ground forces Leclerc t4 (140mm) (le terminateur)

[CaID 8,996]

 

i would like to suggest the ULTIMATE leclerc tank for the French tree. the Leclerc T4

 

 

 

 

the leclerc T4 was a project of the 1996, the concept of fitting a 140mm gun instant of the 120mm wasn't new. the purpose of this armament was simple, TAKE OUT SOVIET TANK IN A SINGLE SHOT. but with the fall USSR, the project was put on hold and was nearly dead. but a prototype was built and after the project was put on hold, the turret was stored and the hull used for other need.

^{Leclerc terminateur during the first trial in 1996}

the project was revived in the years 2014, the reason of reviving the project is simple, the Russian had recently release new generation of tanks and suddently go ahead the modern tanks used in the westerner country. the Leclerc T4, this time, wasn't designed to take out Russian tank but rather test the 140mm gun in the goal to fit the leclerc turret in the new Franco-German tank that shall replace both the Leclerc and Leopard II in the French and German army. the future tank is, as for now, suppose to be a hybrid between the Leclerc and Leopard II and married the both strength. the hightly reliable hull and engine of the Leopard II and the hightech turret of the Leclerc. but the armament for now oppose resistance, the German Company Rheinmetal and the French company, GIAT, both want to use their own gun in the tank that still in development.

in the purpose to prove the efficiency of the 140mm gun from GIAT on the 50t tank and specifically the Leclerc turret, the french, had revived the old project of leclerc 140 which was so advance in the development from the 1996, that the tank was already been built back them and the turret was still stored. French defense company GIAT, which subsequently transformed into Nexter, specifically developed an enlarged turret to house a gun of this calibre that France’s Arsenal de Bourges had developed. in 2015 Nexter reportedly reinstalled in onto a chassis that had belonged to a turretless Leclerc MARS armored recovery vehicle. in 2017, the tank was finally reveal to public. The 140mm-armed Leclerc, with its enlarged turret, reportedly still requires two-piece ammunition, with the shell separate from the propellant. Even then, it can only hold 31 rounds, nine fewer than the standard version of the tank.

 

the tanks as for right now is still on trial and would likely never been put into service (unless the Franco-German tank project split up again like the Europanzer/Standardpanzer in the 50s) but the turret is working well with the 140mm gun. the firepower was (according the the official source) improved of 70% over the 120mm gun normally used. the tank was used in the shooting rank with a fairly good success while there was problem spotted. mostly around the automatic reloading system which was a regular reloading system designed for the 120mm gun but lightly modified to have 140mm shells.

^{on right : 140mm shell used in the Leclerc 140}

^{on Left : 120mm shell like those used in the regular leclerc}

the nickname of ''le Terminateur'' (the terminator) come from the original tank to be tested in 1996, the french are traditionally used to provide nickname to their tanks just like we do for the ship (ex: USS enterprise) the prototype was named terminateur which was written clearly on the turret side and was the most obvious details on the picture from the 90s. the turret on the prototype of 2015 was the same turret but the chassis was another one. the name still stick to the new prototype.

 

Specifications
Mass	57.4 tonnes (or more)
Length	6.88 without gun
Width	3.60 m
Height	2.53 m
Crew	3
Armour	modular composite armor titanium, tungsten and semi-reactive layers.
Main armament	140 mm tank gun 31 rounds with autoloader
Secondary armament	12.7 mm coaxial M2HB machine gun (1,100 rounds) 7.62 mm machine gun (3,000 rounds)
Engine	V8X SACM (Wärtsilä)8-cylinder diesel engine 1,100 kW[3] (1,500 hp)
Power/weight	27.52 hp/tonne[3]
Transmission	Automatic SESM[5]
Suspension	hydropneumatic
Fuel capacity	1300 litres (1700 with fuel drums)
Operational range	550 km, 650 km (400 mi) with external fuel
Speed	72 km/h (45 mph) on the road 55 km/h (34 mph) on all-terrains

 

 

source

http://ftr.wot-news.com/2017/05/07/140mm-leclerc/

https://thaimilitaryandasianregion.wordpress.com/2017/05/11/leclerc-mbt-140mm-gun-variant/

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26170/france-tests-huge-140mm-tank-gun-as-it-pushes-ahead-with-germany-on-a-new-tank-design

http://www.milinfo.org/-38

https://tanksalotweb.wordpress.com/tag/140mm/

 

Edited August 30, 2019 by CaID

[leroyonly 4,311]

Open for discussion. 

[Milocat 4,855]

Well, since we're going full-modern now, I can't really see a good argument against this vehicle.  Sure, it's a prototype, but we have lots of those already.  

 

+1, would be a fun monster gun to play with.

[CaID 8,996]

i also have made some other suggestion for equivalent vehicles in other nation.

 

German

USA

Russia

France

[eleks12 1,079]

+1 when the BR is at least 11.0 or higher

[CaID 8,996]

1 hour ago, eleks12 said:

+1 when the BR is at least 11.0 or higher

with the the addition of tanks armed with the 120mm L50 gun, they would have no other choice to raise the BR cap. it would also open the door for tanks like the M1a2 Abram

[onemax9000 1,243]

+1 gib 

[Xenecrite 899]

+1

[TheFuzzieOne 3,355]

What sources do we have on the performance of the gun?

