AMX-56 Leclerc - French modern main battle tank (GTN). Created concern GIAT (now Nexter) The 1980s in to replace the AMX-30 tanks obsolete. Series production began in 1992 year.
Leclerc tank – video
As of 2010 year, further production of "Loklera" is not conducted. At the moment 2011 of the year 354 tanks of this type consists in the armament of France, yet 388 They are in service with the Army of the United Arab Emirates. Before the advent of the South Korean K2 Black Panther and Japanese Type 10 It was considered the most expensive MBT.
Leclerc, produced by request of the French government by GIAT Industries, It was named in memory of General tank troops during the Second World War, Philip Marie de Otkloke, posthumously awarded the title of Marshal of France and known as the "Leclerc" in honor of the French commander of the XVIII century.
Designed in the early 1960s, Tank AMX-30 began to become obsolete by the mid-1970s. AT 1977 by French engineers, based on the analysis of developments AMX-30 MBT and foreign ("Leopard", "Merkava" and the M1 "Abrams"), proposed a draft own MBT - EPC (fr. Combat Gear Main). After folding in 1979 year, the joint French-German program of development of unified tank based on the "Leopard 2", France launched a national project. Unlike other Western counterparts, there focused on the development of active protection systems (Success is not known), allowing structurally reduce the weight of the tank by facilitating proper armor.
Application autoloader possible to reduce the crew to three people, and significantly reduce the weight of the armor (about 7 tons relative to peers in other countries tanks), and hence - to increase the mobility of the machine. This is an atypical solution for NATO trucks, but typical of the Soviet school of tank development. Although the tank autoloader has been applied, to equip decision "Loklerka" this unit was unexpected and impact on project cost.
A large number of sophisticated electronic equipment resulted in a potentially lower reliability and significant cost of the tank, which hinders his massive use of France itself, and export prospects.
Production
AT 1986 year has been released 6 prototypes "Leclerc" new tank. Financial assistance in the preparation of the tank had UAE, interested in its procurement.
AT 1990 year with the release of the first batch of four "Leclerc" began serial production of the tank, entered service in the army of the French Republic 1992 year. The second and third party (17 tanks) It was withdrawn due to detection of structural defects. With the release of the fourth and fifth installment of these errors were taken into account and corrected. In the next series issued tanks (party 6-9) special emphasis on the widespread use of electronics in the tank information management system (tius). Previously released tanks will be upgraded in accordance with the ninth installment standards.
AT 2004 year introduced a new, tenth, modification of these tanks, wherein the new TIUS, recognizing a friendly units, and new armor. In the third series, starting from the tenth installment, It will be released 96 tanks. AT 2007 year in the ranks was 355 tanks, 320 They were divided into 4 regiment 80 units. The total demand of the French army in these tanks up to 800-1000 units.
2015 - a new program of modernization, in order to improve various characteristics of the tank and extending to the resource 2040 g.
Design
It has a classic layout Leclerc, with the location of the driver's compartment in the front part, the crew compartment - in the middle and the engine compartment - aft. Unlike the vast majority of main battle tanks of NATO, to "Leclerc" applied autoloader, which has reduced the crew to three people - the driver, gunner and commander. The increase in tankers allowed the crew to Leclerc 182 cm (176 refer to the driver).
Double tower low profile and dense arrangement reduced the size of the tank, and use a lot of security: Leclerc of 8,4 ton lighter US M1A2 but carries on armor 5 tons more.
Filling Leclerc can serve as the embodiment of the idea, that laziness contributes to progress: So, mechanic-driver to start the engine by just pushing the button, Electronics is constant monitoring of powerplant, digital processor controls the clutch and gearbox with gear shifting in a split second without interrupting the transmission power. When gear autoloader no need to apply different types of projectiles in a predetermined sequence - the reader will choose the desired, scroll conveyor. Fault and change the situation to the crew voice informed voice informer, having in memory headroom 600 commands.
The result of the high saturation of the working places with a lot of electronics consoles, screens and eyepieces ("Inside a TV") was rastirazhirovanny in technical journals curiosity - strange-looking pictures of the fighting compartment and then appeared upside down!
Ergonomic crew compartment can be defined as "technical humanism". The seat of the non-combustible synthetic absorb vibration and are adjustable, All sights are equipped with shock-absorbing head restraint belt, protects the face from blows. All-round visibility with the commander's seat and the sector 160 ° from the gunner provide tankers significantly greater opportunities in the battle (including in comparison with the domestic approach, considered sufficient only three commanding observation device with a limited field of view). For the convenience of the crew of the roof of the tower and the top of the body did not forget to cover the rough corrugated plastic, in which non-slip shoes.
Armor hull and turret
Frontal and side wall of the housing and the tower is made of a multilayer armor. Important step in ensuring the security of the machine was the use of modular construction reservations front parts of the hull and turret. The individual armor units with ceramic elements can be easily replaced in the field when they are damaged or in case of modernization.
