Germany and the United Kingdom are developing new armor-piercing tank ammunition
30 April, 2023 Challenger 3 tank. Photo credits: British Army Great Britain and Germany continue the program of developing new ammunition for their main battle tank.
Defense agencies signed a Statement of intent to continue cooperation in the development of the Enhanced Kinetic Energy (EKE) round. It covers the development of new armor-piercing ammunition for Challenger 3 and Leopard 2 tanks. In addition, other partners will be invited to join the work.
DE&S CEO Andy Start and Vice Admiral Carsten Stawitzki during the signing of the cooperation agreement
"Under the terms of the new agreement, Germany and the UK will also remain open for other nations to join the co-operation or be export recipients, as well as continuing discussions on potential collaboration for other types of 120mm tank ammunition," the statement said. The two countries are also discussing potential new partners, but as of now, do not specify which country could join this project. The next stage of development will "demonstrate that the new munition passes all legal and regulatory standards."
The British Army is the sole operator of the Challenger tank in Europe. Leopard 2, on the other hand, is widely used by NATO countries and other states. This potentially creates significant export capabilities for the advanced EKE round.
Leopard 2A7 tank.
Photo credits: Krauss-Maffei Wegmann
"The standardized ammunition will not only benefit battlefield collaboration with many of our NATO allies but has important export potential for UK and German defense industry partners," British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace noted. Rheinmetall Waffe Munition is responsible for developing a new tank ammunition project and is negotiating with its UK suppliers to participate in the program. On April 28, Rheinmetall announced to have received a 200 million euro tank ammunition contract from an unnamed European customer to be delivered by 2025.
The Challenger 2 tank is the only NATO tank that uses a 120mm rifled gun.
At the same time, as part of an GBP800 million program, Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) is upgrading 148 FV4034 tanks to Challenger 3 standard.
One of the main elements of the modernization is the installation of a new turret with the latest generation L55A1 smoothbore gun from Rheinmetall.