[FouManchou 2,463]

@TheFuzzieOne the penetrator would have been the same diameter as the 120mm APFSDS, but much longer. It reportedly delivered at least twice the energy of the standard Leclerc 120mm shell. Based on that estimate alone, I think you could probably expect between 30 and 40% penetration increase in general, with the rod being particularly potent against angled armour.



The Mad Lad will be back

Spoiler

For connoisseurs of french cinema, that's not actually Leclerc, that's Claude Rich, in "Paris Brûle-t-il"

 

[TheFuzzieOne 3,355]

Which sources point to those figures?

[CaID 8,996]

On 05/09/2019 at 02:27, TheFuzzieOne said:

What sources do we have on the performance of the gun?

some TnT magazine i read, there was a interview with one of the major there. i will recheck the number it was, it was one of the last 3 issue. i forget wich one it was. it really mention the gun was 70% more powerful than the actual 120mm but they do not mention any penetration in number. only 70% more powerful.

[Shepard_FR 546]

Massive yes because it's French AND badass.

[CaID 8,996]

On Thu Sep 05 2019 at 05:27, TheFuzzieOne said:

What sources do we have on the performance of the gun?

I found it back. truck N Tanks magazine issue no.74 page 6. update news from le char leclerc 140mm

 

2nd paragraph.

at international armoured vehicles. 21 to 24 January 2019 in London

info had leak. in the few previous month before the lectern armed with the 140 had been shooting in the shooting range of Portugal. 200 shell was shot. jane's 360 precise that according to the leak from a officer from nexter, the 140mm have proven 70% more powerful than the 120mm normally used

 

that is all I have but since the other nation that research on the 140mm mention a potential of double power over the 120mm, I think 70% seem credible.

 

at least the work on the 140mm is more advance than the one on the 130mm which shall probably be the main calliper of the next generation of European tank for 2025 to 2035

Edited September 7, 2019 by CaID

[Alan_Tovarishch 860]

Ok but only if

[WulfPack 1,693]

17 hours ago, Alan_Tovarishch said:

Ok but only if

That or 

[CaID 8,996]

On 08/09/2019 at 15:42, Alan_Tovarishch said:

Ok but only if

 

 

this 152mm beast is not enought?

 

the T-95 was more or less still in early stage. i doubt it was suppose to look like this in the last step of the development. i think the modified T-80 with the 152mm who is preserved in the Kubinka museum is a more convenient choice. the tank is there just waiting for Gaijin to take his measure for the 3d model.

[WulfPack 1,693]

6 hours ago, CaID said:

this 152mm beast is not enought?

Tbh that would probably have the lowest BR of any of these cold war super tanks. Paper thin armor, average mobility, basically blind at night.

6 hours ago, CaID said:

the T-95 was more or less still in early stage.

I mean 292 looks like it was more or less just to move the gun around

[TheFuzzieOne 3,355]

On 08/09/2019 at 00:35, CaID said:

I found it back. truck N Tanks magazine issue no.74 page 6. update news from le char leclerc 140mm

 

2nd paragraph.

at international armoured vehicles. 21 to 24 January 2019 in London

info had leak. in the few previous month before the lectern armed with the 140 had been shooting in the shooting range of Portugal. 200 shell was shot. jane's 360 precise that according to the leak from a officer from nexter, the 140mm have proven 70% more powerful than the 120mm normally used

 

that is all I have but since the other nation that research on the 140mm mention a potential of double power over the 120mm, I think 70% seem credible.

 

at least the work on the 140mm is more advance than the one on the 130mm which shall probably be the main calliper of the next generation of European tank for 2025 to 2035

 

Thanks for the info, although I feel "power" is too vague a term.

 

Definitely would need more concrete info before implementing it. Especially on the internal layout of the ammo.

[Raldi92 2,923]

On 30/08/2019 at 18:33, Milocat said:

Well, since we're going full-modern now, I can't really see a good argument against this vehicle. 

 

Well there is a pretty good and obvious argument against it and that is we don't have any performance metric for the 140mm cannon !  I mean a vague 70% more powerfull is simply not enought and certainly not indicative of any penetration value . 

 

On top of that the only counterpart to this tank would be the T-14 armed with 2A83 152mm cannon or Obj.195 . Needless to say that we are not even sure to get the T-14 armed with the 2A82 125mm cannon so this Leclerc is bit too far fetched imo ! 

Edited October 19, 2019 by Raldi92

[Rancewhipper@psn 175]

+1 now that we have the ACRA we need more doom cannons like this and the AuF1

[obltbashar@psn 30]

Or this, PZ 68 with 140mm gun for trials

[Admiral_Aruon 2,264]

man i'd love to see this beast ingame. 140mm lawn dart of death? hell yeah!

[Hanjo 21]

+1

[FouManchou 2,463]

On 16/11/2019 at 03:22, Admiral_Aruon said:

man i'd love to see this beast ingame. 140mm lawn dart of death? hell yeah!

And it's arguably the only very big gun prototype that is functionally operational (which was made possible by the Leclerc already having an autoloader, while NATO research has found that any caliber over 120mm would require one to attain reasonable fire-rate).