French sources cite the following calculated equivalent thickness of the frontal armor hull and turret on resistance of 120 mm projectile American M829A2 - 650 ... 700 mm; by PTUR”Tou-2A”- 1100... 1200 mm: roof tanks against chemical agents - 500..600 mm.
weaponry
Leclerc's main weapon is the 120mm smoothbore gun model CN-120-26, with a barrel 52 caliber (6240 mm), equipped with automatic loader and stabilized in two planes. The design of the tower and laid margin for the possibility of installing advanced tank shells caliber 140 mm.
Targeting gun carried out by the fire control system (SUO), integrated tank management information system. fire control system includes a combined gunner's sight HL60, commander's panoramic sight HL70, periscope observation devices commander and gunner, two-plane gun stabilizer, of automatic meteopost, determines the shooting conditions, and computer, providing coordinated operation of MSA and components performing crosstalk correction data considering meteopost. Gunner consists of fluorescent optical channel with increasing 3.3x and 10x, daytime television channel with 10x magnification, Night Thermal Imaging Channel, laser range finder and muzzle. Sight commander has only daily optical channel, with 2.5x and 10x increase, Night channel image is given a Gunner. fire control system allows the commander in daytime conditions to conduct an independent search purposes and transfer them to the gunner's sight.
gun ammunition is 40 unitary shots, of which 22 located in the autoloader, and more 18 They are in the drum boeukladke in the department of management, and can be moved in the gunner autoloader as an expenditure of ammunition in it. The structure of tank ammunition includes shots of a kinetic energy penetrator (BOPS), Index shot OFL 120 F2, Flight of the depleted uranium, with shaped-charge fragmentation projectile, Index shot OECC, both shots of the French Development, interchangeable with ammunition 120mm "Rheinmetall" cannon. The initial velocity of said projectiles fired 1790 and 1100 m / s, respectively,. C 2011 year high-explosive ammunition brought into EXPL, grapeshot OEFC with efficient shooting to 400 m. FROM 2016 introduced a projectile HE M3M, programmable explosion in three modes.
Automatic loader is located in the turret in an insulated compartment, equipped with expelling panels and constitutes conveyor, providing technical cannon to rate 15 and practical - to 10-12 rounds per minute, as a place, and on the move.
The loading conveyor autoloader (I) It is carried outside through loading opening in the rear wall of the tower or inside, a gunner, which can fill machine of boeukladki - a rotating drum for 18 shots, mounted in the housing to the right of the driver. There is no need to sort the shells by type, because the automatic reading device is provided with, which is connected to the processor, able to recognize at least five types of ammunition.
Automatic loader is separated from the places the commander and gunner bronestenkami, which increases the safety of the crew and survivability of the tank, but the accumulated practice of Leopard2 tanks (Syria), abrams (Iraq, the Iraqi army, M1A1 version of the group as a whole are consistent with those that used the US against Iraq (a modern version of the M1A2 Army Saudi Arabia against Yemen)), Merkava4, shows that more than ever to lose tanks and crew, and towers happens housing gap. Which is confirmed by numerous video footage. Leclerc is also used in Yemen, evidence of his defeat a number of reasons to 2017 year there.
observation and communication tools
In complex, constitute a single tank management information system (tius), There are on-board computer, associated with the main tank units and duplicate fire control calculator; Automatic electronic engine management, gearbox, autoloader, fire system and others.; navigation inertial system with the correction of the satellite complex "Navstar"; Communication with the phone and fax mode on the basis of VHF radio PR4TG and a pseudo-random hopping operating frequency, protecting it from interference and electronic warfare opponent, which ensures the secrecy of communication and direction finding it difficult. TIUS gives the crew the data on the location of the tank, optimal routes, work sites, consumption of ammunition, fuel, leading transceiver information from other tanks and MP on the state of the machine and the tactical situation. All data are displayed in the form of alphanumeric characters, forms and maps on a color display, eliminating the plurality of control devices and simplify the tank. The principal is the union of all electronic systems in a single network, which, like the nervous system of a living organism, designed to manage all components of the combat vehicle.
Its basis is a single bus digital data, having 32 input channels. Connected to it and block the fire control system (SUO), consisting of a double plate gun stabilizer; airborne automatic meteopost, fixing atmospheric pressure, air temperature, wind speed and direction; periscopes observation commander and gunner; rolling commander's panoramic sight HL70 with all-round visibility and a gyro-stabilized field of view, and having a thermal imaging optical channels 2,5- and 10-fold increase; combined gunner's sight HL60, laser rangefinder comprising, daily optical channel 3,3- and 10-fold increase, daytime television channel with 10-fold magnification and the night channel imager "Athos" (its retraction and outputs image commander's sight); dulynogo refers.
All elements of the MSA manages computer with two processors, provides data and taking into account the amendments to the shooting, as well as supervising work sites. Thanks to the speed units, MSA achieves readiness to fight in a minute after the, It can fire at a rate of movement over rough terrain to 36 kmh, and from place to hit six different goals in one minute. The commander can continue the search for goals in the management of fire, transmitting them to the gunner's sight.
