their reliable armored vehicles. The main feature of any tank is its tower.

Everything is essentially built around it: the armor protects the tower, and the caterpillars move it. The tower provides offensive power, which is, in fact, and requires military armored vehicles. There is a 120-mm version of the smooth-bore gun F1-CN120-26 with a thermal casing made of magnesium alloy. One of the benefits of CN120-26 is that the cannon is compatible with NATO's standard 120x570 mm NATO ammunition. The brainchild of French designers has an automatic charging system CA.

It weighs 500 kg and is relatively complex, six goals are tracked at a time, shoots at intervals of eight seconds. All tanks are built with secondary offensive systems. In the case of Leclerc, the crew can fire by a browned heavy machine gun M2 12. 7 mm or 7. 62 mm, which is installed on the tower. The 55-ton tank is equipped with a SACM V8X Hyperbar diesel engine with automatic transmission and gas turbine Turbomeca TM 307B, which can serve as a turbocharger and auxiliary power plant.

Power is 1500 horsepower, which allows to develop speeds of more than 70 km/h with an acceleration of 32 km/h in just 5 seconds. The French combat vehicle is smaller than most of its Western contemporaries, hence the good power ratio to weight: 27 horses per ton. The French combat system previously participated only in low -intensity conflicts: it was located in Kosovo and Lebanon within the framework of NATO peacekeeping missions.