With MSA conjugate eight periscopes commander devices, providing all-round visibility, and three - Gunner, not only serving for observation, but also for pointing gun. Finding the target with any party, pressing a button on the device, you can automatically deploy the turret and the gun in the direction of the line of sight. To account for the bending of the stem during the heating system is controlling dynamic matching line of sight with the axis of the barrel. Low-power laser beam onto the mantle result gun reflected by the mirror over the muzzle and received by a sensor on the tower, appraising barrel Care, which compensates OMS.
After upgrading the thermal imager "Athos", It became provide detection range of a tank-type objectives to 5000 m at night and in bad weather.
Engine and transmission
Leclerc mounted on V-shaped 8-cylinder multi-fuel diesel engine liquid cooling, production of the Finnish company Wärtsilä, model V8X 1500, develops a maximum power of 1500 l. from. at 2500 rev / min. V-8X is equipped with a turbocharger "Hyperbar", driven by a separate gas turbine engine, which can also be used independently of the main motor for driving an electric generator. It should be noted, that Leclerc - the world's only power plant with a tank "Hyperbar". Supercharging is not from diesel exhaust gases (turbo), and driven by a single turbine. Thanks to this advanced design the French got excellent traction, efficiency and small size of the MTO. The motor is located in the engine-transmission compartment of the tank along its longitudinal axis and arranged in a single unit with the cooling systems and the transmission.
tank transmission includes a five-speed automatic hydromechanical transmission ESM500 model, side steering gear and brakes. Worked for placement and attachment of the power plant unit allow its replacement in just 30 minutes.
Chassis
Chassis Leclerc on each side consists of six doubles rubber rollers, support rollers, sloth and located at the rear of the drive wheel. Suspension of rollers - individual, gidropnevmatičeskaâ. Nodes suspension removed from the armored body to release space in the latter and to facilitate the suspension of service. Caterpillar lantern meshing, width 635 mm, with rubber mount, rubberised treadmill and removable rubber shoes for movement on roads paved.
modifications
"Block 1" - the first batch of 50 tanks, put into service in 1992 year. As of 2010 year the tanks decommissioned French army and offered for export.
"Unit 2":
– Lot.6 - air conditioning;
– Lot.7 - improved driveline;
– Lot.8 - modernized electronic systems;
– Lot.9 - improved sight "Iris" with a longer range target detection;
– Lot.10 - entered service in France the sun under the designation S-XXI in 2007 year and are in service with four regiments.
"Tropic" - the export version of the tank for the UAE Armed Forces. Modification differs from the basic setting highly conditioner, lack submerged speed equipment. The power plant is replaced by 1500-horsepower diesel MTU 883 with transmission Renk HSWL 295.
AZUR - modification of the tank, Optimized for military operations in urban environments
AZUR (fr. Shares in Urban Zone) - modification of the tank, Optimized for military operations in urban environments. Modification was first introduced in 2006 year, and includes:
– a set of screens to protect against RPGs;
– kit for protection against Molotov cocktails and other incendiary liquids;
– a wireless communication system with the infantry;
– system based on radar, warning buzzer on the objects in the vicinity of the tank, located in a dead zone commander's panoramic sight;
– remotely controlled 7.62-mm anti-aircraft gun with the fire control system, capable of providing guidance, day and night;
– boxes at the stern, is fixed on the bracket mounted fuel tanks, designed for extra supplies;
– Loudspeaker announcements for civilians.
Leclerc tank with 140-mm guns
The performance characteristics of the Leclerc tank
Crew, pers.: 3
The layout: classical
Manufacturer: Nexter
years of production: from 1990
The number of issued, PC.: 876 units
The weight of the tank Leclerc
– series I: 54,6 tonnes
– series II: 56,3 tonnes
– series XXI: 57,4 tonnes
Dimensions Leclerc tank
– body Length, mm: 6880
– Length with gun forward, mm: 9871
– housing width, mm: 3710
– Height, mm: 2953
– Clearance, mm: 500
Leclerc tank armor
– Type broni: Combined modular protivosnaryadnym. Bronemoduli machines Series XXI strengthened tungsten and titanium elements.
– tower forehead, mm / city.: armor steel equivalent: 620-640 mm against BOPS, 1200 mm against cumulative ammunition
Armament Leclerc tank
– Caliber guns and stamp: 120-mm CN120-26
– gun type: smoothbore
– barrel length, calibres: 52
– gun ammunition: 40, of them 22 NEA
– sights: Monocular SAGEM HL-60 imager Athos, Binocular combined panoramic SFIM HL-70, HL-58 Laser Rangefinder
– Shotgun: 1 × 12,7-mm M2HB-QBC, 1 × 7.62-мм TO F1 (ammunition 800/2000).
Leclerc tank engine
– engine's type: V8X 1500
– Engine power, l. from.: 1500
speed of the tank Leclerc
– Road speed, kmh: 71
– Speed over rough terrain, kmh: 50
– Cruising on the highway, km: 550
– power density, l. p. / m: 27,5
– suspension type: individual hydropneumatic
– Unit ground pressure, kg / cm²: 0,98
– Gradeability, city.: 31
– to overcome the wall, m: 1,25
– trench, m: 3,0
– fording, m: 1,0 (4,0 with OPVT)
Photo tank Leclerc
Tank AMX-56 "Leclerc" the UAE Armed Forces in Desert Camouflage
